Underutilized Fruiting Climber Urges Support for Survival: A Review on Bringing the Nutrient-dense Blood Fruit (Haematocarpus validus Miers) from Forest to Farm

Underutilized Fruiting Climber Urges Support for Survival: A Review on Bringing the Nutrient-dense Blood Fruit (Haematocarpus validus Miers) from Forest to Farm | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Underutilized Fruiting Climber Urges Support for Survival: A Review on Bringing the Nutrient-dense Blood Fruit ( Haematocarpus validus Miers) from Forest to Farm Sanren Pungjung, Kencharaddi HG, Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya, Baluti Passah, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6829029/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Blood Fruit or Khoon Phal ( Haematocarpus validus Miers; Family: Menispermeaceae) is a red fruit commonly harvested from the wild. It is naturally distributed across various parts of Southeast Asia, whereas in India, it is dominated in the North Eastern and the Andaman and Nicobar regions. Fruits are abundant in iron, antioxidants, Vitamin C, carotene, phenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanin pigment. Traditionally, the fruit is valued among various ethnic groups and used in traditional medicine, culinary applications, making dyes, and other beverage preparations. Because of its medicinal and nutritional properties, the seeds and fruits of blood fruit are used to treat blood-related disorders, while the roots are used for relieving itching, and the tender shoots are used for managing jaundice. This climber is found widely in forests and is believed to support forest biodiversity by attracting frugivores and sustaining the understory dynamics of the forest. In addition, fruits show potential for value addition and livelihood promotion through community forest management, forest-based livelihoods, and agroforestry intervention strategies. Though the fruit has multiple benefits, research on its standardization, product development, and broader applications remains limited, and the available information is scarce. The fall in the blood fruit population in Northeast India can be ascribed to habitat destruction and deforestation, excessive harvesting, changing climate, and limited awareness about conservation. These challenges hinder the plant's natural regeneration and threaten the stable population numbers. Hence, this review will focus on documenting the multifaceted significance of the Blood fruit, identifying the knowledge gaps in its botanical and ecological study, and exploring the sustainable pathways for its conservation and commercialization in its natural distribution areas. Forestry Horticulture Agroecology Blood Fruit North-east India Ethnobotany Indigenous Knowledge Cultural Significance Economic Potential Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6829029","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":467007831,"identity":"77ee98fc-dedd-4c1a-b644-1e34668536cb","order_by":0,"name":"Sanren Pungjung","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Forestry, NEHU Tura Campus, Tura, Meghalaya, India","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sanren","middleName":"","lastName":"Pungjung","suffix":""},{"id":467007832,"identity":"c151c4b6-d350-45ed-ad80-9758c106061f","order_by":1,"name":"Kencharaddi HG","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Multi-Technology 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