An unveiled gift of nature, Solena amplexicaulis (Lam)

Solena amplexicaulis (Lam.) Gandhi is a highly under exploited vegetable having immense nutritive and medicinal properties found occasionally in few biodiversity hotspots of eastern Asia. It has a long history of local consumption and use as a medicine by the poor tribal communities, who derive their sustenance from this crop. Due to alteration in the climatic pattern, there is fear of extinction of such minor neglected vegetables. Presently, as more emphasis is given on improvement of commercial vegetables by the researchers, these potential minor crops get ignored. This study was undertaken at the Central Horticultural Experiment Station (IIHR), Aiginia, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India during 2021-22 by collecting 17 local landraces from Ganjam district of South East Odisha. The objective of the investigation was to undertake morphological characterization of the species based on the available genotypes, review the literature in order to ascertain its present status of research and utilization, as well as conserve the genotypes in order to prevent them from extinction.