Chemotaxonomic Diversity of Herbal Leafy
Vegetables in the Foot Hills of Eastern
Himalayan Region, India

Soumen Maitra; Ranjit Chatterjee

Abstract

Chemotaxonomic Diversity of Herbal Leafy Vegetables in the Foot Hills of Eastern Himalayan Region, India

Introduction: Leafy vegetables are naturally available important constituent of Nutraceuticals, rich in several minerals, vitamins, crude fiber, antioxidants and active principles. The leafy vegetables, which are having miraculous healing properties of human ailments are considered as herbal leafy vegetables, most of which are utilized by herbal drug industry. Terai agro-ecological zone harbors a wide array of natural vegetation of which a considerable portion is consumed as a leafy vegetable by the inhabitants. Chemotaxonomic classification of medicinal plants now-a-days offers an additional advantage to the researchers over the binomial nomenclature as the chemical nature of secondary metabolites is also expressed along with the botanical name of the species which is having immense significance to the herbal drug develops.
Objective: The present study was aimed with an eye to develop an exhaustive chemotaxonomic database of the prevalent biodiversity of herbal leafy vegetables in the Terai region (foot hills of the eastern Himalayan region, India) of West Bengal. Method: To understand the diversity of herbal leafy vegetables, sample village level survey was conducted in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts under the Terai region of West Bengal during 2011 and 2012. Information was collected through field observation and related taxonomic identification. The chemotaxonomic database of the observed herbal biodiversity was prepared through intensive literature survey.
Result:A total of 46 species of herbal leafy vegetables was observed in the prevalent biodiversity of this region. The plants and their potential medicinal properties along with their chemotaxonomic database were studied and summarized.
Conclusion: Traditionally the inhabitants used the herbal leafy vegetables for both as a vegetable and home herbal remedy. Forty six (46) major species of the existing flora of herbal leafy vegetables of the Terai region of West Bengal had been documented with their main chemical constituents through literature survey. This information would become valuable to the researchers and herbal drug industry.