Globally, a substantial proportion of existing indigenous and naturalized foods are often neglected thereby narrowing the food-base available to humans. The current study explored the use and contribution of indigenous and naturalized plants to the households’ food-pool among 12 communities in the North West Province of South Africa. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted among 133 rural households across the 12 selected communities from the four district municipalities in North West Province, South Africa. We analyzed the utilization patterns for 31 selected indigenous and naturalized plants (grains, fruits, and vegetables) among the 133 households using two ethnobotanical indices. In reference to the checklist of 31 plants, the sampled households utilize approximately 94% (29) as staple foods, beverages, fruits and fodder. Sorghum bicolor, Vigna unguiculata, Amaranthus sp., Sclerocarya birrea, Persea americana, and Mimusops zeyheri were among the top-six plants based on the Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC, 40–83%). In terms of the different crop-types, Sorghum bicolor (grain), Amaranthus sp. (vegetable), and Sclerocarya birrea (fruit) were the top-ranked plants based on the Species Popularity Index (SPI, 0.53–0.83) among the participants. Overall, there is a need for a renaissance of indigenous and naturalized plants, which has the potential to encourage rural farmers to further embrace the cultivation of these plants on a larger scale so as to enhance food security in the rural communities.

中文翻译：

---

南非西北省部分农村家庭对本土和归化植物的利用模式。

在全球范围内，现有的本土和天然食品中很大一部分常常被忽视，从而缩小了人类可获得的食物基础。当前的研究探讨了南非西北省 12 个社区本地和归化植物的使用及其对家庭食物库的贡献。对南非西北省四个区市的 12 个选定社区的 133 个农村家庭进行了民族植物学调查。我们使用两个民族植物学指数分析了 133 个家庭中 31 种选定的本地和归化植物（谷物、水果和蔬菜）的利用模式。参考清单中的 31 种植物，抽样家庭将约 94%（29 种）用作主食、饮料、水果和饲料。根据相对引用频率（RFC，40-83%） ，高粱、Vigna unguiculata 、Amaranthus sp.、Sclerocarya birrea、Persea americana 和 Mimusops zeyheri 跻身前六名植物之列。就不同作物类型而言，高粱（谷物）、苋属植物。根据参与者的物种流行指数（SPI，0.53-0.83） ，红果树（蔬菜）和硬核果（水果）是排名最高的植物。总体而言，需要复兴本土和归化植物，这有可能鼓励农村农民进一步大规模种植这些植物，从而增强农村社区的粮食安全。