Of the importance of a leaf: the ethnobotany of sarma in Turkey and the Balkans

BACKGROUND: Sarma - cooked leaves rolled around a filling made from rice and/or minced meat, possibly vegetables and seasoning plants - represents one of the most widespread feasting dishes of the Middle Eastern and South-Eastern European cuisines. Although cabbage and grape vine sarma is well-known worldwide, the use of alternative plant leaves remains largely unexplored. The aim of this research was to document all of the botanical taxa whose leaves are used for preparing sarma in the folk cuisines of Turkey and the Balkans. Methods: Field studies were conducted during broader ethnobotanical surveys, as well as during ad-hoc investigations between the years 2011 and 2014 that included diverse rural communities in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. Primary ethnobotanical and folkloric literatures in each country were also considered. Results: Eighty-seven botanical taxa, mainly wild, belonging to 50 genera and 27 families, were found to represent the bio-cultural heritage of sarma in Turkey and the Balkans. The greatest plant biodiversity in sarma was found in Turkey and, to less extent, in Bulgaria and Romania. The most commonly used leaves for preparing sarma were those of cabbage (both fresh and lacto-fermented), grape vine, beet, dock, sorrel, horseradish, lime tree, bean, and spinach. In a few cases, the leaves of endemic species (Centaurea haradjianii, Rumex gracilescens, and R. olympicus in Turkey) were recorded. Other uncommon sarma preparations were based on lightly toxic taxa, such as potato leaves in NE Albania, leaves of Arum, Convolvulus, and Smilax species in Turkey, of Phytolacca americana in Macedonia, and of Tussilago farfara in diverse countries. Moreover, the use of leaves of the introduced species Reynoutria japonica in Romania, Colocasia esculenta in Turkey, and Phytolacca americana in Macedonia shows the dynamic nature of folk cuisines. Conclusion: The rich ethnobotanical diversity of sarma confirms the urgent need to record folk culinary plant knowledge. The results presented here can be implemented into initiatives aimed at re-evaluating folk cuisines and niche food markets based on local neglected ingredients, and possibly also to foster trajectories of the avant-garde cuisines inspired by ethnobotanical knowledge

The bear in Eurasian plant names: Motivations and models

Ethnolinguistic studies are important for understanding an ethnic group's ideas on the world, expressed in its language. Comparing corresponding aspects of such knowledge might help clarify problems of origin for certain concepts and words, e.g. whether they form common heritage, have an independent origin, are borrowings, or calques. The current study was conducted on the material in Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Finno-Ugrian, Turkic and Albanian languages. The bear was chosen as being a large, dangerous animal, important in traditional culture, whose name is widely reflected in folk plant names. The phytonyms for comparison were mostly obtained from dictionaries and other publications, and supplemented with data from databases, the co-authors' field data, and archival sources (dialect and folklore materials). More than 1200 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for 364 plant and fungal taxa were recorded to help find out the reasoning behind bear-nomination in various languages, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns among them. Among the most common taxa with bear-related phytonyms were Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Heracleum sphondylium L., Acanthus mollis L., and Allium ursinum L., with Latin loan translation contributing a high proportion of the phytonyms. Some plants have many and various bear-related phytonyms, while others have only one or two bear names. Features like form and/or surface generated the richest pool of names, while such features as colour seemed to provoke rather few associations with bears. The unevenness of bear phytonyms in the chosen languages was not related to the size of the language nor the present occurence of the Brown Bear in the region. However, this may, at least to certain extent, be related to the amount of the historical ethnolinguistic research done on the selected languages

Fraud - a comparative approach between the law of obligation in Turkey and Kosovo

Borçlar hukukunun en önemli konularından bir tanesi sözleşmedir. Sözleşme, getirdiği yükümlülüklerle ilgili olarak tarafların arasında bir sorumluluk ilişkisi doğurmaktadır. Sözleşme "contactus", iki veya daha fazla tarafın, özgür iradeleri ile bir sorumluluk ilişkisini, kurması, değiştirmesi veya sonlandırması olarak tanımlanabilir. Hukuki işlemleri önemli bir kısmında, iradenin oluşumunda yanilma, aldatma, ve korkutma varlığı yasal sonuçlara bağlanmıştır. Aldatma, sözleşmenin bir tarafının yada üçüncü kişilerin, diğer tarafa kasıtlı olarak hataya düşürerek sözleşme yapmak zorunda bırakan, hukuka aykırı bir eylemdir. Buna göre aldatma ile ilgili unsurlar şunlardır: Geçerli bir sözleşmenin varlığı, aldatma fiili; aldatma kastı; ve illiyet bağı. Bir irade sakatlığı durumu olarak aldatma, değişik şekillerde karşımıza çıkabilir. En basta gelen aldatma türleri arasında şunlar sayılabilir: süjeye (özneye) göre aldatma (aldatmanın karşı taraf yada üçüncü kişi tarafından gerçekleştirilmesi), şekli bakımından aldatma; etkisi bakımından aldatma; ve hukuki işlemin çeşitleri bakımından aldatma. Bu çalışmada, aldatmanın sonuçları da irdelenmiştir. Yukarıda sözü geçen tüm bu konular, Türk Borçlar Kanunu (TBK) ve Kosova Sorumluluk İlişkileri Kanunu (KSİK) karşılaştırılarak tartışılmıştır. Bu çalışmada tarihsel bir arka planın yanı sıra, değişik ülkelerin yürürlükteki yasal düzenlemelerinde hile, hata ve tehdit, karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiş ve sonuca yer verilmiştir. Bu sebeple, çalışmada disiplinler arası bilimsel yöntemler, analiz, sentez, yorum ve karşılaştırma yöntemleri kullanılmıştır.--------------------One of the key elements of the Law on Obligations is the contract, which represents an obligational relationship between the contracting parties with a focus on promoting obligations. A contract “contractus” is defined as the consent of will of two or more parties for the purpose of creating, amending or terminating an obligational relationship. In a significant number of cases, legal transactions are created with the presence of a defect of consent, including fraud, mistake and duress. Fraud is an unlawful act by which the contracting party has been induced to enter into a contract through a willful mistake by the other party, or a third person. According to this clause, the elements relating to fraud are: a fraudulent act; the purpose of fraud; and a causal relationship. Fraud as a defect in consent in concluding contracts can appear in different forms. The main types of fraud are considered to be: fraud by a fraudulent entity; fraud by the manner of the fraudulent act; fraud according to the importance of facts; fraud related to the types of contract, etc. Furthermore, in this article we will discuss the consequences of fraud, when the deceived party has a right to rescind contact, reclaims restitution of everything the have been performed, and to compensation for damage. All these issues would be elaborated compared between Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO), and Law on Obligational Relationships of Kosovo (LORK). Certainly, the historical overview, a comparative approach to some other countries legislation, comparing and contrasting fraud with mistake and duress, and finally, the conclusions will also be proposed. Therefore, to reach relevant scientific results, it was necessary to approach this issue through an interdisciplinary, analysis and synthesis, descriptive, and comparison methodology

Fraud - a comparative approach between the law of obligation in Turkey and Kosovo

Borçlar hukukunun en önemli konularından bir tanesi sözleşmedir. Sözleşme, getirdiği yükümlülüklerle ilgili olarak tarafların arasında bir sorumluluk ilişkisi doğurmaktadır. Sözleşme "contactus", iki veya daha fazla tarafın, özgür iradeleri ile bir sorumluluk ilişkisini, kurması, değiştirmesi veya sonlandırması olarak tanımlanabilir. Hukuki işlemleri önemli bir kısmında, iradenin oluşumunda yanilma, aldatma, ve korkutma varlığı yasal sonuçlara bağlanmıştır. Aldatma, sözleşmenin bir tarafının yada üçüncü kişilerin, diğer tarafa kasıtlı olarak hataya düşürerek sözleşme yapmak zorunda bırakan, hukuka aykırı bir eylemdir. Buna göre aldatma ile ilgili unsurlar şunlardır: Geçerli bir sözleşmenin varlığı, aldatma fiili; aldatma kastı; ve illiyet bağı. Bir irade sakatlığı durumu olarak aldatma, değişik şekillerde karşımıza çıkabilir. En basta gelen aldatma türleri arasında şunlar sayılabilir: süjeye (özneye) göre aldatma (aldatmanın karşı taraf yada üçüncü kişi tarafından gerçekleştirilmesi), şekli bakımından aldatma; etkisi bakımından aldatma; ve hukuki işlemin çeşitleri bakımından aldatma. Bu çalışmada, aldatmanın sonuçları da irdelenmiştir. Yukarıda sözü geçen tüm bu konular, Türk Borçlar Kanunu (TBK) ve Kosova Sorumluluk İlişkileri Kanunu (KSİK) karşılaştırılarak tartışılmıştır. Bu çalışmada tarihsel bir arka planın yanı sıra, değişik ülkelerin yürürlükteki yasal düzenlemelerinde hile, hata ve tehdit, karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiş ve sonuca yer verilmiştir. Bu sebeple, çalışmada disiplinler arası bilimsel yöntemler, analiz, sentez, yorum ve karşılaştırma yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. -------------------- One of the key elements of the Law on Obligations is the contract, which represents an obligational relationship between the contracting parties with a focus on promoting obligations. A contract “contractus” is defined as the consent of will of two or more parties for the purpose of creating, amending or terminating an obligational relationship. In a significant number of cases, legal transactions are created with the presence of a defect of consent, including fraud, mistake and duress. Fraud is an unlawful act by which the contracting party has been induced to enter into a contract through a willful mistake by the other party, or a third person. According to this clause, the elements relating to fraud are: a fraudulent act; the purpose of fraud; and a causal relationship. Fraud as a defect in consent in concluding contracts can appear in different forms. The main types of fraud are considered to be: fraud by a fraudulent entity; fraud by the manner of the fraudulent act; fraud according to the importance of facts; fraud related to the types of contract, etc. Furthermore, in this article we will discuss the consequences of fraud, when the deceived party has a right to rescind contact, reclaims restitution of everything the have been performed, and to compensation for damage. All these issues would be elaborated compared between Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO), and Law on Obligational Relationships of Kosovo (LORK). Certainly, the historical overview, a comparative approach to some other countries legislation, comparing and contrasting fraud with mistake and duress, and finally, the conclusions will also be proposed. Therefore, to reach relevant scientific results, it was necessary to approach this issue through an interdisciplinary, analysis and synthesis, descriptive, and comparison methodology

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oils of different Pinus species from Kosovo

Chemical profile, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of total and fractionated essential oils (EOs) derived from Pinus heldreichii, P. peuce, P. mugo, Pinus nigra and P. sylvestris, along with the volatiles profile (VOCs) of needles of these species were investigated. The EOs and their fractions (direct solid phase extraction, SPE) were analysed by GC-MS, while VOCs of needles were determined by HS-SPME-GC-MS. 112 compounds were identified in EOs and their fractions. The same trend was observed in the needles\u2019 VOCs. The EOs antioxidant activities were lower than those of the corresponding fractions, with F2 the strongest in all cases. EOs and fractions showed different degrees of antibacterial efficacy against different microbial pathogens. The components responsible for the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity were oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. These activities seem to be regulated by reciprocal interactions among the different subclasses of phytochemical species present in the EOs