Integration and management of plants as functional foods and medicines in home farms and vineyards of Southern Italy

Cassandra Quave

ABSTRACT
In rural south Italian communities, plants are commonly gathered for food and medicine. The objectives of this study were to identify food and medicinal plants used by autochthonous Italians in traditional culinary and medical practices and to document agroecological management schemes.
Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation. Prior informed consent was obtained. Duplicate voucher specimens of all species cited were collected for deposit at herbaria.
I found that wild herbaceous species represent a large component of plants used in traditional culinary and medical practices. Roughly one-third of all medicinal species used are managed in the wild. In conclusion, traditional agroecological practices play a vital role in increasing the availability of commonly used medicinal and food plants.\

Figure 1. In addition to grape vines, family vineyards abound with fruit and nut trees, and seasonal crops. The regular disturbance of the soil provides a wonderful environment for wild edible greens and medicinal plants.

INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, it has become obvious that food and medicine are closely related1. Plants may be used both as medicine and food and it is difficult to draw a line between these two groups: food may be medicine, and vice versa. For example, many studies on potential health benefiting aspects of traditional foods show that such plants have specific pharmacological effects.
In the Mediterranean, only very few ethnobotanical surveys2,3 have paid specific attention to this aspect even though Mediterranean dietary traditions and consumption of vegetables and olive oil have often been correlated with a lower rate of coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and with a greater longevity amongst the population4,5,6. Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmaceutical surveys in southern Europe have mostly dealt with popular phytotherapeutical remedies and little attention has been paid to functional foods, or foods with health benefiting properties.
Southern Italy is represented by a rich cultural history that involves the integration of wild and locally cultivated plants in many aspects of daily life. The Basilicata Province, also known as Lucania, is characterized as having a strong dependence on small scale agriculture and members of small communities continue to maintain strong ties with the land. Plants are commonly gathered in the wild as sources of food and medicine. In addition, certain plants with medicinal properties are integrated into home gardens and family vineyards.
The domestication of plants has evolved over thousands of years and we seldom have the opportunity to observe the process in which this occurs. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how ancillary species with perceived health-benefiting properties are integrated into home gardens and family vineyards, and furthermore, to understand the relative importance of these species in relationship with the management of primary crops, such as olive trees, wheat, and grapes.

Figure 2.
Wild borage (Borago officinalis L. [Boraginaceae]) is used as a functional food. It is eaten in a soup as a galactagogue and to lower cholesterol.

MATERIALS & METHODS
Field research was conducted in the Vulture-Alto Bradano region of Basilicata, south Italy from April-August 2006. Interviews with 112 informants were conducted using a semi-structured format. Participant observation and focus group techniques were also employed in data collection. Prior informed consent was obtained as approved by the FIU Institutional Review Board for human subjects (#120505-01). Voucher specimens7 of all quoted species were made in duplicate for deposit at the Herbarium Lucanum, Universitá degli Studi della Basilicata Italy and at the Herbarium of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami, FL. Nomenclature follows the standard botanical work Flora d'Italia8. A total of 45 kg of dry bulk plant material was collected and shipped to FIU CENaP for bioassays (USDA Permit DP63438).

Figure 3. Marsh mallow (Malva sylvestris L. [Malvaceae]) grows in disturbed sites in vineyards and on the ecotomal zones between local roads and durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf. [Poaceae]) fields. This plant serves a variety of purposes in the local pharmacopoeia, including: anti-dermatitis, anti-bruise, against toothache, anti-furuncle, and against respiratory ailments.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
It is evident that wild plants are valuable sources of foods, functional foods, and medicines in the study region. In fact, 68% of medicinal plants collected annually occur in the wild. Many of these species are integrated into traditional agricultural practices, particularly in regard to the agroecological management of family vineyards. Wild medicinal and food plants often occupy sites that are regularly disturbed (where the soil is tilled) for the upkeep of grape vines and other seasonal crops. In particular, the ecotomal regions bordering vineyards, grain fields, and roadsides are heavily occupied with many of these useful species.
Active management of many wild species is most predominant in family vineyards and ecotomal zones, but limited in secondary forests. Most of these species are herbaceous in habit, and considered to be "weeds", or foglie (leaves) by many. Yet, these weedy greens have played a critical role in the past in meeting dietary needs during periods of famine (especially during WWII) and medical needs as important components to the local pharmacopoeia. A consensus index of the most widely recognized and used species confirmed that 6 of the 9 most valued plants cited are, in fact, wild species that are actively managed. Management of plants is undertaken through the creation of disturbed soil plots and selective "weeding" practices, in which useful species are left to grow. In addition, the lack of herbicides in traditional farming permits the unrestrained growth of these important non-cultivars. Roughly one-third of medicinal species utilized in the traditional pharmacopoeia are integrated into the south Italian agroecological scheme in this way. Thus, traditional agroecological practices play a vital role in increasing the availability of both wild medicinal and food plants.
Research on the medicinal, or nutraceutical value of many of these plants has demonstrated high antioxidant activity and potential as therapeutic agents for the prevention of chronic disease such as diabetes, stroke, and coronary heart disease9. Conserving traditional knowledge regarding the use of plants and the agroecological systems in which they are managed is of utmost importance, not only for the biocultural conservation of the communities and environments studied, but also for future medical advances in the prevention and management of chronic, diet-related diseases.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding for this study was provided by: USDA CSREES #2005-38422-15940, NIH NCCAM #1-T32-AT01060-01, and Botany in Action. Special thanks to Dr. Bradley C. Bennett, Dr. Carmine Colacino, and Dr. Andrea Pieroni for assisting in the taxonomic identification of some species collected and to the following people for logistical support during field research: Donato Caputo, Milagros Prieto, Marco Caputo, Rosanna Caputo, Antonello Fiore, and Donato Carbone. Lastly, I would like to extend a very special thanks to all of the study participants who graciously shared a wealth of knowledge regarding the traditional agricultural and medical practices of their communities.

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