Ethnobotanical survey of wild vegetables used for food and medicinal purposes
Journal
Ratarstvo i povrtarstvo
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Josimovska, Teodora
Popović, Vera
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.5937/ratpov62-57223
Abstract
The present study deals with ethnobotanical survey of wild vegetables used as food and medicines in North Macedonia. For obtaining information about traditional uses of wild vegetables in North Macedonia 84 respondents were interviewed using structural designed questionnaires, from March to June 2023. 78.6 % of respondents practiced picking wild vegetables, while 94 % of respondents consumed wild vegetables. Obtained results showed that the fourteen plant species from eleven botanical families were recorded as wild vegetables. Most of the mentioned wild vegetables belong to the Polygonaceae family. The botanical family, scientific name, folk name, used plant parts, culinary and medicinal use as well as the relative frequency of citation index (RFC) of wild vegetables are shown for each of the plant species. In this research, Urtica dioica L. is the species with the highest relative frequency of citation index (0.25). Also, it was found that among the edible parts, leaves are dominant (59 %). Ethnobоtanical studies are key to finding ways to use natural plant resources, and therefore such research should be continued in the future.