Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy
Susa Valley, located in the Italian Western Alps, has served as a meeting point for cultural, spiritual, and commercial exchange for a long period of history. The valley’s role as one of the main connecting routes between south and southwestern Europe resulted in its acquisition of a rich traditiona...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/1/43 |
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| author | Naji Sulaiman Dauro M. Zocchi Maria Teresa Borrello Giulia Mattalia Luca Antoniazzi S. Elisabeth Berlinghof Amber Bewick Ivo Häfliger Mia Schembs Luisa Torri Andrea Pieroni |
| author_facet | Naji Sulaiman Dauro M. Zocchi Maria Teresa Borrello Giulia Mattalia Luca Antoniazzi S. Elisabeth Berlinghof Amber Bewick Ivo Häfliger Mia Schembs Luisa Torri Andrea Pieroni |
| author_sort | Naji Sulaiman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Susa Valley, located in the Italian Western Alps, has served as a meeting point for cultural, spiritual, and commercial exchange for a long period of history. The valley’s role as one of the main connecting routes between south and southwestern Europe resulted in its acquisition of a rich traditional ecological knowledge. However, like other Italian mountainous valleys, this valley has suffered from abandonment and depopulation in the past 50 years. Our study aims to investigate the current ethnobotanical medicinal knowledge in the valley and to compare our findings with a study conducted over 50 years ago in the same area. In 2018, we conducted 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews on medicinal plants and food-medicines used in the Susa Valley. We documented 36 species, of which 21 species were used for medical purposes and 15 species were used as food-medicine. The comparison with the previous study on medicinal herbs conducted in 1970 in the valley demonstrated a significant decrease in both the knowledge and use of medicinal plants, which could be attributed to socioeconomic, cultural, and possibly environmental changes that occurred in the past half-century. Our study highlights several promising species for future use as nutraceuticals, food, and medicinal products, such as <i>Taraxacum officinale</i>, <i>Urtica dioica</i>, and <i>Artemisia genipi</i>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:59:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2dcfe937e644e4e8b319daf665b9e27 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:59:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2dcfe937e644e4e8b319daf665b9e272024-01-10T15:06:03ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472023-12-011314310.3390/plants13010043Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest ItalyNaji Sulaiman0Dauro M. Zocchi1Maria Teresa Borrello2Giulia Mattalia3Luca Antoniazzi4S. Elisabeth Berlinghof5Amber Bewick6Ivo Häfliger7Mia Schembs8Luisa Torri9Andrea Pieroni10University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyFaculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing, School of Pharmacy, University of Sunderland, Sunderland SR1 3SD, UKInstitut de Ciència i Tecnología Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, SpainUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalyUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, 12042 Pollenzo, ItalySusa Valley, located in the Italian Western Alps, has served as a meeting point for cultural, spiritual, and commercial exchange for a long period of history. The valley’s role as one of the main connecting routes between south and southwestern Europe resulted in its acquisition of a rich traditional ecological knowledge. However, like other Italian mountainous valleys, this valley has suffered from abandonment and depopulation in the past 50 years. Our study aims to investigate the current ethnobotanical medicinal knowledge in the valley and to compare our findings with a study conducted over 50 years ago in the same area. In 2018, we conducted 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews on medicinal plants and food-medicines used in the Susa Valley. We documented 36 species, of which 21 species were used for medical purposes and 15 species were used as food-medicine. The comparison with the previous study on medicinal herbs conducted in 1970 in the valley demonstrated a significant decrease in both the knowledge and use of medicinal plants, which could be attributed to socioeconomic, cultural, and possibly environmental changes that occurred in the past half-century. Our study highlights several promising species for future use as nutraceuticals, food, and medicinal products, such as <i>Taraxacum officinale</i>, <i>Urtica dioica</i>, and <i>Artemisia genipi</i>.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/1/43Alpsethnobotanyfood-medicineinfusionliqueurrural development |
| spellingShingle | Naji Sulaiman Dauro M. Zocchi Maria Teresa Borrello Giulia Mattalia Luca Antoniazzi S. Elisabeth Berlinghof Amber Bewick Ivo Häfliger Mia Schembs Luisa Torri Andrea Pieroni Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy Plants Alps ethnobotany food-medicine infusion liqueur rural development |
| title | Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy |
| title_full | Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy |
| title_fullStr | Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy |
| title_short | Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy |
| title_sort | traditional knowledge evolution over half of a century local herbal resources and their changes in the upper susa valley of northwest italy |
| topic | Alps ethnobotany food-medicine infusion liqueur rural development |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/1/43 |
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