Phytoconstituents evaluation of some wild edibles used by Tribal community for nutraceutical and antibacterial potential

Tribal people commonly live near to the forests, and for their food needs, they depend on forests as well as wild plants. The current study is designed to examine the antioxidant, antibacterial, phytochemical, and nutritional properties of five wild plants, namely Pyrus pashia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don, Oxyria digyna (L.) Hill, Zanthoxylum alatum Roxb., Oxalis corniculata L., and Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb., that are consumed by Gaddis people of the Himachal Pradesh district of Chamba's Bharmour area. These edibles showed the appropriate amount of nutrients, including fiber, potassium, sodium, carbohydrates, and protein. Among all studied species, Oxyria digyna had the highest nutritional value, i.e., carbohydrates 9.50 mg/g, protein 7.73 mg/g, potassium 19.17 mg/g, and sodium 4.55 mg/g. These plants have various phytochemicals, such as phenol, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, tannin, and terpenoid, i.e., 25.88 mg/g, 11.63 mg/g, 3.31 mg/g, 1.18 mg/g, and 3.57 mg/g, respectively. Methanolic extracts of these edibles showed the radical scavenging property using ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP assays. Elaeagnus umbellata had the greatest antioxidant capacity, followed by Oxalis corniculata. The antibacterial action of the examined plants' methanolic extract suggested that the maximum inhibition zone was recorded in the extract of E. umbellata against gram-negative (17.5 mm) and gram-positive (16.4 mm) bacterial strains. The outcomes of the study presented that these foods are good providers of vitamins, minerals, and protein that can give nutrition, food security, health, and curative benefits.