Title : Edible wild plants embody healthy and sustainable food for the future
Abstract:
Mediterranean countries are characterized by an enormous biodiversity and a rich heritage of edible wild plants (EWPs), which grow spontaneously in nature without human intervention, particularly in agricultural lands, fallow lands, forests and near streams and roadside. Since ancient times EWPs were employed by rural community as source of food and for medicinal purpose. In the last century, the industrialization of agriculture together with cultural transformations have led to changes in eating habits, causing the loss of the knowledge acquired over generations regarding the use of these plants. Despite that, the increasing demand for healthy foods and natural antioxidants, combined with the development of sustainable cuisine, has renewed interest in the use of wild flora. In addition, besides having very positive health effects, eating wild plants also provides economic benefits for rural areas through the sale of high-quality local products and promotes a sustainable development concept (“zero kilometer”). The health-promoting effect is due to the presence in these matrices of biologically active secondary metabolites like phenolic compounds, which have been reported to exhibit multiple pharmacological activities such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The present study is aimed at showing useful data for furthering the knowledge of edible wild plants properties. In particular, the purpose of this research was to identify and quantify the main phenolic compounds that were found to be characteristic for the EWPs under investigation, notably Glechoma hederacea and Sonchus oleraceus.
A simple method coupling Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) with Photodiode-Array detector (PDA) and Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) was developed for the identification and quantitation of the main phenolic compounds in the plants extract. Polyphenols determination was then followed by the analysis of the EWPs antimicrobial properties by Minimal Inhibitory and Bactericidal Concentration assays (MIC/MBC) and by determining the Minimum Biofilm Inhibitory Concentration (MBIC) using a microtitre plate assay.
