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Gathering edible wild plants is widely recognized throughout rural southeast Asia for contributions to micronutrient intakes. Elderly Karen women in two northern Thailand communities (n = 32) were surveyed to determine household gathering practices and use of edible wild plants in the family diet. While all household members gathered most efforts were by women, who collected on average 1.3-3.5 times/week depending on the season. All respondents reported that local availability of wild species with culinary and medicinal value had declined in recent decades. Column chromatography and spectrophotometry were used to determine the beta-carotene content of 22 of the most commonly consumed species. Mean values ranged from 10,290 to 31 microg/100 g sample (858 to 3 microg RE/100 g); 14 species measured at least 2400 microg/100 g (300 microg RE/100 g). Most plants identified with reasonable to high quantities of beta-carotene were eaten raw, steamed for more than 20 min, or were cooked and consumed without the fat source needed to facilitate absorption. The contribution of beta-carotene from these species to Karen diet, therefore, is problematical.

Since the end of the American-Vietnamese War in 1975, more than 1.5 million refugees from Southeast Asia have resettled in the United States. Included among these displaced persons were the Hmong from Laos, a subsistence-based, shifting-cultivation, agricultural society. Hmong who resettled in urban areas have viewed vacant lots adjacent to urban dwellings as potential garden sites for production of familiar herbs and vegetables. In the present study exotic culinary and medicinal herbs grown by Hmong refugees in Sacramento, California were identified and analyzed for mineral composition. The herbs grown in these urban gardens were significant ingredients of Hmong recipes, and herb leaves, or infusions of steamed herb leaves were widely consumed as a component of pregnancy and post-partum diets. Six common species, Acorus gramineus, aff. Angelica, Dendranthema indicum, Eupatorium lindleyana, Sedum aff. sarmentosum, and Sedum aff. spectabile, were used in combination to season chicken. Polygonum odoratum, also widely cultivated, was used to season fish. Exotic culinary-medicinal species with highest mineral profiles included: Basella alba (Ca, Mg, Mn, Zn); Houttuynia cordata (Fe, Mg, Mn); Justica gendarussa (Ca, Mg, Zn); and Polygonum odoratum (Ca, Mg, Mn). While vacant lots sometimes are heavy metal contamination sites, we found no detectable levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, or lead in the samples analyzed.

Two rural settled Fulani villages, northeastern Nigeria, were surveyed for dietary practices and use of edible wild plants (n = 100 households). Commonly consumed species of edible wild barks, fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, and tubers were analyzed for protein, fat, and carbohydrate and for minerals. Kuka bark (Adansonia digitata) given to infants to increase weight gain was high in fat, calcium, copper, iron, and zinc. Cediya (Ficus thonningii), dorowa (Parkia biglobosa) and zogale (Moringa oleifera) were good sources of protein and fat and excellent sources of calcium and iron or copper and zinc. Fruits, leaves, and nuts of aduwa (Balanites aegyptiaca) were widely used during the dry season and during drought. Edible wild species available during the wet season generally were inferior in energy and micronutrient mineral content compared to dry season plants. Fruits commonly eaten by children were poor sources of protein and minerals but rich in carbohydrate and fiber. Tsamiya seeds (Tamarindus indica) were good sources of zinc and used to make dawwa (porridge) commonly consumed during pregnancy. Kirya seeds (Prosopos africana) contained the highest zinc concentrations. Shiwaka leaves (Veronia colorate) consumed by pregnant women to increase breastmilk production and to expel intestinal worms, were high in fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, and were adequate sources of calcium.

Two rural settled Fulani villages in northeast Nigeria were surveyed for dietary practices and use of edible wild plants (n = 100 adult subjects). Dietary patterns and medical data were obtained for children under 5, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly. A diversified diet was maintained at both geographical locations through hunting, gathering, agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, food exchanges and cash purchases. Edible wild plants associated with children included fruits of baure (Ficus sycomorus), faru (Lannea schiniperi), giginya (Gardenia aqualla), kokiya (Strychnos spinosa) and nunu (Parinari curatellitolia). Leaves of shiwaka (Veronia colorate) were consumed by lactating women to stimulate breastmilk production. Generally, fruits of baure (Ficus sycomorus) were eaten to counter stomach pain; fruits of kisni (Bridelia ferruginea) were eaten to treat diarrhea; and bark of kuka (Adansonia digitata) was consumed for weight gain. Food storage was more important during wet seasons than dry because of local and regional flooding. Adult Fulani men rode to distant markets on bicycles, while women walked to market and in some instances expended 3200 kcal/day engaging in this activity.

Wild and cultivated fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, spices and vegetables from southern Burkina Faso and Niamey, Niger, were analysed for their copper, iron, magnesium, manganese and zinc concentrations and compared to imported, exotic reference foods found within the study area. The species analysed covered a broad spectrum of local diet; 33 were wild and 16 were cultivated. The edible wild plants were often the highest in mineral concentrations. Five species analysed, exhibited consistently high mineral values, specifically, Adansonia digitata, Boerhavia diffusa, Cerathoteca sesamoides, Sclerocarya birrea and Xylopia sp. The latter was particularly high in zinc, an observation which suggests that there may be a solid rationale for local traditions which recommended its consumption during pregnancy and lactation. Respondents indicated that during times of drought, wild plants were not consumed in the volume they once were, due to changes of infrastructure and in famine relief programmes.