Plant Ethnoveterinary Practices in Two Pyrenean Territories of Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula) and in Two Areas of the Balearic Islands and Comparison with Ethnobotanical Uses in Human Medicine

22 p.This paper presents the results of an ethnobotanical study centred in veterinarian uses in two Catalan Pyrenean regions (Alt Empordà -AE- and High River Ter Valley -AT-, Iberian peninsula) and two Balearic Islands areas (Formentera -FO- and northeastern Mallorca -MA-). In the areas studied, 97 plant species have been claimed to be useful for veterinary purposes. A total of 306 veterinary use reports have been gathered and analysed. The ten most reported plants are Tanacetum parthenium (24 use reports), Parietaria officinalis (15), Ranunculus parnassifolius (14),Meum athamanticum (13), Olea europaea (13), Quercus ilex (12), Ruta chalepensis (12), Sambucus nigra (10) and Thymus vulgaris (10). According to comprehensive reviews, a high number of novelties for plant ethnoveterinary are contributed: 34 species and one subspecies, 11 genera, and three families have not been reported in previous works in this field, and 21 species had only been mentioned once. Several ethnoveterinary uses are coincidental with those in human medicine. Although ethnoveterinary practices are less relevant than in the past in the territories considered, as in all industrialised countries, the knowledge on plant properties and applications is still rich and constitutes a large pool of evidence for phytotherapy, both in domestic animals and humans.Research was partially supported by projects subsidized by the Municipal Council of Figueres (XI Beca de Recerca “Ciutat de Figueres”,2009), the Catalan Agency for University and Research Grants Management (AGAUR, projects 2009ACOM00012 and 2009ACOM00013), and the SpanishMinistry for Science and Innovation (MICINN, projects SEJ2007-60873/SOCI and CSO2011-27565). The support of the Centre d’Estudis Comarcals del Ripoll`es is also thanked. E. Carri ´o received a predoctoral grant of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (AP2007-00766). The authors also received funding from GReB (from the abbreviation in Catalan, Biodiversity and Plant Biosystematics Research Group, Catalan government, AGAUR 2009SGR439).Peer reviewe

Wild food plants and minor crops in the Ripollès district (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula): potentialities for developing a local production, consumption and exchange program

16 p., gráf., tablasBackground Wild food plants (WFP) have always been consumed by humans, first as the main basis of their food and, since the origins of agriculture, as ingredients of normal diets or as an alternative during situations of scarcity. In contemporary industrialized societies their use is for the most part being abandoned, but they may still play an important role. With the purpose of advancing in the ethnobotanical knowledge of one region of the Catalan Pyrenees, the present study reports the findings of a research project conducted in the Ripollès district (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula), concerning ethnobotanical knowledge and use of wild and semi-wild vascular plants as foods, along with minor crops. Methods From August 2004 to July 2014, we performed 104 interviews (93 of which yielded data on food plants) with 163 informants, using the method of semi-structured ethnobotanical interview. We identified the plants quoted and kept herbarium vouchers. Results We detected 967 use reports for 80 wild or naturalized taxa, which are or have been consumed in the Ripollès district, the most cited being Taraxacum dissectum, Cynara cardunculus and Origanum vulgare. Certain frequently reported species such as Molopospermum peloponnesiacum and Taraxacum dissectum have only been rarely cited previously or indicated as food plant in very restricted geographical areas. Most cited families included Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, followed by Rosaceae and Apiaceae. Preferred consumed plant parts included leaves, followed by aerial parts, along with fruits and infructescences, while most wild food plants are eaten raw or used as condiments. Demographic factors such as age and locality of informants seem to be more relevant to wild food plant knowledge than gender. Middle-aged people and inhabitants from the Higher Freser River Valley seem to have a greater knowledge of WFP, both in relation to the number of species elicited, as well as the diversity of uses and preparations. To a lesser degree, women seem to have a slightly higher WFP knowledge than men. The consumption of these resources is still fairly alive amongst the populace, yet changes affecting younger generations–in most cases abandonment–have been reported by various participants. Conclusion The information provided by this kind of research permits the detection of those traditional species that could constitute the basis for the future development and management of wild edible plant resources along with minor crops. It also helps to determine the factors affecting their use, as well as the distinct target groups that such programmes could be addressed to.This research was supported by projects 2005ACOM00024, 2009ACOM00013, 2009SGR00439 and 2014SGR00514 from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan government), project AP07/07 from the Institut Ramon Muntaner, and project CSO2014-59704-P from the Spanish government.Peer reviewe

Beyond food and medicine, but necessary for life, too: other folk plant uses in several territories of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands

53 p., mapa, tablas, gráfico -- La licencia Creative Commons de los datos que se han utilizado en este artículo es: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/[Background] Ethnobotanical academic research, particularly in European industrialised countries, has been, and is, mostly focused on folk uses of food and medicinal plants. Nevertheless, other uses, as may well be supposed, account for a significant portion of these folk uses. In the Catalan linguistic domain, a considerable amount of ethnobotanical work has been produced, but to date almost nothing has been published on these other plant uses.[Methods] We basically used the method of semistructured interviews to collect data on names, knowledge and use of plants in the above-mentioned fields from 759 informants in three Catalonian (Alt Empordà, Montseny and Ripollès) and two Balearic (Formentera and Mallorca) areas. We identified the plants quoted by the informants and prepared herbarium vouchers. We analysed and compared the results obtained.[Results] Information has been collected on 401 genera, 552 species, 81 subspecies and four varieties, belonging to 122 families, totalling 4137 use reports for popular non-food and non-medicinal uses (classified in 14 modalities), and designated with 1303 folk Catalan names. The informant consensus factor is 0.87, accounting for a consistent and robust dataset.[Conclusion] Contrarily to what could be thought a priori, and irrespective of the fact that some uses are declining or changing, non-medicinal and non-food folk plant uses strongly persist in the territories considered, are highly considered by their practitioners, and may even imply some economic revenues.This research has been partially funded by the municipal council of Figueres (IX Beca de recerca “Ciutat de Figueres”), the Catalan government (projects 2009SGR439, 2009ACOM00012, 2009ACOM00013 and 2014SGR514) and the Spanish government (project CSO2014-59704-P). We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer reviewe

Folk medicinal plant mixtures: Establishing a protocol for further studies

Ethnopharmacological relevance Most ethnobotanical research bases its analyses on individual taxa catalogues and their uses, rather than on mixtures. However, mixtures constitute an important chapter of our different lines of research and they represent a large volume of information. The relevance of these data in folk medicine could be explained as a response to the cure of multicausal etiology diseases or by a possible polyvalent effect of the mixture as opposed to the effect of each taxon alone. Aims of the study The main goals are: i) to perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of these mixtures; ii) to carry out a comparison among the mixtures in two Catalan territories and their floristic composition; iii) to assess the worth of families association; and, iv) to evaluate whether the plants claimed to be used in mixtures have contraindications or possible negative interactions according to phytopharmaceutical literature. The ultimate goal is to test a protocol that can be implemented in similar studies. Materials and methods We have used data on medicinal plant mixtures obtained from two extensive ethnobotanical field studies carried out in two Catalan districts, Alt Empordà and Ripollès. The quantitative analyses by means of descriptive statistics were carried out with Excel. New contributions like the implementation of the Shannon index to quantify the diversity of families in plant combinations, the creation of a new index to calculate the taxon importance in mixtures, or the use of a social network analysis to study the connection between botanical families have been employed in this work. Results In total, a set of 484 mixtures from Alt Empordà and Ripollès (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula) have been analysed: 462 for human use and 22 for veterinary. Thymus vulgaris and Rosmarinus officinalis are among the most commonly used species in mixtures. The aerial part of the plant is the most used, and the anticatarrhal usage is the most frequent in both territories. A wide diversity of families has been observed in mixtures and reflects a strong bond between the number of taxa and the number of families in each mixture, being almost equal to one. The Shannon diversity index applied to mixtures has the maximum value at 0.86. No exclusive plants are used in mixtures, as reflected on the index of taxon usefulness in mixtures (ITUM), proposed in the present work. The association of families is strong between Lamiaceae (12.12%) and Asteraceae with Lamiaceae (11.69%). Finally, the informant consensus factor (0.85) reflects the strong consistency of data reported by the interviewees. Conclusions The present analysis has confirmed that it is possible to study the data of plants in mixtures as thoroughly as when they are considered in isolation in an ethnofloristic catalogue, and maybe this kind of ethnobotanical investigation could be a first step for future pharmacological studies that may result in a relevant complement to the current phytotherapy market

Catalan ethnoflora: a meta-analytic approach to life forms and geographic territories

Background Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework. Methods Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia were collected, analyzed, and compared, with the focus on plant life forms and geographic divisions. Results A total of 824 taxa constitute the Catalan ethnoflora, and 316 of them are shared by the six physiographic zones recognized in Catalonia. When three major geographic areas are considered (Pyrenean, inland, and littoral), 394 taxa have been reported in only one out of the three areas. Concerning life forms, phanerophytes and chamaephytes together, i.e., those taxa present all through the year, are the most cited (37.12%). Conclusions This first study constitutes a new approach to ethnobotanical data analysis. The results show the particular importance of plants with a large distribution area and plants with available biomass throughout the year. Apart from this, other kind of plants, e.g., those present in only one territory, are of interest for its originality and sometimes for the local significance

Medicinal and food plants in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology: Folk functional foods in Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula)

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/12071

Cuestión de gusto: ¿Qué explica el consumo de plantas silvestres? Estudio en los Pirineos catalanes y las Islas Baleares

14 p., tablas, mapas -- versión online previa sin paginación -- post-print del artículo publicado en Economic Botany. Versión revisada y corregida.[EN] Previous research has documented different trends in the consumption of wild food plants but has rarely analyzed the motivations behind their continued (or lack of) consumption. In this article, we use empirical data to explore the factors driving the consumption of a selected set of wild food plants. We start by analyzing the different trends (i.e., abandonment, maintenance, and valorization) across 21 selected species with different food uses. We then explore the reported motivations that drive such trends using data collected among 354 respondents in three Catalan-speaking rural areas. The consumption of wild food plants is decreasing in the three study areas and across the categories of food use analyzed. Respondents listed sociocultural factors, rather than environmental or economic factors, as more prominent determinants of consumption trends; taste preferences seem to be the most relevant motivation for those who continue to consume wild food plants, whereas a myriad of motivations related to changes in lifestyle were provided by those who explain the abandonment of their consumption.[ES] Se han documentado diferentes tendencias en el consumo de plantas silvestres comestibles, pero raramente se han analizado las razones que explican por qué algunas plantas se siguen consumiendo y otras no. En base a una selección de plantas silvestres comestibles, en este artículo exploramos los factores que explican las tendencias en el consumo de plantas silvestres. En la primera parte analizamos las tendencias de consumo (abandono, mantenimiento y valorización) de un grupo de 21 especies con diferentes usos alimentarios y en la segunda exploramos las motivaciones esgrimidas por 354 habitantes de tres áreas rurales catalanoparlantes en relación a estas tendencias. El consumo de plantas silvestres parece haber sufrido una reducción generalizada en las áreas prospectadas. Para todas las especies, los encuestados mencionaron factores socioculturales, más que ambientales o económicos, como importantes a la hora de explicar sus patrones de consumo. Específicamente, el sabor parece ser el principal argumento para aquellos que continúan consumiendo plantas silvestres mientras que una combinación de motivos relacionados con cambios en estilos de vida predomina entre las explicaciones de aquellos que han abandonado su consumo.The present work was conducted under the framework of the project “Sociocultural factors that explain the gathering and consumption of food wild plants and minor crops. Case studies in the Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands,” funded by the Economy and Competitiveness Ministry (CSO2011-27565) of the Spanish government. The contribution of Generalitat de Catalunya is also acknowledged (project 2014SGR514). E.C. benefited from a predoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministry for Education.Peer reviewe

Herba de les orenetes, flor de Sant Joan, octubre, col d'hivern: diversos aspectes del temps en el saber popular de les plantes detectats a través de recerques etnobotàniques en territoris de llengua catalana.

40 p. -- PDF de la presentación utilizada en el Coloquio “Mirades de la ciència sobre el temps”, celebrado en Barcelona del 26 al 27 de maig de 2014.Peer Reviewe

Las reformas cubanas de los noventa ¿alternativa a la hegemonía neoliberal en América Latina? Promesas y realidad

16 p., tablas -- Post-print del artículo publicado en Society and Natural Resources. Versión revisada y corregida.Because of its potential role in providing ecosystem services and private benefits (food security), the concern about the loss of agrobiodiversity has grown. We explore the links between agrobiodiversity and farm financial benefits in small-scale agroecosystems. We measured crop diversity in a subsistence-oriented agricultural production system: home gardens (n = 250) in the Iberian Peninsula. We calculated the imputed market value of home gardens' edible crops and estimated the association between agrobiodiversity and home gardens' gross financial value. Temperate home gardens harbor levels of agrobiodiversity comparable to those of tropical home gardens. Data suggest that an increase in crop diversity is associated with an increase in the gross financial value generated by home gardens. Our findings suggest that in non-commercially oriented agricultural systems, there is a positive link between agrobiodiversity and financial benefits, highlighting the contribution of agrobiodiversity to the provision of private benefits.Peer Reviewe

Increased amplitude of P3 event-related potential in young binge drinkers

The aim of the present study was to determine how binge drinking (BD) affects brain functioning in male and female university students during the performance of a visual discrimination task. Thirty two binge drinkers and 53 controls (non binge drinkers), with no history of other drug use, personal or family history of alcoholism or psychopathological disorders, were selected. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the performance of a visual oddball task. The latency and amplitude of the N2 and P3b components of the ERPs were analyzed. There were no differences between the groups in behavioral measures, but P3b amplitudes were significantly larger in binge drinkers than controls. This may suggest the presence of anomalies in neural processes mediating attention processing, or an imbalance (increased) of neuronal activity in P3b generators caused by the presence of BD pattern for a long time.Consellería de Innovación e Industria of Xunta de Galicia (grant number INCITE08PXIB211015PR), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain (EDU2008-03400 and PSI2011-22575), and the “Programa de Formación de Profesorado Universitario” (FPU) from the Ministerio de Educación of Spain (grant AP2006-03871) provide funding for this research. They had no further role in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the paper for publicationS