Ethnobotanical dataset on local edible fruits in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

• Main Authors: Trina Ekawati Tallei, Johanis Jullian Pelealu, Hard Napoleon Pollo, Gracia Alice Victoria Pollo, Ahmad Akroman Adam, Yunus Effendi, Agung Karuniawan, Souvia Rahimah, Rinaldi Idroes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-12-01
• Series: Data in Brief
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340919310364

This dataset describes the knowledge of local people in North Sulawesi on local edible fruits which can be eaten raw or used as medicine. North Sulawesi is located in the Wallacea zone [1,2] and has a high biodiversity of local fruits that are not yet fully exploited. Fruits are available as rich sources of vitamins, fibres, minerals, and phytochemicals [3] for local people's diet and health. Ethnobotany was used to collect data for the documentation of local knowledge on the existence, the use, and conservation practices of local fruits using semi-structured and structured interviews and questionnaire. There were 27 recorded families of local edible fruits, predominated by Myrtaceae and Anacardiaceae. Some fruits were found abundantly, but some were rarely found, especially those which were endemic to North Sulawesi. The fruit trees were mostly self-grown, and the fruits were eaten by the community themselves. In general, they were well aware of the types of local fruits that could be eaten raw. Knowledge of local fruits were passed on from generation to generation. Most people claimed that local fruits which could be eaten raw were also used for medicine and maintaining health. Most of the local fruits used as medicines were not made as medicinal preparations, but eaten raw or cooked. However, most people did not know exactly about the efficacy of the fruits. Types of diseases that were claimed to be cured by using local fruit among others were sprue, high cholesterol and digestive disorders. The possibility of future youth generations to consume these fruits was very high, according to most people. But they were worried that the younger generation in the future would prefer imported fruits. The community in general knew that these local fruits needed to be conserved, but they did not yet know how to maintain the existence of these local fruits in the future, apart from their current practices. Keywords: Biodiversity, Ethnobotany, Local fruit, North sulawesi, Wallacea