The Newsletter of the Initiative for Biodiversity Studies in Arid Regions
Issue No. 14
May 04
Editorial Biodiversity as Food Throughout history wild edible plants have sustained human populations in each of the inhabited continents. Even relatively recently, as illustrated by a contemporary Syrian proverb referring to the famine that hit the region during World War I, Lawla el Korrah wal Jarjeer, kan mat nass kteer [If it weren’t for Korrah and Jarjeer (2 wild plants) many people would have died], the importance of wild plants in their contribution to nutrition was still evident. Wild plants have served as a “famine food” but cannot be discounted as a regular contributor to our diet in Lebanon and the region. Your almost daily Mankousheh serves as testimony to the role of biodiversity in nutrition. Recently, however, humans have focused on relatively few plant species with the result that 80% of total dietary energy intake, globally, is obtained from twelve domesticated species: eight cereals (barley, maize, millet, rice, rye, sorghum, sugar cane, and wheat) and four tubers (cassava, potato, sweet potato, and yam). In our region, the bulk of the daily energy intake is contributed by cereals, in the order of 350g and 500g per person per day in Lebanon and Syria respectively. This exaggerated reliance on refined grains poses a significant problem; that of micronutrient deficiencies, specifically among the poor whose diet also suffers from lack of diversity. This alienation from wild plants as a source of nutrition is also contributing to the loss of the traditional knowledge about their use as food and medicine, where the boundaries between food and medicine become less strict (food as medicine—medicine as food). Research with wild plants seems to be part of the problem as social scientists conduct significant research on edible species but few of these studies contain quantifiable data that document dietary intake, energy, or micronutrient contributions to diet. On the other hand, the work of biochemists, chemists, food scientists, and nutritionists focus on proximate analysis and micronutrient content, and only infrequently contains cultural-ecological or economic data on important species.
Ongoing and future studies will focus on the health potential of these plants and on the specific contribution to the diet. By documenting the nutritional and medicinal importance of wild edible plants, the aim is not to cause a stampede to the mountains that will deplete our valuable resources or to suggest that use of edible wild species is the key to solving the world
nutritional problems, such as the hidden hunger. Examples of specific uses of edible plants for improving nutrition and health are, however, abundant from different regions of the world. In the Gambia, mango and palm oil were identified as critical foods in maintaining carotenoid intakes and were used to augment diets during pregnancy and lactation, the use of burriti sweets (Mauritia vinifera) as part of a vitamin A supplementation intervention program for children was implemented in Brazil, and a recent health intervention focused on traditional foods among the Nuxalk of Canada to improve diet. We hope to learn more about the nutritional composition of the most commonly consumed wild edible plants in our region and thus influence educational or policy decisions regarding recommendations for their use. Our IBSAR work will also strive to record and disseminate the social, cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions of these plants. “…As there is a plenty of common and French sorrel; lamb's quarters, and water cresses, growing about camp; and as these vegetables are very conducive to health, and tend to prevent the scurvy and all putrid disorders . . . the General recommends to the soldiers the constant use of them, as they make an agreeable salad, and have the most salutary effect. The regimental officer of the day [is] to send to gather them every morning, and have them distributed among the men.” General George Washington, General Orders. June 9th, 1777.
IBSAR, with its diversified pool of expertise (and talents!), has the potential to bridge this research gap in our region. It is suspected that many communities in Lebanon still rely heavily on wild edible plants to provide important energy and micronutrients. In some preliminary research in the area of Hermel, we have found that wild plants were still highly considered and sought after as a significant food source, especially during the winter months.
By Dr. Malek Batal
For your precious contribution to this invaluable newsletter ….., including the editorial section contact M. Daouk at me11@aub.edu.lb Submission deadlines 20th of each month.