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Indian horse chestnut [Aesculus indica (Wall. ex Cambress.) Hook. Hippocastanaceae]: a wild forest tree used for food and medicine by the tribes of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

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Abstract

Aesculus indica, the Indian Horse Chestnut (IHCN), is a wild tree species indigenous to the temperate forests of the Himalayas. The seeds of this tree are abundant in carbohydrates but are not edible because they contain a very significant quantity of bitter saponins. Indigenous tribes in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh possess a unique traditional knowledge of separating saponins and other impurities from starch. Once this process is over, the resultant product is used as food and medicine. The starch complex, locally known as Seek, is used to prepare several dishes for auspicious occasions. Seek is used as a noncereal diet during fasting, and to keep young children and the elderly warm during the chilly winter months. The local population utilizes the seeds to treat ailments like joint pain, fatigue, diabetes, venous insufficiency, phlebitis, hemorrhoids, ulcers, thrombosis, colic, etc. IHCN has a high energy value, superior starch quality, and a variety of secondary metabolites. These qualities make it a promising raw material for the nutraceutical, functional food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. The utilization of plant components through local indigenous knowledge, as well as their distribution, botany, and ecology, have been described in the present study. Inventorization of the production and productivity of the tree, selection of better and high-yielding germplasm, mechanized processing, value addition, and popularization would be helpful to develop sustainable management practices for IHCN and improve the livelihood and nutritional security of the tribal population residing in the remote localities of Western Himalayas.

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Acknowledgements

The authors put on record their sincere gratitude to The Himachal Pradesh Forest Department, India, for facilitating the study. We especially thank Mr. Vinay and Mr. Vinod from the Chamba Forest Division, for accompanying the crew on the trip to the inaccessible settlements. We really appreciate the interaction and information exchange among the residents of the surveyed villages. We would like to express our gratitude to Mrs. Pinki Devi (from Luna village), Thakuru Ram (from Motru village), Mrs. Meena Singh (from Uchka village), and Mrs. Arti Thakur (from Village Preena) for the translation of local dialect during the demonstration of seek preparation in the villages. We respectfully thank the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for the research grant provided as part of the National Mission for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem II. The authors are thankful to the Director, ICAR-NBPGR, and New Delhi for facilitating the research.

Funding

The work was supported by the financial support of the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India under the project “National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, 110012, India

    K. P. Mohapatra, Sapna Langyan, Suresh Sarkar, Saurabh Kumar, D. P. Semwal,  Soyimchiten & Puran Chandra

  2. Chamba Forest Division, HP Forest Department, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Rajneesh Mahajan

  3. DFO, Dalhousie Forest Division, HP Forest Department, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Rajneesh Mahajan

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  1. K. P. Mohapatra
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Correspondence to Puran Chandra.

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Mohapatra, K.P., Mahajan, R., Langyan, S. et al. Indian horse chestnut [Aesculus indica (Wall. ex Cambress.) Hook. Hippocastanaceae]: a wild forest tree used for food and medicine by the tribes of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India. Genet Resour Crop Evol 71, 539–547 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-023-01720-7

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