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Ethnobotany around the Virovitica Area in NW Slavonia (Continental Croatia)—Record of Rare Edible Use of Fungus Sarccoscypha coccinea

Authors :
Ivana Vitasović-Kosić
Dominik Berec
Łukasz Łuczaj
Riccardo Motti
Josip Juračak
Source :
Plants, Vol 13, Iss 15, p 2153 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Slavonia is the most developed agricultural region in Croatia. With rich and fertile soils that have enabled the cultivation of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and cereals, Slavonia has always met the food needs of its population. Today, the biocultural diversity of local varieties and semi-natural vegetation has irretrievably disappeared. Our aim was to document the remaining local knowledge of plant use in this area through in-depth semi-structured interviews, which were conducted in 2022–2023. All possible aspects of the use of plants and fungi were recorded as food, animal feed, medicine, construction, jewelry, rituals and ceremonies, dyes, etc. The names and uses of local plant varieties were also recorded. The results show 1702 entries—a total of 296 plant taxa from 76 families and 28 fungi from 16 families. The most frequently named plants were: Urtica dioica, Robinia pseudoacacia, Rosa canina, and Sambucus nigra. The plants with the greatest variety of uses were Morus alba, Rosmarinus officinalis, Triticum aestivum, and Zea mays. Interesting uses were identified. The leaves of the ornamental plant Hosta sieboldiana are still used today as food for wrapping meat with rice, the aquatic plant Trapa natans is eaten like chestnuts, and Pteridium aquilinum was once consumed as a vegetable. In addition, Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Sambucus ebulus were given to horses to prevent and avoid blood poisoning. Some forest species had a special significance and were revered or favored. The most frequently mentioned edible fungi were Boletus sp., Cantharellus cibarius, and Lactarius piperatus. Auricularia auricula-judae is the only species stated to have been used exclusively as a raw snack. Evidence of edible use of Sarccoscypha coccinea, which was reported as traditionally consumed in the past, was of particular interest. Despite the modernization and agricultural nature of the region, many interesting uses of plants and fungi were identified. Further efforts should be directed towards documenting this knowledge to facilitate its dissemination in the communities that possess it, or at least to preserve it for future generations.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22237747
Volume :
13
Issue :
15
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Plants
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.7d6494e2b9ab4826b70910729d7e6b3f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152153