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Wild plants of organoleptic or nutritional interest and food traditions in central Italy: some interesting cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2007

Paolo Maria Guarrera*
Affiliation:
Museo Nazionale Arti e Tradizioni Popolari, Piazza Marconi 8-10, 00144, Rome, Italy
Aurelio Manzi
Affiliation:
Ente Parco Nazionale Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga, Via del Convento 1, 67010 Assergi, L'Aquila, Italy
*
*Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Thirteen wild plants and their food uses in the folk traditions of some regions of central Italy are described. These uses that can be exploited for human nourishment were collected during field research (1977–2003). Some wild food plants quoted are not very well known. The herbs have been selected for their peculiar organoleptic characteristics (Taraxacum apenninum, T. glaciale, Crepis leontodontoides), for their nutritional interest (Bunium bulbocastanum, Sinapis alba, Sonchus oleraceus, Taraxacum apenninum, T. glaciale) and the possibility of their cultivation in marginal areas (see Chenopodium bonus-henricus, Podospermum canum, P. laciniatum and some of the quoted species).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2005

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