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Review
. 2021 Mar 16;10(3):563.
doi: 10.3390/plants10030563.

Wild Plants Used as Herbs and Spices in Italy: An Ethnobotanical Review

Riccardo Motti  1
Affiliations
Review

Wild Plants Used as Herbs and Spices in Italy: An Ethnobotanical Review

Riccardo Motti. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Wild edible plants are an essential component of people's diets in the Mediterranean basin. In Italy, ethnobotanical surveys have received increasing attention in the past two centuries, with some of these studies focusing on wild edible plants. In this regard, the literature in Italy lacks the coverage of some major issues focusing on plants used as herbs and spices. I searched national journals for articles on the use of wild food plants in Italy, published from 1963 to 2020. Aims of the present review were to document plant lore regarding wild herbs and spices in Italy, identify the wild plants most frequently used as spices, analyze the distribution of wild herbs and spices used at a national scale, and finally, to describe the most common phytochemical compounds present in wild plant species. Based on the 34 studies reviewed, I documented 78 wild taxa as being used in Italy as herbs or spices. The studies I included in this systematic review demonstrate that wild species used as herbs and spices enrich Italian folk cuisine and can represent an important resource for profitable, integrated local small-scale activities.

Keywords: Italy; ethnobotany; food plants; herbs; spices.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of species used per Italian regions (a) and EI for each region (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Most cited species in all Italian regions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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