Determination of the nutritional and seed properties of some wild edible plants consumed as vegetable in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the some nutritional and seed properties of three wild edible plants, namely, Malva neglecta (common mallow), Polygonum cognatum (knotweed) and Trachystemon orientalis (Abraham-Isaac-Jacob), consumed as vegetable in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey. In this study, the plants were collected from five different localities in four different provinces (Amasya, Ordu, Samsun and Tokat) of the region. As a result, the nutritional and seed properties of wild edible plants varied considerably depending on the species and locality. Nutritional analysis showed that the wild edible plants contained important levels of protein (15.71 to 19.96%), potassium (1219.19–1867.47mg/100g), phosphorus (56.89–195.86mg/100g), calcium (282.96–688.32mg/100g) and magnesium (112.54–165.79mg/100g). The length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, surface area, volume, 1000 seed weight and bulk density of wild edible plant seeds varied from 1.71 to 3.11mm, 1.37 to 1.83mm, 1.00 to 1.61mm, 1.41 to 2.06mm, 0.60 to 0.85, 6.27 to 13.29mm2, 1.20 to 3.17mm3, 1.40 to 3.41g and 532.3 to 680.9kg/m3, respectively. The germination rate and mean germination time of seeds changed from 36.33 to 64.67% and 7.00 to 12.67day, respectively. The results clearly revealed that these wild plants had important nutritional properties. Thus, these wild plant species could serve as good and cheap food sources in human diet. Additionally, the findings of this study may provide useful information on nutritional composition and seed properties of these wild plants for researchers.