Etnobotanie

Etnobotanie is de studie van de relatie tussen planten en mensen. Het is afgeleid van 'etno' (studie van mensen) en 'botanie' (studie van planten). Etnobotanie bestudeert de complexe relaties tussen (gebruik van) planten en culturen. Etnobotanie richt zich op hoe planten werden of worden gebruikt in menselijke samenlevingen en omvat planten gebruikt voor voeding, geneeskunde, voor de bouw, gereedschappen, geld, kleding, rituelen, sociaal leven en muziek.

Literatuur

• • Amazonian ethnobotanical dictionary. J. Duke, R. Vasquez - 1994.

  • Chinese geneeskrachtige planten. De Driehoek - A.P. Dharma - 90 6030 316 4.

  • Chinese herbal medicine. D.P. Reid - C.F.W.Publications - 0 7225 1563 4.

  • Die Apotheke Manitous H.J. Stammel -. Wunderlich - 3 8052 0406 X.

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  • Medicinal plants of India S.K. Jain , R. Defillips -. 1991.

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  • The healing forest. R.E. Schultes - 1990.

  • Zulu Medicinal Plants : An Inventory. Univ. of Natal Press - A.H. Scott, G. Lewis en A.Cunningham - 0 86180 8931.

Society for Economic Botany

De Society for Economic Botany (SEB) is een Amerikaanse vereniging die in 1959 is opgericht. De organisatie richt zich op de promotie van wetenschappelijk onderzoek, onderwijs en gerelateerde activiteiten met betrekking tot vroegere, huidige en toekomstige toepassingen van planten en de relatie tussen planten en mensen. Tevens heeft de organisatie als doel om resultaten van onderzoek beschikbaar te maken voor de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap en het algemene publiek door bijeenkomsten en publicaties.

Het lidmaatschap van de SEB staat open voor mensen uit alle landen die zijn geïnteresseerd in economische botanie. De mensen die lid zijn van de organisatie houden zich onder meer bezig met botanische, fytochemische en etnobotanische studies van nutsgewassen en planten met mogelijke, nog onvoldoende onderzochte toepassingen. Elk jaar wordt er een nieuwe voorzitter verkozen. In 2001 was Brian Boom voorzitter, in 2000 was dat Barbara Pickersgill, Ghillean Prance was dit in 1996, Paul Alan Cox bekleedde deze positie in 1994 en Michael Balick in 1992. De SEB organiseert elk jaar een symposium met een bepaald thema met betrekking tot economische botanie.

In samenwerking met de New York Botanical Garden is de SEB verantwoordelijk voor het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift Economic Botany, dat elk kwartaal verschijnt. De SEB is aangesloten bij de American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), een wetenschappelijke associatie die zich richt op het bevorderen van biologisch onderzoek en onderwijs in de Verenigde Staten.

Economic Botany is het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift van de Society for Economic Botany. Het tijdschrift wordt vier maal per jaar uitgegeven in een online en een papieren versie door Springer in samenwerking met de New York Botanical Garden Press, het uitgeversprogramma van de New York Botanical Garden. Het tijdschrift verschijnt sinds 1947. Sinds 1959 is het de officiële publicatie van de Society for Economic Botany. Het peer reviewed tijdschrift richt zich op de vroegere, huidige en potentiële toepassingen van planten door mensen over de hele wereld. Elk nummer bevat onderzoeksartikelen, reviewartikelen, boekrecensies, geannoteerde bibliografieën, brieven en mededelingen met betrekking tot economische planten.

http://mens-en-samenleving.infonu.nl/opleiding-en-beroep/33477-schultes-vader-van-de-etnobotanie.html

http://www.stuartxchange.com/

Alpine ethnobotany in Italy:

traditional knowledge of gastronomic and medicinal plants among the Occitans of the upper Varaita valley, Piedmont

Andrea Pieroni1

and Maria Elena Giusti2 1 University of Gastronomic Sciences, Via Amedeo di Savoia 8, I-12060 Pollenzo/Bra, Italy

2 Dipartimento di Storia delle Arti e dello Spettacolo, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via Gino Capponi, I-50121 Firenze, Italy

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2009, 5:32doi:10.1186/1746-4269-5-32

© 2009 Pieroni and Giusti; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A gastronomic and medical ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Occitan communities living in Blins/Bellino and Chianale, in the upper Val Varaita, in the Piedmontese Alps, North-Western Italy, and the traditional uses of 88 botanical taxa were recorded. Comparisons with and analysis of other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas, show that approximately one fourth of the botanical taxa quoted in this survey are also known in other surrounding Occitan valleys. It is also evident that traditional knowledge in the Varaita valley has been heavily eroded. This study also examined the local legal framework for the gathering of botanical taxa, and the potential utilization of the most quoted medicinal and food wild herbs in the local market, and suggests that the continuing widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for preparing liqueurs (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species, even though their collection is culturally salient in the entire study area.

Background

In recent years, only a few ethnobotanical researches in the Alps have focused on the interaction between plant resources and human societies within ethnic minority groups [1-6]. This is regrettable because comparative and/or quantitative analyses aimed at increasing the understanding of how Traditional Knowledge (TK) of botanicals changes across cultures and over time and space are essential if we are to form strategies aimed at sustaining bio-cultural diversity and unique experiences of interactions between nature and cultures, and their transmission mechanisms along generations [7-13].

Furthermore, the Alps represent one of the most interesting but least studied regions in Europe, particularly with regard to the exploration of tangible and intangible cultural heritage related to TK of plants, even though the potential outputs of such researches could be important in sustainability projects focused on organic farming, home gardens, local foods, eco-tourism, eco-gastronomy, and eco-museology; and even though climate change may have a tremendous impact on Alpine biodiversity and related ethnobotanical resources [14].

Although a number of ethnobotanical inventories were compiled during the past 50 years in a few other Occitan [15-20], Franco-Provencal and Walser Alpine [21-23] valleys in Piedmont and the surrounding areas [24-26], no field ethnobotanical studies had been conducted in the Varaita valley. Instead only a few linguistic [27] and ethnographic researches [28-32] took place.

The aims of this study were therefore:

• to record the food and medical ethnobotanical knowledge of the Occitans living in the upper Varaita valley (Chianale and Bellino/Blins);

• to compare the collected data with those available in the ethnobotanical literature of other Alpine valleys in Piedmont and surrounding areas (Aosta Valley, and the French and Swiss sides of the Alps), and to point out the eventual occurrence of a specific "Occitan" ethnobotany;

• to suggest local plant resources of particular interest for sustainable small-scale agricultural/gathering activities and eco-tourism activities.

Methods

Ethnographic, historical, and environmental context

The presence of a single "Occitan" culture/language is one of the most disputed issues in European ethnolinguistics [33], given the considerable heterogeneity of the vast area covered by all linguistic varieties linked under the "Occitan" umbrella. In Italy, "Occitan" languages are spoken in a dozen of valleys in the Western Alps in the Piedmont region [34], where the interest of the media has been concentrated in recent years on tracing this disappearing culture [35], and within a small enclave in Southern Italy (i.e. Guardia Piemontese in the Calabria region).

The focus of this study, the Varaita valley, is located in the Western Alps in the Piedmont region, Cuneo province, in North-Western Italy (figure 1). The valley is crossed by an homonymous alpine torrent, which is 75 km long and springs from the slopes of the mountain, Monviso, in the Cottian Alps near the French border, and enters the Po River near Casalgrasso. From the beginning of the 12th century until 1601, most of the Varaita valley was part of the small but influential marquisate of Saluzzo. The upper Varaita valley, called Chastelada, had a different fate however. For four centuries, from 1343 until 1713, it belonged to an independent federation known as Escartons, which was based in Briançon in France. This federation was a good example of enlightened and progressive self-government [28]. After 1713, the upper valley had a quite complex history due to its location on the border of Italy and France. It was the locus of continuous military incursions in the 18th Century from the French side, and in the 19th and most of the 20th century it saw much intensive smuggling activity.

Figure 1. Location of the study area.

At present, only mainly elderly persons still live year round in the upper part of the Valley. Bellino (1480 m a.s.l.) includes the hamlets of Çelle, Chiazale, Chiesa Fontanile, Pleyne, Ribiera, and Sant'Anna, and has the status of a municipality. Chianale (1797 m a.s.l., figure 2) is a hamlet in the municipality of Pontechianale. The hamlets of Bellino and Chianale are among the smallest Alpine villages in Italy (numbering approx. 15-30 permanent, mainly elderly inhabitants in each village).

Figure 2. Chianale.

Regarding vegetation, the upper Varaita valley presents mainly the association Rhododendro-Vaccinietum cembretosum (characterized by Rhododendron ferrugineum, Vaccinium myrtillus and, to a lesser extent, V. vitis-idaea, V. uliginosum, Lonicera coerulea, L. alpigena, L. nigra, Juniperus nana, Rosa pendulina, Daphne mezereum, Clematis alpina, Sedum anacampseros, Luzula sieberi, Festuca flavescens and Homogine alpine), and the subassociation Junipero-Arctostaphyletum cembretosum (characterized by Juniperus nana, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Cotoneaster integerrimus, Avenella flexuosa, Vaccinium myrtillus, Minuartia laricifolia, Festuca flavescens, Galium obliquum and Brachypodium caespitosum). The total rainfall is 854 mm/yr (Casteldelfino, 1296 m a.s.l.); the climate is sub-littoral alpine, with some continental characteristics [36].

The local economy of the upper valley is based on traditional agro-pastoral activities (cow breeding), but this is carried out in only a minor way. There is some tourism, especially in the summer (alpine walking and trekking). Almost all of the few middle-aged and younger members of the community are employed in the lower part of the valley. Traditional cultivation of local staples (rye, barley, buckwheat) had disappeared by the 1970's and home gardens these days are managed as a secondary activity only.

Field study

Ethnobotanical investigations of the upper Varaita Valley (figure 1), in the communities of Bellino (Celle, Prafauchier, Chiazale, Chiesa, Pleyne, Ribiera, and Sant'Anna, and Bals) and Chianale (figure 2) were carried out over four weeks in July 2008. Local informants (n = 67) were asked about local food and medicinal plants via open and semi-structured interviews (figure 3). Detailed information was sought about the plants' vernacular names, and particularly their past and present uses.

Figure 3. Documentation of a few interviews conducted during the field study (photo: Nicola Robecchi).

Prior informed consent (PIC) was obtained verbally before commencing each interview, and ethical guidelines adopted by International Society of Ethnobiology [37] were followed. The quoted botanical species were identified using Pignatti's Flora d'Italia [38] (with the help of a recent standard work on Alpine flora [39]), and systematically framed as suggested by the most recent checklist of Italian vascular flora [40]. Voucher specimens of the wild taxa were collected, and they are now deposited at the Herbarium of the University of Gastronomic Sciences.

Data analysis

The data collected during the field study were reported using Microsoft® Excel, and a descriptive comparison was conducted with ethnobotanical data available in the scientific literature (e.g. field studies previously conducted in Piedmont and other surrounding alpine areas [15-26]). However, given the tremendous heterogeneity of the methodological approaches adopted in all these previous studies (in which the number of informants was rarely reported, and in a few cases even the names of the villages visited were omitted), it was impossible to carry out a proper statistical analysis aimed at capturing similarities between our data and the data occurring in the ethnobotanical literature (i.e.: correspondence analysis, Jaccard index).

Results

All the quoted botanical taxa (n = 88), including their related recorded local names and traditional gastronomic and/or medicinal uses, are reported below. We have included in brackets the voucher specimen codes and the quotation index (+++: taxa quoted by at least 40% of the informants; ++: taxa quoted by more than 10% and less than 40% of the informants; +: taxa quoted by fewer than 10% of the informants).

Achillea herba-rotta All. (Asteraceae). Wild. Canamìo, Rua. Dried flowering aerial parts (figure 4): tea or macerated in alcohol as a digestive, for treating toothache and headaches, as a mild tranquillizer, or an emmenagogue. Topical application with butter and heated paper, which is then covered with a piece of woollen cloth for treating bad coughs. (CHI-CAN) +++

Figure 8. Location of the Western Alpine sites, where previous ethnobotanical studies have been carried out (numbers correspond to those used in the first column of Table 1; VAR: study area - upper Varaita valley).

Genepì: from an herbal tea to a gastronomic specialty

The term genepì/génépì (synonyms: génepi, génipi) is applied in the Western Alps (in Occitan, Franco-Provencal, and also in French and Italian too) to diverse species of locally growing Alpine wormwood (esp. Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, A. umbelliformis). This term has probably Savoyard origins, and is derived from the Latin Dianae spicum (épi de Diane in French, Diana's ear in English) [41].

The ethnobotany of genepì in the Western Alps has never been recorded specifically or systematically, although scattered notes have occurred in Alpine ethnobotanical studies over the last few decades (Table 2). From these brief ethnographic reports we can conclude that genepí was originally used for preparing herbal teas, and shepherds in the mountainous areas frequently used to decoct the aerial parts in milk and butter instead of water. Following the introduction of wine and grappa (purchased from farmers living in the hills and on the plains), the herb probably was macerated in alcohol as its use as a liqueur began to appear over a century ago in different gastronomic and commodity treatises in France and Italy [42-45].

Table 2. Folk medical uses of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood (Artemisia genipi, A. glacialis, and A. umbelliformis) in diverse North-Western Alpine areas (See Figure 8 to located most of these areas on the map).

This seems to concur with what has been hypothesized in other Italian Alpine regions regarding herbal macerates in grappa [46], which they were considered sometimes traditional "medicinal" preparations. Preparation of liqueurs began to be relevant especially in the 1960's, when Italy began to enjoy better economic conditions which enabled isolated rural communities to have at their disposal larger amounts of grappa and/or industrial alcohol.

This shift is quite interesting since it demonstrates, not only the overlapping between food and medicine, but also how the preponderant role of one of the two domains can be the result of dynamic historical, social, and economic changes.

Nowadays, A. umbelliformis is widely cultivated in the Western Alps to supply the local distilleries that produce the alcoholic macerate of genepì, which widely traded all over the world. Because of this economic interest, local institutions in Piedmont are very active in putting in place measures for improving the quality and yield of cultivated Alpine wormwood [47].

All our informants, however, were very keen to underline the difference in taste between the industrial genepì (produced from the aerial parts of A. umbelliformis only - the only Artemisia species of the three that has been and can be cultivated with substantial agronomic results) and the home-made liqueur (which generally always contain A. genipi or sometimes a mix of A. genipi and A. glacialis). According to locals in the upper Varaita valley, the specific occurrence in the recipe of A. genepì (locally defined as the "male genepì") is crucial for achieving a superb tasting alcoholic beverage.

Collection of local herbs from the wild: sustainable perspectives for the future

A. genipi grows in the study area only between 2600-2700 meter a.s.l., and it is very difficult to find, which is why it is so highly valued. Although the species is endangered and its collected is prohibited in many Alpine areas, in the Piedmontese legislation the plant is not included in the regional Red List and aerial parts corresponding to up to 5 plants per person can be gathered [48].

Locals in the upper Varaita valley continue to gather the flowering tops (locally named "ears") of A. genipi during July and August, to dry them, and them macerate them in alcohol for at least a month and a half (the alcoholic macerate is then diluted with sugar and water, and filtered). In the past this species was probably heavily exploited by the locals in Chianale, who used to sell it (generally dried) to local distilleries both on the plain of Piedmont and on the French side (often smuggled across secondary pathways over the Alps that were passable with donkeys only). Informants in Chianale recalled how this activity provided the inhabitants with their most important income from a few decades after World War II. There is probably still some illegal gathering of this species that provides additional cash to the people of the mountain. A few informants told us that the income that can be derived from gathering genepì (A. genipi and - to lesser extent - A. glacialis) can reach 15-20 thousand Euros every summer for one single household.

In table 3 we report on the current legal framework [48-50], the estimated ecological availability and potentialities for the local market of the most quoted, traditionally used wild herbs in the study area.

Table 3. Local market potential of the most quoted wild gastronomic and medicinal herbs (excluding wild berries) in the upper Varaita valley

It is clear that further exploitation of the genepì species cannot be recommended, however sustainable gathering of other local plant resources (wild vegetables and herbal teas) that are widely available in the area, could be a very interesting way to complement the eco-touristic activity, that is quite exclusively concentrated during the summer months, thereby providing an important source of income for the few remaining inhabitants.

Conclusion

Traditional food and medical uses of 88 local plants were recorded in the upper part of the Varaita valley. Analytical comparisons with other ethnobotanical studies previously carried out in other Piemontese and surrounding areas have shown that: a) traditional knowledge has been heavily eroded in the Varaita valley, and b) approximately one fourth of the quoted botanical taxa were also recorded in earlier surveys conducted in other Occitan valleys in the Italian Alps. Furthermore, the continued widespread local collection from the wild of the aerial parts of Alpine wormwood for the preparation of liqueurs should be seriously reconsidered in terms of sustainability, given the limited availability of these species even though this collection is culturally salient in the entire study areas, On the other hand interesting potentialities for the local market could be tested for other widely available wild species, such as Achillea herba-rotta, Arnica montana, Carum carvi, Chenopodium bonus-henricus, Tanacetum vulgare, Taraxacum officinale, and Tragopogon pratensis.

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Disciplina della coltivazione, raccolta e commercio delle piante officinali. Legge 6 Gennaio n. 99 [http://www.pianteofficinali.org/main/Leggi/Legge_99_1931.pdf]

Onderzoek Pollino National Park citaat

The Pollino National Park (Figure 1) is the biggest natural park in Italy, spreading over more than 2000 km2 in areas of absolute wilderness and cultural landscapes in Southern Italy. The Park first aim is preserving the traditional combination of cultural and natural landscapes as well as the unique plant diversity, characteristic for the region. Since the Pollino area has been isolated from the main industrial development until the middle of the 20th century, the traditional plant knowledge is still alive [16,17]. The particular isolation of the mountainous area, which has been the object of our survey, and its economy, which is still partially based on small-scale agricultural and pastoral activities, represents a good opportunity for conducting studies about local of traditional pharmaceutical knowledge. The vegetation is mainly composed by Mediterranean species: at low elevations, the vegetation is mainly constituted by woods of holmoak (Quercus ilex L.), interspersed with Mediterranean shrubland (Quercion ilicis) and coppices of Castanea sativa Miller. A maquis is present in areas more influenced by man, with typical shrubs (Myrtus communis L., Spartium junceum L., Viburnum tinus L.) and small trees (Arbutus unedo L., Quercus pubescens Willd., Acer monsplessulanum L.). Beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) woodlands occur at higher elevations,

together with Ilex aquifolium L. and Daphne laureola L. (Aquifolio Fagetum) or Sorbus aucuparia L., Sorbus aria Crantz, Quercus cerris L., Acer pseudoplatanus L. and Acer lobelli Ten. (Acer lobelii – Fagetum). In the full area of the Pollino National Park, the presence of 1500 botanical taxa has been hypothesized [16].

....Sempervivum tectorum L. is used in topical applications to counteract headache: in literature [26,30,34] leaf juice of the species, instilled in the ear, was reported to heal pains of the ears.

The folk name of the species is "rume", because it is held to help rumination [8,9]. The plant, used to reactivate rumination and as digestive for cattle [9,31] in central Italy, is another example of a potentially interesting species for future veterinary phytotherapy. B2 type procyanidins could be major components of the polymeric polyphenol fraction of fresh leaves of S. tectorum [31]. A different use of the plant was reported in different regions of

Mediterranean area: the species is reported for treatment of sensory and skin diseases {29].

31. Viegi L, Pieroni A, Guarrera PM, Vangelisti R: A review of plants used in folk veterinary medicine in Italy as basis for a databan. J Ethnopharmacol 2003, 89:221–244.

http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/pdf/1746-4269-9-19.pdf