Devendra Paudel, Minister for Education, Science and Technology and also the pro-chancellor of National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), unveiled a book named ‘Wild Edible Fruits of Nepal’ written by NAST researcher Dr Lok Ranjan Bhatt over an online conference.

Altogether 256 wild edible fruits (WEFs) consumed in various parts of Nepal are included in this book. They belong to 144 genera under 68 families. The book includes more than 160 colour photographs of selective WEFs. 

The content of the book is organized into three sections. The first part provides introduction of wild edible fruits, and outlines the traditional knowledge, diversity and utilization practices of WEFs in Nepal. This section also highlights the role of WEFs in food and nutritional security, income and employment generation and their conservation and management. The second part includes the brief review of the earlier works carried out on Nepalese WEFs. The third part includes taxonomic description of the taxa along with their phenology, ecology, distribution, uses and nutritional values (if any).

The plant species are arranged alphabetically in descending order. Species information begins with accepted scientific name, followed by synonyms (if any), family, vernacular names, taxonomic description, distribution, ecology, flowering and fruiting time, uses, and nutritional values. Vernacular name(s) practiced by different communities in Nepal are arranged alphabetically while English names are put at the end.