Ta Chòrta A Comparative EthnobotanicalLinguistic

Authors: Sabine Nebel Michael Heinrich

Publish Date: 2009/02/03

Volume: 63, Issue: 1, Pages: 78-92

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Abstract

Ta Chòrta A Comparative EthnobotanicalLinguistic Study of Wild Food Plants in a Graecanic Area in Calabria Southern Italy In the Mediterranean basin with a manifold biocultural history traditional knowledge is an important element of rural life The use of food plants for example is a practice that has developed over generations and is part of the traditional knowledge system However for methodological reasons the historical development of plant use is difficult to ascertain in cultures which rely on the oral transmission of knowledge Here we discuss the antiquity of noncultivated food plant use in the Graecanic area in Calabria Southern Italy We compare today’s gathered food plants in this ethnic Greek community with noncultivated food plant use in modern and classical Greece using linguistichistorical methods Fourteen cognates have been found such as Portulaca oleracea purslane which is called andrácla in the Graecanic area in Southern Italy and andrákla in Greece The young leaves of purslane are used as salad in both areas Plants with such cognates are likely to have been used in the study region as vegetables salads or condiments since the time Magna Graecia flourished in Southern Italy more than 2000 years agoThanks to the inhabitants of the Graecanic area particularly the inhabitants of Gallicianò for their enthusiasm for this project and willingness to share their knowledge with Sabine Nebel the field researcher to all the members of the Cumelca Association to the mayor of Condofuri Giovanni S Nucera and the town councillor Manti Natale to Zaxarias Kypriotakis Manuel Pardo de Santayana and Andreas Lardos for discussions about specific aspects as well as to all members of the consortium “Local FoodNutraceuticals” The present field research was only possible thanks to the School of Pharmacy University of London the British Federation of Woman Graduates BFWG and the European Commission DG Research Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources key action 1 Food Nutrition and Health “Local FoodNutraceuticals” contract number QLK1CT200100173 coordinator M Heinrich

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