Background Ethnobotanical research has demonstrated that several wild food plants (WFP) are used for medicinal purposes. Therefore, in addition to constituting an important source of nutrients, WFP can be used to help treat and avoid health problems. This study sought to characterize the traditional use of plants considered simultaneously as food and medicine by local specialists in the community of Caeté-Açu, which borders Chapada Diamantina National Park (NE Brazil). We also sought to identify the variables that influence the species’ cultural importance. Methods We selected local specialists based on a snowball sample and used a free-listing technique to register the wild plants they knew that are both edible and medicinal. Then, we asked the specialists to rank each plant component cited according to the following attributes: (1) ease of acquisition, (2) taste, (3) smell, (4) nutritional value, and (5) medicinal value. We used multiple regression to determine the variables that influence the cultural salience. Results The most culturally salient species was Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis. The main medicinal effects associated with this species were related to body strengthening, intestinal regulation, and stomach issues. The most salient used species were those that were easiest to acquire and had the highest perceived nutritional values. Conclusion It is likely that the sociocultural backgrounds of the respondents (elders, former miners, or descendants of miners) and the historical importance of wild food plants to local diets increased the predictive power of the perceived nutritional importance and ease of acquisition of these plants.
This study aims to provide a simple framework to identify wild food plants with potential for popularization based on local knowledge and perception. To this end, we also characterized the distribution of this knowledge in the socio-ecological system. We developed the study in the rural settlement Dom Hélder Câmara in northeastern Brazil. The species with the greatest potential for popularization considering the attributes accessed from local knowledge and perception were Psidium guineense Sw., Genipa americana L., Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott and Dioscorea trifida L.f. However, the high variation in local knowledge on wild food plants suggests that species that are not frequently cited can also be promising. The absence of age or gender-related knowledge patterns indicates that studies for prospecting wild food plants in similar socioecological contexts need to reach the population as a whole, rather than focusing on a specific group.
In the Brazilian context, many plants have been marketed under the name of unconventional food plants (UFPs). However, it is not known whether this label causes some bias in product acceptance. Thus, two case studies were conducted to fill this gap. The research also sought to determine if the type of fair (agroecological vs. common) where the UFP is sold, the familiarity with the term, and the identification of a UFP when used as an ingredient act as moderating variables of this relationship. This paper presents data from two case studies. The first was conducted with jenipapo juice through sensory evaluations at a conventional fair and an agroecological fair in the metropolitan region of Macei o (Northeast Brazil). The product was offered to some attendees without giving them any information, while for other attendees, the presence of a UFP and the underlying concept were mentioned. In this context, the UFP label did not affect the sensory evaluation. In the second case study, taioba cakes were offered to students from a public university in the same city. In this context, the UFP-labelled product was less accepted than the product without the label only for students who had not heard of UFPs. The differences between the two case studies reinforce the need to expand research on this topic to identify in which contexts the UFP label influences sensory evaluations.
RESUMO: A Caatinga apresenta uma ampla diversidade de espécies com potencial frutífero, medicinal, aromático, melífero, forrageiro, ornamental podendo ser consideradas como uma alternativa sustentável para a região Semiárida. Objetivou-se avaliar as formas de exploração dos recursos naturais da Caatinga, bem como as práticas de manejo empregados pelos produtores rurais dos Assentamentos Nova Esperança I, II e III (Olho D’Água do Casado) e Maria Bonita (Delmiro Gouveia), Alagoas. Foram aplicados 140 questionários junto aos proprietários rurais dos Assentamentos Nova Esperança I, II e III, em Olho D’Água do Casado, Alagoas e Assentamento Maria Bonita, em Delmiro Gouveia, Alagoas, visando conhecer a forma de exploração dos recursos naturais advindos da Caatinga. O uso principal das espécies da caatinga pelos Produtores rurais é a retirada de madeira para lenha (uso doméstico) e fabricação de cercas; Muitas espécies da Caatinga produzem frutos comestíveis, dentre os quais destaca-se Spondias tuberosa (Umbu) como o mais apreciado pelos produtores rurais dos locais estudados; As espécies da Caatinga são notoriamente utilizadas como medicamentosas de uso popular, destacando-se Myracrodruon urundeuva (Aroeira) e Ximenia americana (Ameixa) como as mais citadas pelos produtores rurais; Os produtores rurais fazem uso frequente da Caatinga, sendo o plantio de palma a técnica de manejo mais utilizada.
Understanding the reasons for the consumption of certain plant resources instead of others has important implications for biological conservation. This study aimed to answer the following question: What are the factors that determine the consumption and trade of certain wild fruit species among extractivists from two rural communities in northeastern Brazil? This study developed a participatory approach to identify the fruit species known and/or used by extractivists. The selected species were presented to the extractivists using semistructured interviews. A Likert scale (from 1 to 5) was used by interviewees to assign scores to 17 wild fruits in terms of local consumption, commercial potential, taste, nutritional potential, absence of adverse effects, postharvest durability, additional uses, temporal availability (fruit), spatial availability (fruit), spatial availability (plant), ease of collection, and ease of cultivation. Multiple regression analyses were performed to show the variables that best explained (1) the number of users, (2) the consumption intensity among users, (3) the number of traders, and (4) the commercial potential. The results showed that the spatial availability of the individual was the most outstanding variable to explain both the number of users and traders. However, for extractivists that trespass the availability barrier, taste is the most important driver of the consumption intensity and the commercial potential of plants. In contexts in which edible wild plants do not form the base of the local diet, taste may be more relevant in relation to other variables such nutritional potential.
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