| dc.description.abstract | Encouraging sustainable agriculture is very important to guarantee the sustainability of adequate food supply for everybody as well as to minimize environmental disruption. Indonesia has many auxiliary plants, which are beneficial to improve environmental condition, that it may increase the yield of the main crops. Many of the auxiliary plants are edible and could be consumed as vegetables as well. Unfortunately, many of the auxiliary vegetables are approaching extinction since they are incorrectly considered as useless plants or even weed. In order to conserve the auxiliary vegetables, the ethnobotanical aspects, availability, and basic nutrient information of some auxiliary vegetables in Indonesia were studied.
The research revealed that the Indonesian people knowledge about the indigenous auxiliary vegetables is very poor, especially among the young generation. From 103 students majoring in agriculture, 86% of the students recognized less than 50% of the vegetables being asked. Among the 11 reviewed auxiliary vegetables, only Amaranthus spinosus (bayam duri) and Cosmos caudatus Kunth (kenikir), are commonly used as vegetables in the surveyed area (Bogor, Blitar, Jogjakarta, and Semarang). The intensity of the society's knowledge about vegetable is closely related with the availability of the plants in their area. Smaller vegetables such as as Portulaca oleracea (krokot), Marsilea crenata (semanggi), Alternanthera sessilis (bayem kramah), and Cyperus rotundus (suket teki) are less known that they could be consumed as vegetable. Due to the prevalent publications, Centella asiatica (antanan) is more famous as medicine instead of vegetable.
From the nutritional analysis being conducted, Portulaca oleracea or krokot is potential to improve community health. It has 5.44 mg/100 g of B-carotene, 22.19 mg/100 g of vitamin C, and 0.19 mg/100 g of folic acid. Today's the plant is difficult to find, especially in intensively' cultivated area. Portulaca oleracea is almost never served again in Indonesian cuisine. | id |
