A Review of Edible Wild Plants Recently Introduced into Cultivation in Spain and Their Health Benefits

Abstract

Before the Bronze age, when agricultural practices spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula, the diet of the native people was based on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. In spite of modern agriculture, the popular gathering of wild species for medical use, food, craftwork, etc., for centuries has left a detailed knowledge on the use of many of these species. Of the 6176 Angiosperms native to the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, over 200 species were introduced into cultivation during the Neolithic period outside the Iberian Peninsula. The names of 30 of the progenitors still popularly used as food are listed in this paper, together with the names of their derived crops. This review focuses on five wild species collected as food from ancient times, namely Borago officinalis L. Prunus spinosa L., Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garke subsp. vulgaris, Scolymus hispanicus L., and Asparagus acutifolius L. In response to great demand, they have been recently introduced into cultivation in Spain and are now harvested and commercialized as new crops. Special attention is paid to their basic bioactive compounds and pharmacological properties. The limitation of this study is that the published information about the bioactive compounds of these five plants originates from different parts of the world where they grow wild or are cultivated. Therefore, further research is needed to trace the metabolomic dynamics of these plants regarding geographical and ecological principles, as well as wild versus cultivated origins.