Wild food plants traditionally consumed in the area of Bologna (Emilia Romagna region, Italy).

Sabrina Sansanelli,Annalisa Tassoni

doi:10.1186/1746-4269-10-69

Sabrina Sansanelli, Annalisa Tassoni

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-10-69

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Abstract

BackgroundThis research was performed in an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy). The purpose of the present survey was to record the local knowledge concerning traditional uses of wild food plants and related practices, such as gathering, processing, cooking, therapeutic uses, with the aim of preserving an important part of the local cultural heritage.MethodsThirty-nine people still retaining Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK) were interviewed between March-April 2012 and September - October 2013 by means of open and semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews. For each plant species mentioned, we recorded the botanical family, the English common name, the Italian common and/or folk names, the parts of the plant used, the culinary preparation, and the medicinal usage. The relative frequency of citation index (RFC), a tool that measures the local cultural importance of a plant species, was also included.ResultsThe folk plants mentioned by the respondents belonged to 33 botanical families, of which the Rosaceae (14 plants) and the Asteraceae (9 plants) were the most representative. The species with the highest RFC index (0.77) were Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia (Thuill) Thell and Taraxacum officinale Weber. Eleven folk plants were indicated as having therapeutic effects. T. officinale Weber, C. vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia (Thuill) Thell and Sonchus spp., which are used as food, were reported to be depurative, blood cleaning, refreshing, diuretic and laxative. The most commonly used species was Urtica spp, which was also the most frequently cited for medicinal uses.ConclusionsThe present survey documented the wild food plant traditional knowledge of an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy). The general perception obtained is that on one side the TLK related to wild food plants has strongly been eroded, mainly due to immigration and urbanization phenomena, whereas on the other side these plants are revaluated today because they are perceived as healthy and also because they represent the preservation of biodiversity and a way of getting back to nature.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1746-4269-10-69) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

This research was performed in an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy)
Wild food plant gathering practices and their way of consumption were slowly integrated into the customs of a territory, becoming part of the Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK)
Fieldwork was conducted in a study area belonging to the Bologna province (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy) comprised between the Panaro river, the Santerno river, the Ferrara province, the Apennine mountains (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

This research was performed in an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy). The purpose of the present survey was to record the local knowledge concerning traditional uses of wild food plants and related practices, such as gathering, processing, cooking, therapeutic uses, with the aim of preserving an important part of the local cultural heritage. The majority of ethnobotanical research has been preferentially focused on traditional medicinal plants [3,4], giving less attention to wild food plants, over the last two decades, an increasing interest in wild food plants, even in modern societies, has led to many local ethnobotanical studies [5,6,7]. Several researches demonstrated that many edible wild plants have nutritional or therapeutic value due to the presence of biologically active compounds and, they can be considered as food-medicine [8,9,10]. For example Tamus communis and Humulus lupulus contain a high amount of, respectively, citric and malic acids, antioxidants which are beneficial to health due to their ability to chelate metals [8]; Borago officinalis resulted to be a source of γlinoleic acid and other fatty acids that are precursors to mediators of the inflammatory response [9]; Raphanus raphanistrum showed anti-diabetic and anti-proliferation activities while Cynara cardunculus demonstrated a high mood-disorder regulating activity [10]

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