Diversity of Wild Plants used by the Jamatia Tribe of Tripura for their Edible Underground Plant Parts

Author(s): Gunamoni Das and R. K. Sharma

Abstract: Tripura is the third smallest state of India and it is a land locked hilly state in the North Eastern India which is surrounded on the North, West and South by Bangladesh. It is accessible to the rest of the country only through the Karimganj district of Assam and Aizawl district of Mizoram. The tribal communities of Tripura are numerated to be 19. Out of the 19 tribes, only the Tripuris are found to be inhabited all over the state. Jamatia is another tribal group of Tripura, having distinct feature of Mongoloid Origin. Earlier Jamatias had to live on Jhum Cultivation. But among the tribals of Tripura they accustomed themselves with plough cultivation after the Tripuris. At present most of them depend on plain land cultivation beside allied economic activities. An extensive survey was conducted during 2017-2018 on some interesting wild plants with underground edible parts used by the Jamatia tribe of Tripura. Underground parts of many wild and cultivated plants constitute an important source of starchy food. The tubers of some plant species like Amorphophallus, Euryale ferox, Ipomoea, Dioscorea, Alocasia spp, are commonly eaten as vegetables. Colocasia sp is much loved to eat by the growing children of this community for making the bone structure stronger. Other underground rhizomatous stocks of Curcuma, Alpinia, Zingiber spp are commonly used as spices and condiments., Ipomoea batatas, Manihot esculenta, Dioscorea sps, Nymphaea sps etc. are collected in large amount as it is in great demand in Agartala valley market for their delicious taste. Hence, it serves as one of the main source of income for the tribe. Also many underground parts of wild plants are used for other purposes such as medicine, cosmetics etc. The paper reports 42 underground edible parts of some wild plants along with botanical names and their mode of uses are incorporated.

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