The importance of a taste. A comparative study on wild food plant consumption in twenty-one local communities in Italy

Abstract

A comparative food ethnobotanical study was carried out in twenty-one local communities in Italy, fourteen of which were located in Northern Italy, one in Central Italy, one in Sardinia, and four in Southern Italy. 549 informants were asked to name and describe food uses of wild botanicals they currently gather and consume. Data showed that gathering, processing and consuming wild food plants are still important activities in all the selected areas. A few botanicals were quoted and cited in multiple areas, demonstrating that there are ethnobotanical contact points among the various Italian regions (Asparagus acutifolius, Reichardia picroides, Cichorium intybus, Foeniculum vulgare, Sambucus nigra, Silene vulgaris, Taraxacum officinale, Urtica dioica, Sonchus and Valerianella spp.). One taxon (Borago officinalis) in particular was found to be among the most quoted taxa in both the Southern and the Northern Italian sites.However, when we took into account data regarding the fifteen most quoted taxa in each site and compared and statistically analysed these, we observed that there were a few differences in the gathering and consumption of wild food plants between Northern and Southern Italy. In the North, Rosaceae species prevailed, whereas in the South, taxa belonging to the Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, and Liliaceae s.l. families were most frequently cited. We proposed the hypothesis that these differences may be due to the likelihood that in Southern Italy the erosion of TK on wild vegetables is taking place more slowly, and also to the likelihood that Southern Italians' have a higher appreciation of wild vegetables that have a strong and bitter taste.A correspondence analysis confirmed that the differences in the frequencies of quotation of wild plants within the Northern and the Southern Italian sites could be ascribed only partially to ethnic/cultural issues. An additional factor could be recent socio-economic shifts, which may be having a continued effort on people's knowledge of wild food plants and the way they use them.Finally, after having compared the collected data with the most important international and national food ethnobotanical databases that focus on wild edible plants, we pointed out a few uncommon plant food uses (e.g. Celtis aetnensis fruits, Cicerbita alpine shoots, Helichrysum italicum leaves, Lonicera caprifolium fruits, Symphytum officinale leaves), which are new, or have thus far been recorded only rarely.

A century of changes in wild food plant use in coastal Croatia: the example of Krk and Poljica

“…Apart from K. integrifolia, only the use of Knautia arvensis (L.) Coult. was recorded in Italy [67,68] The tradition of eating the bitter, asparagus-like shoots of Ruscus (occasionally on Krk, rarely in Poljica) and Clematis (only on Krk) is also worth emphasizing.…”

Les plantes alimentaires de la Sardaigne: un patrimoine ethnobotanique et culturel d’ancienne origine

“…1997;Rau & Satta 1998;Camarda & Piras 2003;Viegi & al. 2006;Arrigoni 2006-15;Ghirardini & al. 2007;Campus & Campus 2008;Signorini & al.…”

The Consumption of Wild Edible Plants

“…Although biological availability is widespread, plant use and traditional knowledge are exclusive to some countries, and the cultural importance of common taxa is very different in each regional gastronomy. Numerous studies carried out by different researchers contribute to important ethnobotanical, anthropological, socioeconomic, and nutritional information about wild edible plant consumption and associated local knowledge in southern Europe (Dogan et al 2015;Ertug 2000;Ghirardini et al 2007;Guarrera & Savo 2013;Łuczaj & Dolina 2015;Pieroni & Giusti 2009;Pieroni et al 2002;Sansanelli & Tassoni 2014;Turner et al 2011).…”