DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2013.v01i05.012

Pages: 213-216

The present study documents the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants that are in use in Pechiparai hill ranges in Kanyakumari district, Tamilnadu, India. Tuber crops are cultivated by tribals and resource poor farmers from time immemorial that led to the development of several indigenous cultivated plant protection and processing technologies. The study emphasizes the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional knowledge pertaining to the medicinal and edible tubers plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind. Some of them are already cultivated, but others are grown wild as a neglected group of economic plants. They are often used as food or serve as a source of raw material for the production of alcohol and animal feed. The tuber yield of four accessions ranged from 22-25 t/ha under open conditions. There was no significant difference between the accessions for tuber yield, morphological and biochemical characters. Tuber contains 30.69-31.25% dry matter and 17.20-18.86% starch content.