Wild Food Plant Gathering Research Articles

Ethnobotany for food security and ecological transition: wild food plant gathering and consumption among four cultural groups in Kurram District, NW Pakistan

BackgroundIn traditional food systems, especially those of rural populations around the world, wild food plants remain crucial. These resources need to be urgently documented to lay the foundations for sustainable livelihoods and food security.MethodsIn the present field study, we gathered information about wild food plants and mushrooms consumed by four ethnic groups (Turis, Khushis, Hazaras, and Christians) living in Kurram District, NW Pakistan, by conducting semi-structured interviews and holding group discussions.ResultsA total of 57 wild edible plants and mushrooms were reported, with the documented taxa belonging to 50 genera and 34 families. Turis reported the highest number of wild food plants (41), followed by Hazaras (37), Khushis (35), and then Christians, who reported only 11 plants. The most dominant families were Rosaceae, followed by Polygonaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Moraceae, and Plantaginaceae. The comparative analysis we conducted with the pre-existing Pakistani ethnobotanical studies revealed that 23 wild edible plants have not been previously reported as food items in the area under study, which included Fragaria nubicola, Lepidium draba, Pinus wallichiana, Podophyllum emodi, Prunus jacquemontii, Sambucus nigra, Sideroxylon mascatense, and Thymus linearis. Four wild edible mushrooms are also reported for the area for the first time: Calvatia gigantea, Morchella esculenta, Pisolithus albus, and Tulostoma squamosum. The cross-cultural analysis of wild edible plants and their uses revealed remarkable similarity between Khushis and Hazaras. The overlapping pattern of wild edible plant use among these two groups, as well as Turis, confirms the existence of cross-cultural interactions among these communities, which have shared the same environmental and socio-cultural space for several decades. Food heritage and some unique dishes are linked to wild edible plants in the area, such as Zamda, prepared by Turis, and Saba, famous among Khushis and Hazaras.ConclusionThis study suggests that some wild edible plants could be cultivated to protect a few threatened species from overexploitation, while the overall wild food plant heritage should be promoted and revitalized; for example, within educational platforms aimed at improving the wellbeing of local communities and the global ecological transition we must deal with.

Wild Food Plant Gathering among Kalasha, Yidgha, Nuristani and Khowar Speakers in Chitral, NW Pakistan

The documentation of local food resources among linguistic/cultural minorities is essential for fostering measures aimed at sustaining food biocultural heritage. Moreover, interdisciplinary studies on food cultural heritage represent a vital aspect of promoting environmental and social sustainability. The current study aimed to record the traditional foraging of wild food plants (WFPs) among three minority groups (Kalasha, Muslim Ismaili Yidgha, and Muslim Sunni Kamkata-vari speakers) as well as the dominant (Sunni Muslim) Kho/Chitrali people in the Kalasha and Lotkoh valleys, Chitral, NW Pakistan. A field survey recorded fifty-five locally gathered wild food plants and three mycological taxa. Most of the WFPs were used raw as snacks or as cooked vegetables, and Yidgha speakers reported the highest number of WFPs. Although the wild food plant uses of the four considered groups were quite similar, Yidgha speakers exclusively reported the use of Heracleum candicans, Matricaria chamomilla, Seriphidium brevifolium, and Sisymbrium irio. Similarly, Kalasha speakers reported the highest number of use reports, and along with Yidgha speakers they quoted a few WFPs that were frequently used only by them. The results of the study showed a remarkable degree of cultural adaptation of the minority groups to the dominant Kho/Chitrali culture, but also some signs of cultural resilience among those linguistic and religious minorities that were historically more marginalized (Kalasha and Yidgha speakers). The recorded food biocultural heritage should be seriously considered in future development programs aimed at fostering social cohesion and sustainability.

Shared but Threatened: The Heritage of Wild Food Plant Gathering among Different Linguistic and Religious Groups in the Ishkoman and Yasin Valleys, North Pakistan.

A wild food ethnobotanical field study was conducted in the Ishkoman and Yasin valleys, located in the Hindukush Mountain Range of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. These valleys are inhabited by diverse, often marginalized, linguistic and religious groups. The field survey was conducted via one hundred and eighty semistructured interviews to record data in nine villages. Forty gathered wild food botanical and mycological taxa were recorded and identified. Comparative analysis among the different linguistic and religious groups revealed that the gathered wild food plants were homogenously used. This may be attributed to the sociocultural context of the study area, where most of the population professes the Ismaili Shia Islamic faith, and to the historical stratifications of different populations along the centuries, which may have determined complex adaptation processes and exchange of possibly distinct pre-existing food customs. A few wild plants had very rarely or never been previously reported as food resources in Pakistan, including Artemisia annua, Hedysarum falconeri, Iris hookeriana, Lepidium didymium and Saussurea lappa. Additionally, the recorded local knowledge is under threat and we analyzed possible factors that have caused this change. The recorded biocultural heritage could, however, represent a crucial driver, if properly revitalized, for assuring the food security of the local communities and also for further developing ecotourism and associated sustainable gastronomic initiatives in the area.

Traditional knowledge of wild food plants of Thai Karen and Lawa (Thailand)

Gathering of wild food plants represent original practices of indigenous people. The uses of wild food plant species are not only important in traditional dishes but also for the people’s health based on the medicinal properties of the plants. This study was aimed to examine the diversity patterns and similarity of wild food plants in the Karen and Lawa communities, and to identify the effects of socio-demographic factors on the traditional knowledge related to the wild food plants. The Karen and Lawa in four villages in Chiang Mai, Thailand, used 124 species of wild food plants. Most species were used as vegetables followed by species used as fruits, seasoning, and beverage. One-third of the wild food plant species had medicinal properties in addition to their uses as food. The Lawa and Karen used slightly different numbers [114 and 121, respectively] of wild food plants, but with a very large overlap of species. Socio-demographic factors such as age influenced the use patterns, whereas no significant relationship was found between gender and level of education on one side and the use of wild food plants on the other side. Knowledge of wild food plants is diverse and important in the Karen and Lawa communities which, in addition to their mostly agricultural livelihoods, maintain important elements of their original hunter-gatherer culture. We noted that the great diversity of species contributes to the dietary diversity in local communities. These findings may have implications for human food supply with potential to be substitute foods combatting food insecurity.

Where tulips and crocuses are popular food snacks: Kurdish traditional foraging reveals traces of mobile pastoralism in Southern Iraqi Kurdistan

BackgroundIraqi Kurdistan is a special hotspot for bio-cultural diversity and for investigating patterns of traditional wild food plant foraging, considering that this area was the home of the first Neolithic communities and has been, over millennia, a crossroad of different civilizations and cultures. The aim of this ethnobotanical field study was to cross-culturally compare the wild food plants traditionally gathered by Kurdish Muslims and those gathered by the ancient Kurdish Kakai (Yarsan) religious group and to possibly better understand the human ecology behind these practices.MethodsTwelve villages were visited and 123 study participants (55 Kakai and 68 Muslim Kurds) were interviewed on the specific topic of the wild food plants they currently gather and consume.ResultsThe culinary use of 54 folk wild plant taxa (corresponding to 65 botanical taxa) and two folk wild mushroom taxa were documented. While Kakais and Muslims do share a majority of the quoted food plants and also their uses, among the plant ingredients exclusively and commonly quoted by Muslims non-weedy plants are slightly preponderant. Moreover, more than half of the overall recorded wild food plants are used raw as snacks, i.e. plant parts are consumed on the spot after their gathering and only sometimes do they enter into the domestic arena. Among them, it is worth mentioning the consumption of raw wild crocus corms, also still common in Turkish Kurdistan and that of wild tulip bulbs, which was documented to be popular until the beginning of the twentieth century in the Middle East. Comparison with other ethnobotanical field studies recently conducted among surrounding populations has shown that Kurds tend to gather and consume the largest number of non-weedy wild vegetables.ConclusionThe collected data indicate robust traces of nomadic pastoralism in Kurdish traditional foraging. This finding confirms that studies on wild food plant gathering in the Fertile Crescent and Turco-Arabic-Iranic regions of the Middle East are crucial for understanding the possible evolution of wild food plant gathering through history within the post-Neolithic continuum between pastoralism and horticulturalism.

Las plantas comestibles empleadas por las comunidades comechingonas de San Marcos Sierras (Córdoba, Argentina). Primeras aproximaciones.

Introducción y objetivos: Desde la década de 1990, en Argentina se aprecia un proceso de visibilización y resurgimiento de grupos aborígenes que se creían extintos por parte de la historia oficial. Este es el caso del Pueblo Comechingón en la provincia de Córdoba. En otro sentido, se sabe que la recolección de plantas silvestres alimenticias es una práctica ancestral que contribuye a la subsistencia de muchas comunidades indígenas del país. En el marco de la soberanía alimentaria y la etnobiología, se planteó realizar una primera indagación sobre el uso de plantas silvestres comestibles por parte de pobladores que se auto-identifican pertenecientes al pueblo comechingón de San Marcos Sierras (Córdoba). M&M: Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas, listados libres y la observación de un muestrario fotográfico guía, a un referente en tres comunidades comechingonas de la localidad. Resultados: Los entrevistados reconocieron 34 etnoespecies silvestres, correspondientes a 32 taxones botánicos. El 85% fueron nativas y el resto exóticas. Los “algarrobos” (Prosopis spp.) presentaron la mayor cantidad de partes utilizadas y formas de consumo registradas. Las estructuras vegetales más citadas fueron los frutos, seguido de las flores, hojas, cladodios, órganos subterráneos y resinas. Estas dos últimas, junto con las hojas de árboles no habían sido reportadas anteriormente para la región. Asimismo, se aludió a diferentes modos de colecta, conservación y productos culinarios. Conclusiones: Las comunidades comechingonas conocen y consumen una amplia variedad de plantas comestibles. Se espera contribuir a la visibilización de la cultura comechingón y a la consolidación de sistemas de alimentación soberanos.

Trace elements in Plantago lanceolata L., a plant used for herbal and food preparations: new data and literature review.

Plantago lanceolata L. is a common grassland and roadside plant, widely used in many countries in food and herbal preparations. In this study, samples of this wild plant were collected from rural, suburban/urban, and industrial environments; the concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, V, and Zn were measured in the edible parts of the plant (leaves), in the roots, and in the soils in order to calculate the bioaccumulation and translocation factors. The data obtained were compared with literature data available. Except for samples collected near mines and smelting plants, where Cd, Pb, and Zn concentrations were up to 15 times higher, in all other cases, no differences were observed with respect to samples from rural areas, except for Pb concentration, which was 3 times higher in urban areas. In the samples collected in our study area, the metal content does not pose particular health risks; however, even within a quite restricted region like the investigated area, high metal concentrations, possibly due to the presence of particular substrates, were observed in some samples collected from areas considered "clean" and suitable for wild food plant gathering.

Gathering of Wild Food Plants in Anthropogenic Environments across the Seasons: Implications for Poor and Vulnerable Farm Households

This article presents the results of a study conducted in Northeast Thailand on wild food plant gathering in anthropogenic areas and the implications for vulnerable households. A sub-sample of 40 farming households was visited every month to conduct seven-day recalls over a 12-month period on wild food plant acquisition events. Results show that these plants are an essential part of the diet, constituting a “rural safety net” particularly for vulnerable households. Findings reveal that anthropogenic environments have seasonal complementarity throughout the year with respect to wild food gathering and farmer’s gathering of wild food plants from anthropogenic environments complements seasonal crop availability. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of these plants as a household asset and their potential contribution to household well-being. The results of this study furthers our understanding of dietary traditions and the scientific challenge of the partitions that have for decades divided agriculturalists and gatherers.

‘I used to be ashamed’. The influence of an educational program on tribal and non-tribal children's knowledge and valuation of wild food plants

This study examines the influence of an extra-curricular educational program on children's knowledge and cultural valuation of wild food plants, which are an important component of their diets. This program aims to reinforce children's traditional knowledge and values around biological resources in Wayanad, India's Western Ghats, encouraging tribal and non-tribal children to learn from each other and from their own communities. Results show that the educational program has enhanced children's ability to identify selected wild food plants. Moreover, strong social stigma related to wild food plant gathering also appears to have been effectively countered, and the program seems to have created more self-confidence among the children about (a) the perceptions of others' social attitudes towards their gathering practices, and (b) the importance of these plants as part of their diets and cultures.

Organic farmers use of wild food plants and fungi in a hilly area in Styria (Austria)

BackgroundChanging lifestyles have recently caused a severe reduction of the gathering of wild food plants. Knowledge about wild food plants and the local environment becomes lost when plants are no longer gathered. In Central Europe popular scientific publications have tried to counter this trend. However, detailed and systematic scientific investigations in distinct regions are needed to understand and preserve wild food uses. This study aims to contribute to these investigations.MethodsResearch was conducted in the hill country east of Graz, Styria, in Austria. Fifteen farmers, most using organic methods, were interviewed in two distinct field research periods between July and November 2008. Data gathering was realized through freelisting and subsequent semi-structured interviews. The culinary use value (CUV) was developed to quantify the culinary importance of plant species. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on gathering and use variables to identify culture-specific logical entities of plants. The study presented was conducted within the framework of the master's thesis about wild plant gathering of the first author. Solely data on gathered wild food species is presented here.ResultsThirty-nine wild food plant and mushroom species were identified as being gathered, whereas 11 species were mentioned by at least 40 percent of the respondents. Fruits and mushrooms are listed frequently, while wild leafy vegetables are gathered rarely. Wild foods are mainly eaten boiled, fried or raw. Three main clusters of wild gathered food species were identified: leaves (used in salads and soups), mushrooms (used in diverse ways) and fruits (eaten raw, with milk (products) or as a jam).ConclusionsKnowledge about gathering and use of some wild food species is common among farmers in the hill country east of Graz. However, most uses are known by few farmers only. The CUV facilitates the evaluation of the culinary importance of species and makes comparisons between regions and over time possible. The classification following gathering and use variables can be used to better understand how people classify the elements of their environment. The findings of this study add to discussions about food heritage, popularized by organizations like Slow Food, and bear significant potential for organic farmers.