| Summary: | A preliminary survey on application of ’ulam’ or traditional vegetables for health and food was conducted among
Sama-Bajau people from Kampung Menunggui, Kota Belud, Sabah on June 2017 and November 2017. The objective of this
study is to document traditional vegetables that have been consumed by the community and further its utilization as herbal
medicine. Three respondents were selected using snowball sampling technique, and the data on traditional knowledge on
freshly eaten vegetables were collected by semi structured interviews. A total of 33 species from 30 genera, and 19 families
of plants and a species of green algae, Caulerpa lentillifera (Caulerpaceae) or locally known as “latok” have been consumed
as ’ulam’ or traditional vegetables. Other than being used as food source, 7 species also have been applied as traditional
dietary resource and as herbal medicine for postpartum women, treatment for high blood pressure and diabetes , as well as as
anti-aging botanicals for health maintenance purposes. The decoction of papaya (Carica papaya) flower and inner bark of
coconut (Cocos nucifera) have been eaten fresh to control high blood pressure, leaves of pegaga (Centella asiatica) and the
fruit of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) have been eaten fresh to lower high blood sugar. Young shoots of “buluh” or
Bambusa sp., fresh leaves of “ransa ransa” or Cosmus caudatus, and decoction of “kunyit” or Curcuma longa have been
utilized as traditional diet and herbal medicine for postpartum women. C. caudatus is also consumed fresh for health
maintenance and as anti-aging herbs. Meanwhile the fruit and young leaves of M. charantia have been used as bathing
mixture for postpartum recovery, and decoction of C. asiatica has been used to treat jaundice among new born infants. This
result provides useful information of traditional knowledge of ulam as traditional dietary resource among the Sama-Bajau
people, and also as an approach to preserve their practice of applying ulam as herbal medicine.
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