Food compositional analysis of Indigenous foods consumed by the Khasi of Meghalaya, North-East India

摘要

Indigenous foods are acquired from the natural environment and form the cultural food pattern of Indigenous People. The Khasi tribe of North-East India consume many Indigenous foods in their regular diet and there is no complete compositional data available. Therefore, comprehensive nutritive profile of 42 Indigenous foods consumed by the Khasi tribe have been analyzed. Sesamum indicum and Perilla frustescens showed high protein (37.8 +/- 0.12 and 23.95 +/- 1.31 g/100 g) and total fat (28.16 +/- 1.50 and 23.82 +/- 0.30 g/100 g) contents respectively. The highest dietary fibre (26.10 +/- 0.80 g/100 g) was found in Potentilla polyphylla which also exhibits a good iron content (9.10 +/- 0.11 mg/100 g). The fruits and berries are the richest source of vitamin C with the highest content seen in Prunus nepalensis (43.45 +/- 1.44 mg/100 g). The highest carotenoid (12,466 +/- 32.08 mu g/100 g) was observed in the Alocasia macrorrhiza leaves followed by Eryngium foetidum. The highest amount of total tocopherol or vitamin E and vitamin D2 was found in nuts and oilseeds, with Gynocardia odorata containing the maximum amount (10.72 +/- 0.60 and 85.10 +/- 0.62 mu g/100 g respectively). The wide variety of wild edibles used by the Khasi could be good sources of nutrients to combat malnutrition and to provide diet diversification not only in the West Khasi Hills but also among similar bio-diversified population.