Wild food plants of popular use in Sicily

Abstract

In the present work the authors report the result of their food ethnobotanical researches, which have been carried out in Sicily during the last thirty years. Data concerning 188 wild species used in the traditional Sicilian cuisine are reported. The authors underline those species that are partially or completely unknown for their culinary use and they illustrate other species that local inhabitants suggested in the prevention or treatment of symptomatologies caused by a refined diet, poor in vegetables. These data want to contribute to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on uses and recipes concerning wild food botanicals, and to encourage further studies for those species that have not yet been sufficiently researched in their food chemical and nutritional profile. These studies may also suggest new applications for a few botanicals in medico-nutritional fields. The work includes also a short review of the seaweeds and mushrooms traditionally gathered and consumed in Sicily.

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

“…Les enquêtes sur les différentes régions ou sur des territoires plus limités (Appi & al. 1979;Corsi & Pagni, 1979;Sella 1992;Arcidiacono & Peacock 1994;Guarrera 1994;Aliotta & Salerno 1995;Manzi 1999;Bianco & Macchackova 2002;Taffettani 2005;Lentini & Venza 2007;Guarrera & al. 2009) donnent une connaissance assez acceptable sur la connaissance de la flore alimentaire.…”

The hidden Mediterranean diet: wild vegetables traditionally gathered and consumed in the Gargano area, Apulia, SE Italy

“…Despite the fact that these plants have represented for centuries and millennia the folk daily foods in the Mediterranean and the Near East, particularly during the winter and spring months, in-depth ethnography-based ethnobotanical studies published in the international literature and specifically focusing on the identification of traditionally gathered wild vegetables, as well as on the detailed documentation of their folk culinary uses, are still relatively scarce for the Mediterranean Basin, if we exclude some areas of Spain, inland southern Italy and Sicily, the Western Aegean part of Turkey, and Dalmatia [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Maps in Sicily: Cultivation, Uses and Potentiality

“…Besides their many classical uses, there are many plants inside Sicilian flora that are devoted to many different folk utilizations; a plenty of them (about 30 taxa, including many Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, Apiaceae and Labiatae), are used as food, raw or cooked, but it is worth to notice that their use, once very common in certain areas, is currently declining due to the urbanization and globalization of eating habits (Lentini and Venza, 2007). Other utilizations may also be mentioned, such as the extraction of dyes (Rubia tinctorum L., Isatis tinctoria L.) or tannins (Rhus coriaria L.).…”

“…In the early 1960s, Bruno et al (1960), pointed at 114 species, mostly herbaceous, as the most representative MAPs inside Sicilian flora. Further studies (Lentini, 2000;Lentini and Venza, 2007;Raimondo and Lentini, 1990;Raimondo and Venturella, 1993) have allowed us to identify with better detail the flora of many small areas inside the region, stating the occurrence of many valued MAPs. Many of them grow spontaneously into such areas and are claimed to play a significant role inside land biodiversity (Carrubba, 2010).…”