A Study on Awareness and Use of Edible Wild Vegetables in Special Forest Products

Abstract

Purpose: Most processed wild vegetable products are dried, aged, and pickled vegetables. Developing processed wild vegetable foods is necessary to create new high-added value. Therefore, in this study, researchers tried to prepare basic data that can be utilized in various food manufacturing fields in the future through a survey of the awareness and use of edible wild vegetables that require the development of processed wild plants.
 Method: This paper investigated the awareness and use of wild vegetables, targeting adult men and women aged 20 or older residing in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. The survey consisted of questions about the perception, the degree of recognition, and the actual use of wild vegetables. As for the wild vegetable items of the awareness survey, 20 kinds of wild vegetables were selected with high awareness and mainly growing naturally in the Gyeongbuk area. Wild vegetable crops' perception and recognition degree were measured using a 5-point Likert scale. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 27.0 program.
 Results: Regarding the degree of recognition of wild vegetables, 'Wild vegetables have a unique scent and taste' was the highest at 4.25. As a result of the knowledge survey for wild vegetable crops, 'Artemisia princeps,' 'Capsella bursa-pastoris,' 'Aralia elata', 'Allium monanthum,' 'Aster scaber', and 'Sedum sarmentosum' showed high awareness in the order. For purchase consideration, the 20s respondents of 61.3% considered 'freshness' the most. For purchase purposes, 'for salads' was the highest at 15.1% in the 30s, and 'for bibimbap' was 42.6% in the 60s and older. Most respondents did not use wild vegetables for 'green juice' and 'decoration.' 'For side dishes' was 70.4% in their 40s, the highest among all age groups(p<0.05).
 Conclusion: By investigating consumers' use and awareness of wild vegetables, the survey data can be used for distribution and marketing plans for edible wild vegetables, which are special forest products. In addition, the research results on the purchase purpose of wild vegetables, the actual use of wild vegetable products, and the degree of preference provide basic data for developing high-added-value products by using them in various processed foods and menu development.