The Inextricable Link Between Food and Linguistic Diversity: Wild Food Plants among Diverse Minorities in Northeast Georgia, Caucasus

Pieroni, Andréa; Sõukand, Renata; Bussmann, Rainer W.

doi:10.1007/s12231-020-09510-3

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Yet another is the use of a large number of species of ferns. Ferns are typical woodland plants, and their use for consumption may be seen as a vestige of ancient hunter-gather practices, as pointed out by Pieroni et al [ 79 ]. Although their use is quite widespread in mountainous parts of south and eastern Asia [ 10 ], the taxa used in different parts of the continent have not been fully identified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foods from the wild: Local knowledge, use pattern and distribution in Western Nepal

2021

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Locally harvested wild edible plants (WEPs) provide food as well as cash income for indigenous peoples and local communities, and they are of great importance in ensuring local food security. However, their uses and availability are poorly documented. This study aimed to enumerate WEP diversity and status of WEPs in a part of the Annapurna Conservation Area, Sikles region, where the population is dominated by the Gurung community. Ethnobotanical data were collected using guided field walks, semi-structured interviews, and field observation. The informant consensus method was employed and group discussions were conducted for triangulation of the information. Free listing and identification tests were performed to assess the knowledge of the informants. Both descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotanical methods were used for data analysis. A total of 72 wild food species belonging to 46 families and 61 genera were reported from the study area. Asparagaceae and Rosaceae were the dominant families, and herbs were the dominant life form. Fruits (34 species) were the most frequently used plant parts, followed by young shoots (16 species). Most edible plants were consumed in summer and during rainy seasons. While the age and type of informants had an influence on the number of enumerated plants, gender did not. Key informants and people aged 30–45 reported more species than other groups of respondents. Most of the knowledge about the use of WEPs was acquired from parents and relatives. The consumption of these plants was attributed to diversifying cuisine, spicing staple food, nutri-medicinal values, and cultural practices. People perceived the availability of WEPs to be gradually decreasing. However, WEPs are still abundant and diverse in the study area, and knowledge on their use is well-preserved. These resources provide food and nutrients to local people and can also be a source of cash income. Therefore, the documented information on WEPs may serve as baseline data for further studies on nutritional values and provide guidelines for safe collection. The results also revealed that many wild species are under growing pressure from various anthropogenic factors, suggesting effective community engagement is required for their conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foods from the wild: Local knowledge, use pattern and distribution in Western Nepal

2021

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“…The use of food species was not closely related to different vegetation zones in Georgia. This is a specific feature of food plants and differs from the use of plants in other categories, as has been previously shown [ 38 – 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…Over the last years, ethnobotanical research in Georgia has received a large boost, and a wide variety of studies on all aspects of plant use have been published [ 38 – 52 ]. Few of these however focused entirely of food plants [ 38 , 52 ], many of which are still cultivated in small home-gardens. Home-gardens are often cited as important reservoirs for crop germplasm [ 53 – 58 ] and are mostly sources of food [ 59 , 60 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unity in diversity—food plants and fungi of Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Bussmann

Zambrana

Rahman

et al. 2021

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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Background The Republic of Georgia is part of the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot, and human agricultural plant use dates back at least 6000 years. Over the last years, lots of ethnobotanical research on the area has been published. In this paper, we analyze the use of food plants in the 80% of Georgia not occupied by Russian forces. We hypothesized that (1) given the long tradition of plant use, and the isolation under Soviet rule, plant use both based on home gardens and wild harvesting would be more pronounced in Georgia than in the wider region, (2) food plant use knowledge would be widely and equally spread in most of Georgia, (3) there would still be incidence of knowledge loss despite wide plant use, especially in climatically favored agricultural regions in Western and Eastern Georgia. Methods From 2013 to 2019, we interviewed over 380 participants in all regions of Georgia not occupied by Russian forces and recorded over 19,800 mentions of food plants. All interviews were carried out in the participants’ homes and gardens by native speakers of Georgian and its dialects (Imeretian, Rachian, Lechkhumian, Tush, Khevsurian, Psavian, Kakhetian), other Kartvelian languages (Megrelian, Svan) and minority languages (Ossetian, Ude, Azeri, Armenian, Greek). Results The regional division was based primarily on historic provinces of Georgia, which often coincides with the current administrative borders. The total number of taxa, mostly identified to species, including their varieties, was 527. Taxonomically, the difference between two food plant groups—garden versus wild—was strongly pronounced even at family level. The richness of plant families was 65 versus 97 families in garden versus wild plants, respectively, and the difference was highly significant. Other diversity indices also unequivocally pointed to considerably more diverse family composition of wild collected versus garden plants as the differences between all the tested diversity indices appeared to be highly significant. The wide use of leaves for herb pies and lactofermented is of particular interest. Some of the ingredients are toxic in larger quantities, and the participants pointed out that careful preparation was needed. The authors explicitly decided to not give any recipes, given that many of the species are widespread, and compound composition—and with it possible toxic effects—might vary across the distribution range, so that a preparation method that sufficiently reduces toxicity in the Caucasus might not necessary be applicable in other areas. Conclusions Relationships among the regions in the case of wild food plants show a different and clearer pattern. Adjacent regions cluster together (Kvemo Zemo Racha, and Zemo Imereti; Samegrelo, Guria, Adjara, Lechkhumi and Kvemo and Zemo Svaneti; Meskheti, Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli; Mtianeti, Kakheti, Khevsureti, Tusheti. Like in the case of the garden food plants, species diversity of wild food plants mentioned varied strongly. Climate severity and traditions of the use of wild food plants might play role in this variation. Overall food plant knowledge is widely spread all-across Georgia, and broadly maintained.

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Section: მცენარეთა გამოყენების ისტორიაunclassified

“…ბოლო წლებში, მკვეთრად იმატა ეთნობოტანიკურმა კვლევებმა საქართველოში და გამოქვეყნდა შრომები, რომლებიც მცენარეების გამოყენების ფართო სპექტრს ასახავს (Pieroni et al 2020;Batsatsashvikli et al 2020a,b;Bussmann 2017;Bussmann et al 2016aBussmann et al ,b,c, 2017aBussmann et al ,b,c, 2018Bussmann et al , 2020aKazanci et al 2020;Łuczaj et al 2017). თუმცა, ამ შრომებიდან მხოლოდ ერთეულები ეძღვნებოდა კერძოდ საკვებ მცენარეებს (Pieroni et al 2020;Łuczaj et al 2017), რაც ჯერ კიდევ მოყავთ საკარმიდამო ბაღბოსტნებში. ბაღბოსტნებს ხშირად უწოდებენ მემცენარეობის (Eyzaguirre & Linares 2004;Alcorn 1992;Merrick 1992;Poot Pool et al 2015;Smith 1996;Coomes & Ban 2004) გერმპლაზმის რეზერვუარს, რომელიც ამასთან ძირითადი საკვების წყაროცაა (Colunga-García & Zizumbo-Villarreal 2004;Das & Kumar Das 2015).…”

Section: მცენარეთა გამოყენების ისტორიაunclassified

Ერთიანობა Მრავალფეროვნებაში - Საქართველოს Საკვები Მცენარეები Და Სოკოები

Bussmann

Zambrana²,

Rahman³

et al. 2022

Ethnobot. Res. App.

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The Inextricable Link Between Food and Linguistic Diversity: Wild Food Plants among Diverse Minorities in Northeast Georgia, Caucasus

Cited by 12 publications

References 56 publications

Foods from the wild: Local knowledge, use pattern and distribution in Western Nepal

Foods from the wild: Local knowledge, use pattern and distribution in Western Nepal

Unity in diversity—food plants and fungi of Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Ერთიანობა Მრავალფეროვნებაში - Საქართველოს Საკვები Მცენარეები Და Სოკოები

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