Catching the Green—Diversity of Ruderal Spring Plants Traditionally Consumed in Bulgaria and Their Potential Benefit for Human Health

Abstract

The global climate and societal challenges in the recent years urge us to strengthen food security; thus, the rediscovery of wild foods and foraging practices is also part of the sustainability agenda. Utilization of underappreciated sources such as ruderal plants could be a valuable option, especially for vulnerable parts of the society. We present data on traditional knowledge on spring edible ruderal plant taxa preserved in rural regions of Bulgaria, combining field studies in the period 2017–2022 that were compared to the available recent and historical ethnographic and (ethno)botanical literature. Semi-structured interviews were performed with representatives of 94 households in North and South Bulgaria, focusing on collection practices, used parts, and preparation methods. We list 65 edible ruderals, belonging to 22 plant families, of which 19 appeared only in the literature sources. Unlike in the Mediterranean tradition, edible ruderal plants in Bulgaria were regarded unfavorably, as poverty food. Amaranthaceae and Asteraceae were the most represented families, with 10 taxa each. About half of the taxa were collected for their leaves or whole young herbage that is used as pastry fillings, in stewed, and in cooked dishes. Taxa used in raw salads were mostly from the literature sources. The most diverse utilization was recorded in the southern-most regions of Bulgaria, where immediate tasting of the gathered plants was reported by the participants as the way to collect food plants. The bitter ones or those with an unappealing smell were considered non-edible and were avoided. References about biologically active compounds and potential benefits were collected, classified, and discussed in regard to their potential benefits for human health.

Long-Term Monitoring of the Traditional Knowledge of Plant Species Used for Culinary Purposes in the Valencia Region, South-Eastern Spain

“…Consequently, nowadays the interest of utilization of WEPs as potential sources of cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and probiotics for human well-being is continuously increasing [ 41 ].…”

“…Thus, the use of quantitative and qualitative ethnobotanical indices is relevant for the development of ethnobotany-related studies [ 46 ]. It draws attention to Urtica urens that is consumed in traditional spring plates in Italy, Belarus, Greece, and other Mediterranean countries, while, in Bulgaria, it is not common as a food plant, and only Urtica dioica is employed on a large scale, and the cultivated one has been sold in local markets recently [ 41 ]. In addition, another species widely consumed in Europe is Portulaca oleraceae , which are grown in home gardens but are considered to have a soft and less crunchy texture [ 47 ].…”

“…If we take into account the most represented families, the results are similar to those obtained in another Mediterranean region located to the north (Catalonia), being Asteraceae (9%), Poaceae (8%), Rosaceae (7%), Lamiaceae (5%), Brassicaceae (5%), Fabaceae (5%), and Apiaceae (5%) [ 48 ]. On the other hand, if we compare the botanical families with other studies in European countries, the Amaranthaceae (15.39%) family is also important along with the Asteraceae (15.39%) and Brassicaceae (13.84%) [ 41 ]. This can be explained by the fact that these families are the most abundant in cultivated fields and adjacent areas, where informants have easy access to these plants [ 49 ].…”

Wild species from the family Apiaceae, traditionally used as food in some Mediterranean countries

“…Presence in countries of the The listed 81 wild umbellifers, traditionally used as food (Table 1) are reduced to 75 taxa suitable for statistically analyses (as explained in Material and methods section). These 75 taxa are distributed as follows: 15 taxa in Morocco [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], 17 taxa in Spain [23][24][25], 6 taxa in Sicily [26][27][28][29], 7 taxa in South Italy [30][31][32][33][34], 3 taxa in Albania [32,34,35], 8 taxa in Greece [37,38], 10 taxa in Crete [37,39,40], 5 taxa in Cyprus [37,40], 20 taxa in Turkey [41][42][43][44], 10 taxa in Bulgaria [42,[45][46][47][48][49], 15 taxa in Armenia [50][51][52][53][54]…”

“…From the selected publications we extracted the information about the wild plants from family Apiaceae traditionally used as food in Spain [23][24][25], "Morocco [16][17][18][19][20][21][22], Sicily [26][27][28][29], Italy [30][31][32][33][34], Albania [32,34,35], Greece [37,38], Crete [37,39,40], Cyprus [37,40], Turkey [41][42][43][44], Bulgaria [42,[45][46][47][48][49], Armenia [50][51][52][53][54][55][56], Syria [57], Jordan and Palestine [58]…”