- 1Laboratori
de Botànica - Unitat Associada CSIC, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de
l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII s.n, 08028,
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
- 2Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB-CSIC-ICUB), Passeig del Migdia s.n., Parc de Montjuïc, 08038, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
- 3Laboratori
de Botànica - Unitat Associada CSIC, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de
l'Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII s.n, 08028,
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. joanvalles@ub.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Wild food plants (WFP) have always been consumed by humans, first as the main basis of their food
and, since the origins of agriculture, as ingredients of normal diets
or as an alternative during situations of scarcity. In contemporary
industrialized societies their use is for the most part being abandoned,
but they may still play an important role. With the purpose of
advancing in the ethnobotanical knowledge of one region of the Catalan
Pyrenees, the present study reports the findings of a research project
conducted in the Ripollès district (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula), concerning ethnobotanical knowledge and use of wild and semi-wild vascular plants as foods, along with minor crops.
METHODS:
From August 2004 to July 2014, we performed 104 interviews (93 of which yielded data on food plants) with 163 informants, using the method of semi-structured ethnobotanical interview. We identified the plants quoted and kept herbarium vouchers.
RESULTS:
We detected 967 use reports for 80 wild or naturalized taxa, which are or have been consumed in the Ripollès district,
the most cited being Taraxacum dissectum, Cynara cardunculus and
Origanum vulgare. Certain frequently reported species such as
Molopospermum peloponnesiacum and Taraxacum dissectum have only been
rarely cited previously or indicated as food
plant in very restricted geographical areas. Most cited families
included Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, followed by Rosaceae and Apiaceae.
Preferred consumed plant parts included leaves, followed by aerial
parts, along with fruits and infructescences, while most wild food plants are eaten raw or used as condiments. Demographic factors such as age and locality of informants seem to be more relevant to wild food
plant knowledge than gender. Middle-aged people and inhabitants from
the Higher Freser River Valley seem to have a greater knowledge of WFP,
both in relation to the number of species elicited, as well as the
diversity of uses and preparations. To a lesser degree, women seem to
have a slightly higher WFP knowledge than men. The consumption
of these resources is still fairly alive amongst the populace, yet
changes affecting younger generations-in most cases abandonment-have
been reported by various participants.
CONCLUSION:
The
information provided by this kind of research permits the detection of
those traditional species that could constitute the basis for the future
development and management of wild edible plant resources along with minor crops.
It also helps to determine the factors affecting their use, as well as
the distinct target groups that such programmes could be addressed to.
KEYWORDS:
Demographic factors; Ethnobotany; Minor crops; Pyrenees; Wild edible plants
