Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants used by the Loi community of Manipur, India

Manipur is well known for its rich traditional food culture and indigenous cuisines, with a large proportion of rural communities relying on wild edible plants (WEPs) for nutrition, livelihoods, and cultural practices. The present study aimed to systematically document WEPs diversity, traditional cuisines, and their ethnobotanical significance among the Loi community of Phayeng village, Imphal West District, Manipur, India. Ethnobotanical data were collected from 39 informants, including 27 females (69.2%) and 12 males (30.8%), using semi-structured interviews, field observations, and participatory interactions. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices including use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), cultural importance index (CI), Jaccard similarity index (JI), and chi-square (χ 2 ) analysis were employed to evaluate cultural significance and novelty patterns of WEPs. A total of 157 WEP species belonging to 129 genera and 60 families, including 3 species of fungi, were documented along with 17 traditional cuisine categories. Fabaceae (15 species), Lamiaceae (10 species), and Zingiberaceae (9 species) were the dominant families, while herbs represented the most common life form with 59 species (37.58%). Eromba was identified as the most frequently consumed cuisine category with 18.1% use reports. Quantitative analysis identified Parkia timoriana as the most culturally significant species (UR = 42, RFC = 0.179, UV = 1.077), followed by Benincasa hispida and Chenopodium album . The findings highlight the nutritional, cultural, medicinal, and economic importance of WEPs and emphasize the urgent need for conservation, sustainable utilization, and preservation of traditional food knowledge systems in Manipur.