Traditional knowledge and its transmission of wild edibles used by the Naxi in Baidi Village, northwest Yunnan province

Wild plants have gained renewed interest in recent years, and the tradition of gathering wild plants continues to the present day [1, 2]. The collection and consumption of wild edibles is an important part of livelihood strategies throughout the world [3]. Wild food also is an essential supplement to the local people’s daily nutrition in developing countries [2, 4, 5]. Schunko and Vogl [6] mentioned that collection and use of wild edibles are not only part of the cultural history of a region but also are part of people’s local identity, pride, and traditions. Moreover, wild foods can contribute to overcoming periods of food scarcity, and dishes made of wild foods can be functional foods [6]. Wild plant sources and their use are under severe threat as a result of economic globalization, environmental degradation and cultural homogenization [7]. There is an urgent need to document the traditional knowledge of plant uses and conserve its habitat [7‐9], especially where it is not yet completely lost [10]. Wild edibles are not an exception to this fact. It is important to document local knowledge before it vanishes along with the knowledgeable people, in the sense that it is slowly disappearing with the demise of those who have traditionally upheld it [11].

China is a fascinating and significant arena for studies on wild food use traditions, particularly Yunnan province [12]. Northwest Yunnan is one of biodiversity hotspots and is home to many minority groups. Some ethnobotanical researchers have documented wild edibles used by different minorities of this region [13‐18].

The Naxi people, one of the main ethnic groups in northwest Yunnan, have accumulated rich knowledge on using wild edibles. Baidi Village (Sanba Naxi Nationality Township, Shangri-La City, Deqing Prefecture) is located in 27° 30′ N to 27° 28′ N and 100° 01′ E to 100° 05′ E, the Northwest of Yunnan Province, roughly between the two cities Lijiang and Diqing (Fig. 1). It is 103 kilometers from Shangri-La City and 170 kilometers from Lijiang city. The mountain in its territory belongs to Haba Snow Mountain, Yunling Mountain range. Baidi has an area of 8.26 km² and reaches an elevation of approximately 4500 m while networks of streams and rivers including Geji and Yangtze dissect numerous valleys, which make it encompass a rich diversity of plants. The village has 15 sections or groups of the settlement, eight of which belong to the Naxi (Fig. 1). In the northwest of the village, there is a big limestone terrace, Baishuitai (literal meaning white water terrace). Local people believe this place as a shrine and perform various religious activities [19]. It also is a famous scenic spot that attracts the considerable number of tourists all over the world.

Baidi comprises approximately 3000 inhabitants, and the majority of them are the Naxi ethnic minority along with about 25 % of the Han people and the Yi people. The Naxi in Baidi is culturally related to the Lijiang Naxi, but they are usually considered the purest of their race [20, 21]. Joseph Rock, who is a well-known researcher, studied the Naxi people closely and mentioned that the Naxi in Baidi is the most aboriginal among Naxi, and they follow their old religious customs, which are a mixture of shamanism and the pre-Buddhistic Bon religion of Tibet. There are neither Lama temples nor Chinese temples as in the Lijiang city. The Naxi believes that mountains, rivers, trees, herbs, animals and humans, all have their unique spirits. Among these spirits of nature, the Shu spirits are the most important. According to a Naxi myth, farmland and livestock are in the realm of men while Shu rules the mountains and the rivers. Men frequently invaded the territory of Shu creating hostility and fights between men and Shu. Dongba priests, the mediators with spiritual powers, were then called to regain the harmony between them. They agreed that human beings must worship the Shu god of nature every year, in return Shu would provide men’s need from nature and stop assaulting them. In this way, men and Shu lived in harmony afterward [21]. The religion and ceremonies of the Naxi represent the long history of keeping equilibrium between man and nature to guarantee the sustainability of natural resources.

Wild edibles in this article refer to those plants that grow without cultivation, including fungi and lichen, and consumed by Naxi people or local animals. It mostly includes native species growing in their natural habitat, but sometimes managed, as well as introduced species that have been naturalized [22]. In this paper, we documented angiosperm, gymnosperm, fern, fungi, lichen and algae, which are sources of vegetables, vitamin and functional food, forage, starch and sugar, edible pigments, oil and fats, beverage and honey source.

This study aims to accomplish detailed investigation into wild edibles used by the Naxi in Baidi village and evaluate them to identify innovative organic food products. Also, we aim to explore the distribution of traditional knowledge (TK) and its transmission pathways to the young generation of Naxi.

Baidi village is an excellent example of a rapidly changing village where local traditions compete with modern ways of life. Although many traditions have been lost in the past years, the Naxi in Baidi still preserves most of food traditions, especially the gathering of the wild species.

We documented 173 wild edible plant species representing 76 families 139 genera from our ethnobotanical survey. Some species were traditionally consumed as an important supplement to the diet, particularly during food shortages e.g. Cardamine macrophylla, C. tangutorum and Eutrema yunnanense, which also were potential wild food products with high nutritional value. The age factor significantly differred the traditional knowledge distribution, but there was no significant difference in knowledge between male and female informants. The traditional food knowledge of the Naxi in Baidi is dynamic, affected by social factors and communicated with the outsiders’ food knowledge. Overall, this study provides a deeper understanding of the Naxi traditional knowledge on wild edibles. The study suggests some wild edibles might have an interesting dietary constituent, which necessitates further investigation on the nutrition value as well as market opportunities. With scientific evidence on nutrition value and market opportunity, more people will be attracted toward the wild edibles that will help in addressing food security issues along with conservation of traditional knowledge of the aboriginal population.