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• The Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) for wild edible plant parts in the Shabelle Zone is 0.91 for fruits, 0.77 for tubers, 0.67 for roots, 0.53 for leaves, 0.44 for resin, and 0.35 for stems.
• The edible parts of wild plants in the study area include fruits, tubers, young stems, flower nectar, whole parts, gum, leaves, and seeds, with fruits being the most commonly used part (18 species, 54.5%), followed by gum (4 species, 12.12%).
• In the Shabelle Zone, Eastern Ethiopia, fruits are the most commonly consumed parts of wild edible plants, while roots, tubers, leaves, stems, and resins are primarily used during periods of food scarcity.
• In the Shabelle Zone, local communities utilize specific harvesting methods for wild edible plants: plucking is used for leaves, stems, or resins (e.g., A. dubius, A. reficiens, C. myrrha, B. ogadensis, C. olitorius, M. stenopetala), while digging is used for underground parts like tubers and roots (e.g., I. rotundifolia, S. sanguinea, I. volkensii, E. nutans, C. spiculata, E. grandis, C. exaltatus).
• In the Shabelle Zone, six categories of wild edible plant parts are consumed: fruits (66.6% of species), tubers (8.7%), roots (8.7%), leaves (8.7%), resin (5.2%), and stems (1.7%).
• Consumption patterns for wild edible plants in the Shabelle Zone vary by part: fruits and resin are predominantly eaten raw, while roots, tubers, and leaves are generally cooked or mixed with other foods prior to consumption.