Underutilized and unexploited fruits of Indo-Burma hot spot, Meghalaya, north-east India: ethno-medicinal evaluation, socio-economic importance and conservation strategies

An attempt has been made during 2012-2014 at to enumerate the ethno-medicinal evaluation and socio-economic importance of underutilized and unexploited fruits among the Garo tribe of west Garo hills district, Meghalaya, north-east India. The study was based on extensive field surveys, sample collection and interviews with the traditional healers as well as old aged men and women and survey in rural markets regarding their market demand, price and season of availability. Altogether 66 underutilized and unexploited fruits belonging to 34 families have been enumerated in this paper. The documented fruits were mostly used by the rural people to cure a number of ailments. In addition, these fruits also have socio-economic importance in the rural life of the tribal people like use as constructional timbers, firewood, charcoal, fodder, making dye, yielding oil and a number of value added products. Although, these fruits play an important role in the social and cultural life of Garo people, but these valuable species have been vanishing at very faster rate due to lack of proper documentation. Therefore, the claimed therapeutic values of these species are to be critically studied to establish their safety and effectiveness and both in situ and ex situ conservation measures should be immediately undertaken to safeguard the valuable indigenous rural resources of the world.