Ethnobotanical Analysis of Wild Fruits and Vegetables Traditionally Consumed in Spain

Abstract

In Spain, as in other Mediterranean countries, wild edible plants have played an important role in complementing and balancing a diet based on agricultural foods, especially during times of shortage. This chapter analyses the ethnobotanical data currently available on wild plants traditionally used for human consumption in Spain, particularly vegetables and fruits. Almost 80 ethnobotanical and ethnographical works have been reviewed, and the information was included in a database with more than 6000 records. A total of 514 plant species belonging to 74 families were recorded, covering about 8 % of the Spanish flora (excluding the Canary Islands). A majority of these species (52 %) were used as vegetables, mainly in spring. Most of them were perennial herbs of the Asteraceae family whose vegetative organs were consumed raw or cooked.

The fruits of a much lower proportion of plants (15 %) were consumed in summer and, above all, in autumn. Most of them came from trees or shrubs of the Rosaceae family and were chiefly consumed raw. Although some of the species of both use-categories are still eaten, the use of most of them is only in the memory of the elderly. However, there appears to be a growing interest in edible wild plants, which could achieve that this ethnobotanical knowledge that has been formed over thousands of years does not disappear and continue to be used in the future.