DOCUMENTATION OF ETHNOBOTANICAL PLANTS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF APONG, A TRADITIONALLY PREPARED RICE BEER BY THE MISHING TRIBAL COMMUNITY OF MAJULI DISTRICT

The main objective of this article is to document ethnobotanical plant species used in the preparation of a traditionally prepared rice beer, Apong, within the Mishing community of Majuli District. Apong in the Mishing community is mainly of two types -Po:ro Apong and Nogin Apong.A total of 48 ethnobotanical plant species is documented from three Mishing inhabitant villages of Majuli district, and quantitative ethnobotanical indices such as relative frequency of citation (RFC) and Use value (UV) were used to determine the cultural importance and utilisation pattern of the recorded plant species. Quantitative indices revealed that Oryza sativa L. has the highest RFC (1.0) and UV(1.6), followed by Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott RFC (1.0) and UV (1.5), indicating its greater cultural and utilisation significance in starter cake preparation.