Ethnobotanical Survey of Wild Leafy Vegetables Used by Tribal Communities of Bargaon, Dindori District, Madhya Pradesh, India: Diversity, Medicinal Uses, and Conservation Status

Abstract

Wild leafy vegetables (WLVs) constitute a crucial component of the subsistence economy, nutrition, and traditional medicine of tribal communities in Central India. The present study documents the ethnobotanical knowledge of wild leafy vegetables among Gond and Baiga tribal communities in 10 selected villages of Bargaon, Shahpura Block, Dindori District, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 295 informants aged 45–75 years were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires, participatory field walks, and group discussions between August 2024 and December 2025. Systematic ethnobotanical field surveys led to the documentation of 72 species of wild leafy vegetables belonging to 38 plant families, with Amaranthaceae (14 spp.), Asteraceae (11 spp.), and Fabaceae (9 spp.) being the most represented families. Tender leaves were the most frequently utilized plant part (58%), primarily prepared by cooking (42%). The recorded species were used to treat a range of ailments including digestive disorders (18 spp.), anaemia (15 spp.), and skin diseases (10 spp.). Quantitative indices including Use Value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) were calculated to identify the most culturally significant species. Amaranthus viridis, Chenopodium album, and Centella asiatica recorded the highest UV values (0.92, 0.89, and 0.85, respectively). A total of 24 distinct disease categories were treated by the documented species; a high informant consensus was recorded for digestive disorders (ICF = 0.89) and anaemia (ICF = 0.85). Elder women (55–64 years) held the most extensive traditional knowledge, while informants below 45 years showed significant knowledge attrition, indicating urgent intergenerational erosion of traditional ecological knowledge. The study highlights the rich traditional botanical knowledge preserved by female informants and elder members of the Gond and Baiga tribes, and underscores the urgent need for documentation, conservation, and sustainable management of WLV diversity in this biodiversity-rich biosphere reserve landscape.