Ethnobotanical Survey on the Diversity and Value of Wild Food Species (WFP) In Sirjan, Iran

Plants constitute the main portion of human diet worldwide. It is estimated that from 30,000 edible plant species, only 150 species are cultivated in different regions of the world, and only 30 plant species are widely used in daily diets of individuals. Wild food plants (WFP) have substantial potential for the development of new crops through domestication that can help reduce the intense biotic and abiotic pressures on the modern agriculture in the future. Domestication of wild food plant species can improve the dietary diversity, since they contain valuable supplements for nutritionally balanced diet. Given the importance of wild food plants, there is a huge information gap about the traditional uses of these plants in Iran. The present study was conducted to document the indigenous knowledge related to applications of wild food plant in Sirjan, Kerman province during 2015-2018. Ethnobotanical data was collected from local informants using semi-structured questionnaire and open discussion. Finally, 35 wild food species belonging to 32 genera and 18 families were obtained in this study. The most dominant wild edible family was Asteraceae with 6 species. Based on our findings, the use of wild food plants are highly valued by locals from study area. The main edible parts of wild food plants in our study were leaves, which contain variety of vitamins and essential mineral nutrients. Comprehensive identification, extension of use, and protection of wild food plants are of a great importance, since they comprise a great untapped source of food supply

کلیدواژه ها:

Ethnobotany ، Wild edible plant ، Asteraceae ، New crops