Abstract
Underutilized Wild edible fruits can contribute significantly to the nutrition of rural inhabitants. Wild edible foods include fruits, leaves, flowers and seeds from spontaneous trees and shrubs. Of these, fruits are receiving increase interest on wild edible plant species because of their nutritional value, vitamin and mineral contents. There are many underutilized wild edible fruits which are unknown despite their nutritional and medicinal values therefore, to explore the better utilization of wild fruits tree species of nutritional and medicinal value, the present check list has been compiled from the observation made by the authors as well as reports in literature. Some of the striking examples are Aegle marmelos, Annona squamosa, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Artocarpus lakoocha, Averrhoa carambola, Carissa carandus, Cordia dichotoma, Eugenia jambos, Feronia limonia, Ficus, Grewia subinaequalis, Manilkara hexandra, Moringa olifera, Morus indica Pithecellobium dulce, Schleichera oleosa, Spondias mangifera, Syzizium cumini, Scleichera oleosa, Tamarindus indica, Ziziphus mauritiana etc.
In the present paper some of the less known less utilized wild fruits tree species of nutritional and medicinal value belonging to different families are documented. Biodiversity of all these species need to be conserved in well known about their uses in an organized manner to save them from extinction in the near future.