Traditional knowledge in semi-rural close to industrial areas: ethnobotanical studies in western Gironès (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula)

Background The western Gironès is a district located in NE Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). This area comprising 186.55 km2 and 10,659 inhabitants is composed of 5 municipalities encompassing 29 villages, located in the hydrographic basins of the Ter and Llémena rivers. Methods Following the methodology based on the semi-structured interviews, we carried out 40 interviews with 57 informants, 31 were women and the remaining 26 were men, with an average age of 78.6 years. Results In the present study, data from 316 taxa (301 angiosperms, 8 gymnosperms, and 7 pteridophytes) belonging to 89 botanical families were collected. The interviewed informants referred 3776 UR of 298 taxa, 1933 (51.19%) of them corresponding to the food category, 949 (25.13%) to the medicinal ones, and 894 (23.68%) to other uses. In addition, 581 vernacular names for 306 species, subspecies, and varieties have also been collected. Conclusions These results reveal the validity of traditional knowledge in the studied area, which can be seriously threatened by the loss of its rural condition and its proximity to industrialized areas

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

Traditional knowledge in semi-rural close to industrial areas: ethnobotanical studies in western Gironès (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract Background The western Gironès is a district located in NE Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). This area comprising 186.55 km2 and 10,659 inhabitants is composed of 5 municipalities encompassing 29 villages, located in the hydrographic basins of the Ter and Llémena rivers. Methods Following the methodology based on the semi-structured interviews, we carried out 40 interviews with 57 informants, 31 were women and the remaining 26 were men, with an average age of 78.6 years. Results In the present study, data from 316 taxa (301 angiosperms, 8 gymnosperms, and 7 pteridophytes) belonging to 89 botanical families were collected. The interviewed informants referred 3776 UR of 298 taxa, 1933 (51.19%) of them corresponding to the food category, 949 (25.13%) to the medicinal ones, and 894 (23.68%) to other uses. In addition, 581 vernacular names for 306 species, subspecies, and varieties have also been collected. Conclusions These results reveal the validity of traditional knowledge in the studied area, which can be seriously threatened by the loss of its rural condition and its proximity to industrialized areas

Algunes consideracions sobre l’etnobotànica i la seva situació a Catalunya

L’etnobotànica és una disciplina que té molts anys d’existència, que es basa en dades que es perden en els temps més remots, però que té una denominació recent. Encara que els estudis que avui duen aquest nom ja havien estat practicats i anomenats —entre altres maneres— botànica aplicada, etnografia botànica o botànica aborigen, no fou fins a finals de 1895 que el botànic nord-americà John W. Harshberger encunyà aquest terme, que va fer fortuna, en una conferència que fou publicada l’any següent (Harshberger, 1896).N

Plantes medicinals i alimentàries en etnobotànica i etnofarmacologia: aliments funcionals populars a Catalunya

Trabajo presentado en el Seminaris de recerca Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, celebrado en Barcelona el 15 de marzo de 2016.Projectes 2005ACOM00024, 2009ACOM00012, 2009ACOM00013, 2009SGR439, 2014SGR514.N

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

Ethnobotanical studies have focused with particular intensity -especially in industrialized countries- on food and medicinal plant properties and management claimed by informants. Nevertheless, the uses on the interface between both areas have not been addressed to the same proportion, although they have a very important place both in ethnological and in health issues. We present in this paper the results of ethnobotanical prospections carried out in Catalonia regarding folk functional foods and nutraceuticals. A total amount of 1,888 use reports from 195 taxa, belonging to 64 botanical families, corresponding to this category have been collected and analyzed. The most quoted taxa are Thymus vulgaris, Allium sativum, Ruta chalepensis and Sambucus nigra, the most cited families are Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae. Aerial parts of the plants are by an ample margin the most used, and alcoholic beverages are the most common way of preparation of the products, closely followed by the direct ingestion of raw materials. The results obtained in ethnobotanical prospections related to the folk functional food (FFF) concept are numerous and robust enough to appear as promising for new commercial nutraceutical products development.This work was supported by the Catalan government (projects 2005ACOM00024, 2009ACOM00012, 2009ACOM00013, 2009SGR439, 2014SGR514), and the Spanish government (project CSO2014-59704-P).Peer reviewe

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

Editors: Diego Muñoz-Torrero, Montserrat Riu and Carles Feliu.Ethnobotanical studies have focused with particular intensity -especially in industrialized countries- on food and medicinal plant properties and management claimed by informants. Nevertheless, the uses on the interface between both areas have not been addressed to the same proportion, although they have a very important place both in ethnological and in health issues. We present in this paper the results of ethnobotanical prospections carried out in Catalonia regarding folk functional foods and nutraceuticals. A total amount of 1,888 use reports from 195 taxa, belonging to 64 botanical families, corresponding to this category have been collected and analyzed. The most quoted taxa are Thymus vulgaris, Allium sativum, Ruta chalepensis and Sambucus nigra, the most cited families are Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Rutaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae. Aerial parts of the plants are by an ample margin the most used, and alcoholic beverages are the most common way of preparation of the products, closely followed by the direct ingestion of raw materials. The results obtained in ethnobotanical prospections related to the folk functional food (FFF) concept are numerous and robust enough to appear as promising for new commercial nutraceutical products development.This work was supported by the Catalan government (projects 2005ACOM00024, 2009ACOM00012, 2009ACOM00013, 2009SGR439, 2014SGR514), and the Spanish government (project CSO2014-59704-P).Peer reviewe