ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY AND AVAILABILITY OF WILD FOOD PLANTS CONSUMED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MAN

Wild food plants are essential to human nutrition and significantly contribute to food security in developing countries. However, in this locality in Cote d'Ivoire, they remain understudied. This study aims to inventory the wild food species consumed in the Department of Man and assess their availability in the classified forests present. Semi-structured surveys conducted among 95 households in the sub-prefectures of Man and Sangouine, followed by surface surveys along transects in the Mont Glas classified forest, enabled data collection. The investigations identified 23 wild species consumed by the populations, distributed among 15 families and 21 genera. The dominant morphological types were trees (39.13%), herbs (34.78%), and shrubs (13.04%). The most commonly used parts were leaves (48%), seeds (24%), and fruits (12%). The most frequently cited plants were Elaeis guineensis with a citation frequency of 94.74%, Beilschmiedia mannii (70.53%), Irvingia gabonensis (69.47%), Ricinodendron heudelotii (66.32%), Solanum nigrum (66.32%), and Byttneria catalpifolia (58.95%). The calculation of the rarity index (Ri) showed that all these species are rare in the Mont Glas classified forest. Domesticating these species and integrating them into agroforestry systems would ensure their sustainable management