Nutritional Value of Selected Indigenous Vegetables of Cordillera

Abstract

Survey on indigenous vegetables was undertaken through a partici-patory approach with the local folks who were asked about traditional food plants that are found growing in their areas in Benguet including Baguio City and in Mountain Province. Forty-nine indigenous vegetables (IVs) were documented belonging to 31 genera and distributed to 23 plant families.

Selected widely eaten indigenous vegetables such as: Amaranthus blitum, Bidens pilosa,, Cardamine hirsuta Cestrum nocturnum,, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Passiflora edulis, Pteridium aquilinum, Rorippa indica, Solanum nigrum, and Sonchus arvensis were subjected to chemical analyses to determine the proximate and vitamin contents which will give idea to the consumers of what nutrients they really get when they eat these crops. The analyses revealed that the chemical contents of IVs were comparable and some are even higher when compared to the cultivated crop Brassica chinensis that was used as a control plant.