Survey on the wild edible fruits in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur, Philippines: A preliminary checklist

J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 94 | Domingo et al. RE RERE RESEARCH SEARCHSEARCH SEARCH PAPER PAPERPAPER PAPER OPEN ACCESS OPEN ACCESSOPEN ACCESS OPEN ACCESS Survey on the wild edible fruits in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur, Philippines: A preliminary checklist Maricar Grace A . Domingo 1 , Christian E . Bulaoy 1 , Maria Kristina E . Mabalot 1 , Mary Ann R. Remiendo 1 , John Raymund D. Torres *1,2 1 College of Arts and Sciences, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University Sou th Campus, Agoo, La Union, Philippines 2College of Graduate Studies, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University South Campus, Agoo, La Union, Philippines Article published on July 13, 2023 Key words: Cultural importance index, Ilocos Sur, Wild edible fruits Abstract The survey confirms the presence of wild edible fruits in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur in the Philippines comprising of 45 fruit species classified into 39 genera and 25 families. From the identified species, 40 are utilized as snacks, four as spice, one for medicinal use, two as condiment, 30 are forage food, and three for industrial uses. Twenty-two (22) species are categorized of least concerned (LC) and two (2) of which are considered vulnerable (VU) under the IUCN Red List. Uvaria rufa which is commonly consumed as snack and regarded as famine food is the most culturally significant fruit (CI = 1.59) while Lantana camara, Sterculia foetida, Brucea javanica, Garcinia dulcis, Ficus septica, Artocarpus camansi, Causonis trifolia, Semecarpus cuneiformis, Ceiba pentandra, and Tinospora glabra were found to have the lowest computed CI value of 0.01. Annonaceae (CIf = 1.78) was found to be of highest cultural significance followed by Myrtaceae (CIf = 1.38) and Sapotaceae (CIf = 0.50) among the twenty-five families studied. * Corresponding Author: John Raymund  jrtorre[email protected]du.ph Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) ISSN: 2220-6663 (Print) 2222-3045 (Online) Vol. 23, No. 1, p. 94-108, 2023 http://www.innspub.net J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 95 | Domingo et al. Introduction In the Philippines, many people gather a wide range of fruits from the wild because of their taste, cultural purposes, availability of the fruits, dietary supplements, or to tide over food shortages. Wild edible fruits (WEFs) are edible fruit species that are not cultivated and are collected in their natural habitats. However, wild fruit consumption has gradually reduced due to the introduction of introduced fruits. Introduced fruits are fruits that are not native to the region or country where they are being consumed. They are usually imported from other countries and can be quite expensive due to the cost of transportation and import duties. Intensive commercialization and promotion of high-value fruit crops, including introduced species, has reduced consumer awareness of wild species, including WEFs (Suwardi et al., 2023). WEFs are better than cultivated fruits when it comes to nutrients (Yangdon et al., 2022). They are also free from chemical spray; hence these wild fruits are anticancer and very much recommended for public consumption (Tombali, 2016). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2011), wild food resources comprise a variety of edibles, including WEFs, vegetables, mushrooms, orchids, canes, and herbal plants; and WEFs contribute the most to the total number of wild edible resources. During times of hunger or drought, poor communities in rural parts of the world, wild edible fruit species serve an important role in additional food provision and addressing food gaps. In a more recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2020), the existing global food system is thought to provide adequate calories for the entire world. However, about two billion people still experience hunger or lack access to nutritious meals. Wild food plants are traditional foods that tend to be richer in micronutrients than cultivated crops (Hunter et al., 2019). Ethnobotanical documentation can increase environmental awareness of our rich natural resources (Tombali, 2016). The investigation on the wild edible fruits (WEFs) in a region is also a way to help in addressing worldwide concern on food security and malnutrition through the promotion of nutritious local foods to meet dietary needs (ChuaBarcelo, 2014). In the Philippines, published ethnobotanical documentation of our WEFs is still very few. In the town of Burgos in Ilocos Sur, there are no recent or available accounts about the wild edible fruits (WEFs) aside from being an ideal site for such study due to its relatively undisturbed environment. The list generated from ethnobotanical documentation can be utilized as a food and biodiversity guide to help strengthen the familiarity of the local population with the available WEFs in their area. It gives an opportunity for tourists and nonnative visitors to be acquainted to the available native fruits they may find in the area. Furthermore, the survey can help strengthen the preservation of plantbased knowledge of the community which are critical in future researches and development of effective of management policies for biodiversity and conservation concerns. Survey on available natural resources may introduce an array of rarely utilized resources and potential use which eventually leads to greater conservation importance of the species. This is for the fact that the conservation and importance status is not merely anchored in the rarity or abundance of species but also in terms of their uses (Torres & Malaya, 2021; Torres, 2017). Thus, the present investigation aims to create the first list of some wild edible fruits (WEFs) that can be found in the town of Burgos province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines, describe their uses, and cultural significance. The general aim of this study was to conduct a survey of edible wild fruits found in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur. Specifically, the study aimed to list the edible wild fruits in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur, determine the cultural significance index of species and families of the identified edible fruits and their utilization, and create a compendium of edible fruits found in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur. Materials and Methods The research design of the study was both qualitative and descriptive. Specifically, the study involved J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 96 | Domingo et al. observing and describing the subject without influencing the parameters. A survey was conducted in the selected barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur. The municipality of Burgos has 26 barangays, six of which are near the mountains and served as the study sites. These are the barangays of Balugang, Bessang, Lubing, Manaboc, Mapanit, and Sabangan Pinggan, Burgos, Ilocos Sur during the months of September 2022 to January 2023. Table 1 shows the coordinates of the study sites. Table 1. Geographical coordinates of the selected study sites. Barangays Latitude Longitude Altitude Balugang 17.3039 ° N 120.5226 ° E 28.7 yd above sea level Bessang 17.2964 ° N 120.5362 ° E 46.3 yd above sea level Lubing 17.3131 ° N 120.5375 ° E 309.3 yd above sea level Manaboc 17.3345 ° N 120.5362 ° E 31.4 yd above sea level Mapanit 17.2949 ° N 120.5491 ° E 287.1 yd above sea level Sabangan Pinggan 17.2940 ° N 120.5193 ° E 38.6 yd above sea level *° N stands for degrees North; ° E stands for degrees East; yd stands for the unit Yard The study was approved by the institutional research ethics committee of the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, the municipal unit, and the barangay. Prior informed consent was obtained before administering the survey questionnaire to the respondents. Purposive sampling was used based on the population of the six barangays. The researchers accessed a particular subset of people aged 20 and up who were chosen as survey participants because they fit a particular profile, such as being born and raised in the area or having lived there for a long time. The 120 participants were informed about the purpose of the study and the details of the consent form, especially the confidentiality of their identity and information they would disclose in the survey. The questionnaire was administered after they agreed to participate in the study. The survey questionnaire consisted of questions about their knowledge of wild edible fruits, how they are consumed, where they usually grow or are seen, and their common uses, such as snacks, spices, fodder, medicine, condiments, and other uses. The survey and collection of fruits were conducted using two methods: primary and secondary data collection. Primary data was collected from the respondents, while secondary data was collected from books, magazines, and journals. Fruit samples were collected from the information gathered through the survey. The researchers coordinated with the locals to assist in locating the wild edible fruits. Some plants were not in season of bearing fruits, so they were revisited later for fruit sample collection. The researchers used a DSLR camera (Sony a6000, Model No. 4914868, Thailand) and mobile phone (iPhone, NNFP2CH/A, Canada) to capture photographs of the sample fruit-bearing plant species and the collected fruits. Collected fruits were placed in a jar containing a mixture of distilled water and 90% of ethanol alcohol. Collected leaves of plant species without fruit and free from diseases were preserved using a customized plant presser made of plywood and screws as the main materials, old newspaper, rope for twining, paper for mounting, and labels specifying the type of plants that were pressed. The plant presser was used to preserve and retain the morphological character of the plant. The plant species were identified by plant taxonomy experts from the Department of Biological Sciences of the Central Luzon State University. The IUCN Red List was consulted to categorize the collections into the suggested recent degree of importance. Co's Digital Flora was used to further investigate their local and global status distribution. All of the identified edible fruits from the survey were collated in a compendium. A compendium is a collection of all the survey data in book form. It will consist of the following: • Local and scientific names of each wild edible fruit • Conservation and distribution status • Cultural significance index • Photographs of the fruits • Information on the nutritional content of wild edible fruits based on the secondary data J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 97 | Domingo et al. The survey results were summarized and tallied. After listing the fruits, the cultural significance was calculated using the equation used by Pardo-deSantayana et al. (2007) in order to know the uses of each species. Results and Discussion The listed fruits are classified into 39 genera and 25 families. These family belongs to the Anacardiaceae, Annonaceae, Bombaceae, Capparaceae, Cluciaceae, Combretaceae, Cordiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Ebenaceae, Fabaceae, Menispermaceae, Moraceae, Muntingiaceae, Musaceae, Myrtaceae, Oxalidaceae, Passifloraceae, Phyllanthaceae, Rutaceae, Sapotaceae, Simaroubaceae, Solanaceae, Sterculiaceae, Verbenaceae, and Vitaceae. The identified fruits are used for snack (40), as spice (4), medicinal use (1), as condiment (2), forage and/or famine food (30) and for others uses (3), such as table food and dye/ink. The Table 2 depicts the occurrence of each WEFs in each of the visited barangays of Burgos. Table 2. List of Edible Wild Fruits found in the 6 (six) barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur. Family Scientific name Local name Availability in the Barangays BL BS LB MN MP SP Anacardiaceae Semecarpus cf. cuneiformis Blanco. Kamiring ✓ Anacardium occidentale L. Kasoy ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Spondias purpurea L. Sarguelas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Annonaceae Annona reticulata L. Anonas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Uvaria rufa (Dunal) Blume Alagat ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Polyalthia suberosa (Roxb.) Thwaites Karamukom ✓ ✓ Annona muricata L. Guyabano ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Bombacaceae Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn Kasapanglay ✓ Capparaceae Capparis cf. micracantha DC. Tarabtab ✓ ✓ ✓ Cluciaceae Garcinia dulcis (Roxb.) Kurz Bakuog ✓ Combretaceae Terminalia catappa L. Lugo ✓ ✓ ✓ Cordiaceae Cordia dichotoma G.Forst. Anonang ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Cucurbitaceae Melothria pendula L. Pipino-pipino ✓ ✓ ✓ Ebenaceae Diospyros sp. Balingagta ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Fabaceae Pachyrhizus erosus (L.) Urb. Singkamas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. Gargaruba ✓ ✓ ✓ Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.) Benth. Kamantiris ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit Ipil-ipil ✓ Tamarindus indica L. Salamagi ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Menispermaceae Tinospora glabra (Burm.f.) Merr. Unknown ✓ Moraceae Morus alba L. Kamkamuras ✓ Ficus benjamina L. Balete ✓ ✓ Ficus septica Burm.f Raya raya ✓ Artocarpus cf. camansi Blanco Pakak ✓ Ficus ulmifolia Lam. Oplas ✓ ✓ Ficus nota (Blanco) Merr. Tibbeg ✓ ✓ Streblus asper Lour. Alaludig ✓ ✓ ✓ Muntingiaceae Muntingia calabura L. Mansanita ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Musaceae Musa balbisiana Colla Balayang ✓ ✓ ✓ Myrtaceae Syzygium sp. Lomboy ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Psidium guajava L. Native bayabas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Oxalidaceae Averrhoa bilimbi L. Piyas ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Passifloraceae Passiflora foetida L. Pusa-pusa ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Phyllanthaceae Kirganelia reticulata (Poir.) Baill. Bagbagutot ✓ Cicca acida (L.) Merr. Karamay ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Rutaceae Glycosmis greenei Elmer Malmalutot ✓ Sapotaceae Chrysophyllum cainito L. Kaimito ✓ ✓ ✓ Pouteria campechiana (Kunth) Baehni Tiyesa ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Simaroubaceae Brucea cf. javanica (L.) Merr. Byu ✓ Solanaceae Physalis angulata L. Palpalituok ✓ ✓ J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 98 | Domingo et al. Family Scientific name Local name Availability in the Barangays BL BS LB MN MP SP Sterculiaceae Sterculia foetida L. Bangar ✓ Verbenaceae Lantana camara L. Bangbangsit ✓ Vitaceae Leea indica (Burm.f.) Merr. Alumamani ✓ Tetrastigma harmandii Planch. in DC Ariwat ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Causonis trifolia (L.) Raf Unknown ✓ Fruit is present. Local name languages: IlkIlocano; TagTagalog. BL: Balugang; BS: Bessang; LB: Lubing; MN: Manaboc; MP: Mapanit; SB: Sabangan Pinggan. The value of fruits depends on the number use of reports (UR). Table 3 shows the Cultural Significance Index of the identified WEFs in selected Barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur in terms of usage. Out of the forty-five (45) identified species of fruits, forty (40) of which are used for snacks, four (4) are used for spice, one (1) is used as medicine, two (2) are fermented as vinegar, thirty (30) are used for forage, and three (3) serve as table food and dye/ink. Table 3. Cultural Significance Index of the identified WEFs in selected Barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Sur in terms of usage. Identified fruits Local name Scientific name Cultural Significance Index (CI) values depending on their usage Snack Spice Medicinal Use Condiments Forage Others Alagat Uvaria rufa 0.84 --- --- --- 0.75 --- Al - aludig Streblus asper 0.04 --- --- --- 0.03 --- Alumamani Leea indica --- --- --- --- 0.01 0.01 Anonang Cordia dichotoma 0.03 --- --- --- 0.03 --- Anonas Annona reticulata 0.04 --- --- --- 0.03 --- J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 99 | Domingo et al. Identified fruits Local name Scientific name Cultural Significance Index (CI) values depending on their usage Snack Spice Medicinal Use Condiments Forage Others Ariwat Tetrastigma harmandii 0.15 --- --- --- 0.08 --- Bagbagutot Kirganelia reticulata 0.02 --- --- --- 0.02 --- Bakuog Garcinia dulcis 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Balayang Musa balbisiana 0.07 --- --- 0.03 0.06 --- Balete Ficus benjamina 0.01 --- --- --- 0.01 --- Balingagta Diospyros sp. 0.21 --- --- --- --- --- Bangar Sterculia foetida 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Bangbangsit Lantana camara 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Bayabas Psidium guajava 0.24 0.13 0.18 --- 0.20 --- J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 100 | Domingo et al. Identified fruits Local name Scientific name Cultural Significance Index (CI) values depending on their usage Snack Spice Medicinal Use Condiments Forage Others Byu Brucea javanica 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Gargaruba Samanea saman 0.04 --- --- 0.02 --- --- Guyabano/ Bayubana Annona muricata 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Ipil - ipil Leucaena leucocephala --- --- --- --- 0.01 0.01 Kaimito Chrysophyllum cainito 0.12 --- --- --- 0.11 --- Kamantiris Pithecellobium dulce 0.08 --- --- --- 0.06 --- Kamiring Semecarpus cuneiformis 0.01 --- --- --- --- --- Kamkamuras Morus alba 0.04 --- --- --- 0.03 --- J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 101 | Domingo et al. Identified fruits Local name Scientific name Cultural Significance Index (CI) values depending on their usage Snack Spice Medicinal Use Condiments Forage Others Karamay Cicca acida 0.05 0.04 --- --- --- --- Karamukom Polyalthia suberosa 0.01 --- --- --- 0.01 --- Kasapanglay Ceiba pentandra 0.01 --- .--- --- --- --- Kasoy Anacardium occidentale 0.08 --- --- --- --- --- Lomboy Syzygium sp. 0.38 --- --- --- 0.25 --- Lugo Terminalia catappa 0.02 --- --- --- 0.02 --- Mal -malutot Gycosmis greenei 0.05 --- --- --- 0.05 --- Mansanita Muntingia calabura 0.15 --- --- --- 0.15 --- Oplas Ficus ulmifolia 0.02 --- --- --- 0.01 --- J. Bio. & Env. Sci. 20 23 102 | Domingo et al. Identified fruits Local name Scientific name Cultural Significance Index (CI) values depending on their usage Snack Spice Medicinal Use Condiments Forage Others Pakak Artocarpus camansi --- --- --- --- --- 0.01 Pal - palituok Physalis angulata 0.05 --- --- 0.05 --- --- Pipino - pipino Melothria pendula 0.03 --- --- --- --- --- Piyas Averrhoa bilimbi 0.14 0.07 --- 0.10 --- --- Pusa - pusa Passiflora foetida 0.18 --- --- 0.18 --- --- Raya - raya Ficus septica --- --- --- --- 0.01 --- Salamagi Tamarindus indica 0.04 0.03 --- --- 0.04 --- Sarguelas Spondias purpurea 0.17 --- --- --- 0.13 --- Singkamas Pachyrhizus erosus 0.04 --- --- --- 0.04 ---