Wild edible plant species used in the Ağrı province, eastern Turkey

Abstract

Wild edible plant species found in Agri are nutritionally and economically relevant. Plants are collected by the villagers and brought to the market for sale in the spring. Interest in these plants responds to the increasing demand for organic and natural food. In this study, 350 in-depth face-to-face interviews with villagers about the edible plants used in Agri (7 districts, 35 villages) were conducted in the region from April 2016 to October 2017. The species, parts used and their consumption and preservation techniques were analyzed and documented. Some of the wild edible plant species are consumed cured or canned, raw or cooked, dried, and some are frozen. The collected 100 wild edible species belong to 25 different plant families. Species are consumed as vegetables (91), spices (19), beverages (16), subterranean parts (5), fruits (3), seeds (3) and exudates (2). The most important species according to their cultural importance were: Amaranthus retroflexus, Beta trigyna, Gundelia tournefortii, Mentha longifolia, Polygonum persicaria, Rumex scutatus, Tragopogon porrifolius subsp. longirostris, and Urtica dioica. Leaves and young shoots were the most frequently used parts. Our study shows that wild edible plants are still well known and used by the local people of Agri as a food source. The documented data on these plants herein could be used as baseline information for further investigations on nutritional contents, as they could have the potential to become valuable nutrition sources.