Diversity and use of non-conventional food plants in quilombola communities in northeast Brazil

Abstract

Studies on the cultural importance of unconventional food plants (UFP) have been scarce, in contrast to a vast literature focusing on medicinal plants. We adopted the widely used criterion of cultural importance to study UFP used in two quilombola communities in Bahia State, northeastern Brazil. Free-listing was applied to identify known/used food plants in the communities, and semi-structured interviews were carried out to collect information about them. Statistical analyses were performed using a correlation matrix of importance values. A random sample of the numbers of citations per species indicated a strong correlation between cultivated and wild species. The average ages of the two communities were similar, but indicated an influence of age on their knowledge of non-conventional plants and their consumption. Both wild and cultivated species have relevant cultural importance. Deforestation, the lack of availability of unconventional food plants, and the ease of access to conventional and industrialized foods are all directly related to the low consumption of UFP, pointing to a lack of nutritional and health information in those communities.

Keywords:
ethnobotany; quilombolas; maroon; seasonally dry tropical forest; wild edible plants

Introduction

Traditional and indigenous peoples recognize the importance of biodiversity conservation. Afro-descendant communities use many plant resources to guarantee their survival (such as foods, medicines, forage, construction, in rituals, and others) based on knowledge acquired from their ancestors, while at the same time managing and conserving those resources as well as their culture (Castro, 2006; Cavalcanti & De Souza, 2022). Afro-descendant communities, treated here as quilombola remnant communities (CQR), are found in several countries in Latin America, where they are known by names such as quilombos or mocambos (Brazil), palenques (Colombia), cumbes (Venezuela), marrons (Haiti and French Caribbean Islands), cimaronaje (Cuba and Puerto Rico), and maroons (Jamaica, English Caribbean, Suriname, and Southern USA) (Gomes, 2015; Santana et al., 2022). CQR are composed of self-declared descendants of enslaved peoples brought to the New World from the 16th century onwards (Leite, 2000). In their struggle for survival they demonstrated a history of resistance, but also of suffering, which persists today in the form of prejudice and discrimination, reducing them to inhabitants without any full enjoyment of their rights (Santos, 2016; Dos Santos, 2016; Leite, 2000). They often lack land ownership, health, educational and employment opportunities, and much more, leaving them in vulnerable situations (Mota et al., 2021). The absence of territorial rights for quilombola communities corresponds to the loss and maintenance of specific and unique forms of use of natural resources and coexistence with nature (Marés, 2021).

Ethnobotanical research in CQR has increased significantly in recent years (Ávila et al., 2015; Conde et al., 2017; Santos et al., 2019), although focusing mainly on medicinal plant surveys (Mota & Dias, 2012; Silva et al., 2012 a ; Ferreira et al., 2014; Santana et al., 2022) through the use of different approaches and methodological tools (Gomes & Bandeira, 2012; Silva et al., 2012b; De Santana et al., 2016; Zank et al., 2016; Pereira & Coelho-Ferreira, 2017). Ethnobotanical research focusing on wild food plants, treated as unconventional food plants (UFP), however, is more recent in Brazil and incipient in the semiarid region of that country (Campos et al., 2015; Gomes et al., 2020; Barbosa et al., 2021; Medeiros et al. 2021a; Medeiros et al. 2021b), especially in CQR (Ávila et al., 2015; Conde et al., 2017; Santos et al., 2019).

Wild food plants represent a biocultural heritage of the societies that recognize and consume them. They are important nutritional components for many people throughout the world, and the popularization of those plants has the potential to contribute to food and nutritional diversity (Medeiros et al., 2021b). Some of those plants are also reported to be medicinal, thus increasing the importance of traditional knowledge of plant uses (Medeiros et al., 2021b). Wild plant resources are important to human health and can reduce the vulnerability of socioecological systems and increase food security in marginalized communities (Berkes et al., 2000; Berkes et al., 2003; Hanazaki et al., 2013). In poor and developing countries, such as Brazil, modern changes in eating habits have been identified as being responsible for malnutrition and obesity (Cordeiro et al., 2014).

CQR face numerous challenges to their survival, and while nutrition and health are basic aspects of life, afro-descendant communities have often only had limited access to the benefits of modern society, and thus turned to the use of natural resources to resolve many problems - consolidating a vast knowledge concerning their uses over many generations (Santos et al., 2019; Marés, 2021). Traditional communities therefore have much to teach non-traditional populations about management practices consistent with biodiversity preservation (Melo & Barzano, 2021).

Ethnoscience studies, however, have indicated the gradual abandonment of traditional practices and a distancing from cultural roots by afro-descendant communities in Brazil due to the many challenges to their livelihoods, especially in terms of land ownership and invasive cultural influences (Santana et al., 2022). Increasing deforestation, the growth of urban areas, and access to modern (but often inappropriate) technologies have altered the habits of many quilombola communities, especially in regards to the use of native plants (Reyes-García et al., 2005; Zank et al., 2016). The erosion of traditional knowledge is associated with the abandonment of resource uses and lifestyle changes (Hunn, 1999; Reyes-García et al., 2005; Marchese et al., 2009). In terms of nutrition, easy access to processed foods has altered eating habits (OPAS, 2018) and triggered malnutrition and the onset of diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and obesity (Dauchet et al., 2006; Knai et al., 2006; Brasil, 2007).

Our goal was therefore to contribute knowledge concerning wild food plants and the dynamics of eating habits in quilombola communities, as well as to identify signs of cultural erosion and the loss of sociobiodiversity. We interviewed local specialists about the food plants used in two quilombola communities to determine their origins, habits, and management, and to examine relations between those species and the factors that interfere with the transmission of local knowledge. By attempting to better understand food security vulnerability in these communities, this research is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture, Health and Well-being presented in the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations (2015).

Material and Methods

Study area

The focal communities of this study were Matinha dos Pretos (12°46’40”S x 38°55’08”W) in the municipality of Feira de Santana and Paus Altos (12°20’40”S x 39°07’08”W)) in the municipality of Antônio Cardoso, both in Bahia State, Brazil (Fig. 1). The regional climate there is tropical dry to semiarid (Andrade et al., 2020), with an average annual temperature of 23 °C and an annual rainfall rate of 800 to 1,100 mm (Bahia, 2015). The regional vegetation is predominantly seasonally dry tropical forest included within the Caatinga domain, one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened tropical biomes (Queiroz et al., 2017).

Figure 1.
Map of the study region and quilombola communities of Paus Altos, municipality of Antonio Cardoso, and Matinha dos Pretos, municipality of Feira de Santana, Bahia State, northeastern Brazil.

The community of Matinha dos Pretos (MP) has approximately 250 inhabitants and Paus Altos (PA) approximately 270. There is a high degree of cultural proximity between these quilombola communities, reflecting their similar sociodemographic characteristics. Subsistence agriculture is practiced in both communities, with their main source of income coming from Federal pensions (elderly) and assistance programs (such as “Bolsa Família”). Only a few residents are formally employed in commerce or on nearby farms. MP has a small community industry producing fruit pulp. The residents of PA practice beekeeping, the home production of sweets, with recent implementations of agroforestry efforts to raise poultry and plant vegetables. Different levels of education exist within both communities, with some people having no schooling at all, while others have completed their basic studies or even gone on to acquire higher degrees. In terms of their religious beliefs, there is religious syncretism with a prevalence of Christianity branching into Catholics and Neo-Pentecostals, in addition to adherents of African matrix religions practices.

Data collection

Visits to the communities were undertaken from May/2021 to July/2023. During our initial visits, contacts were made through informal conversations with community leaders. Those leaders then facilitated meetings with additional members of the communities and indicated possible research participants. Meetings were held with community associations to present the project, explain our research objectives, and request local consent and cooperation. After consent and collective acceptance, interviews began with local specialists indicated by the community leaders. Based on these semi-structured interviews (see Albuquerque et al., 2010), lists of non-conventional and wild food plant species were assembled. Based on that information, a questionnaire was developed to explore socioeconomic (age, gender, education, income sources) and ethnobotanical factors (plant parts used, ways of preparing the cited species, ease of access to a given resource) related to the knowledge of UPV to present to other participants from both communities.

The classification of unconventional food use of the aforementioned botanical species was carried out in accordance with the concept of unconventional food plants (UFP) adopted by Kinupp and Lorenzi (2014), recognizing the implications and limitations of this concept highlighted by them. According to these authors, UFP are plants that have one or more categories of food uses, even if they are not common for the vast majority of the population of a region.

Three criteria were used to select the study participants: over 18 years-old, self-declared quilombola residents, and agreement to participate in the research. The inclusion criterion did not select based on the total time spent living in the study communities, meaning that some members may have lived away from Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos for parts of their lives. A total of 33 inhabitants of Paus Altos and 43 of Matinha dos Pretos participated in the study (16 men and 60 women, between the ages of 18 and 95). According to community leaders the participants in our study corresponded to more than 10% of the populations of both communities.

Ethical aspects of the research

Each interviewee who agreed to participate in the research was asked to read and sign an Informed Consent Form (ICF) that had been evaluated and approved by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the State University of Feira de Santana (CAE: 37655120.0.0000.0053). The study was also registered with the National System for the Management of Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge (SISGEN) for access to local intangible knowledge (Registration A1FAF5F).

Due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, initial contact with community leaders took place by telephone. The first on-site visits were made only after vaccination of the traditional communities involved in the study, with prevention measures being adopted in accordance with the protocols of the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), which recommended the use of face masks, the social distancing with outdoor meetings and conversations and hygiene with the use of alcohol gel.

Botanical collections

Botanical species were classified according to their habit, biogeographical origin (native, exotic or naturalized), and management system (wild or cultivated). Botanical material was collected during interviews and visits to the communities, and was subsequently identified and incorporated into the State University of Feira de Santana herbarium (HUEFS). Botanical identifications were made based on the technical literature, comparison with herbarium specimens, and consultations with specialists in taxonomy. For the species mentioned that were not collected during the research period, we used images from the internet that were presented to the participants. Some corresponding images were not found, making identification impossible.

Data analysis

The plants were classified, based on the perceptions of the interviewees, regarding their availability (ease of access), cultural importance, and forms of use. The Importance Value technique was used (with adaptations following by Byg & Balslev, 2001) to determine the cultural importance of each species to the study communities, based on the formula: IVs=nis/n, where: nis= number of informants who cited the species “s”; n= total number of informants. The most cited plants were used for these analyses, and the correlation matrix was based on a random sample of 20 participants per community. All statistical analyses were performed using R software, version 3.4.1 (R Core Team, 2017).

Results

Botanical and ecological aspects of communities

A total of 91 edible species were recorded, 53 of which were unconventional food plants (UFP). The species identified are distributed in 36 families and 70 botanical genera (Table 1). The most representative botanical families were Solanaceae and Lauraceae (7 spp. each), Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae and Anacardiaceae (6 spp.), and Myrtaceae (5 spp.). Four of the ethno-species mentioned by the interviewees (“trapiá”, “branganzela”, “folha-larga” and “yam”) were not observed or collected during our field visits, making their accurate identifications impossible.

Table 1.
Food plants used in the quilombola remnant communities Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos, Bahia, Brazil. Unconventional food plants (UFP); Habit: herb (H), shrub (S), tree (T), climbing (Cl), creeper (Cr), epiphyte (Ep); Origin: exotic (E), native (N), naturalized (Nd); Management: cultivated (C), wild (W); Part used; HUEFS Collection (Nascimento JOV).

Family / Specie / Ethnospecie	UFP	Habit	Origin	Handling	Part used	Method of preparation	Collection
Acanthaceae
Amaranthus viridis L./ Bredo or caruru	X	H	Nd	W	Leaf	Braised	176
Amaryllidaceae
Allium cepa L./ Cebola		H	E	C	Leaf and tuber	In natura, braised, cooked
Allium schoenoprasum L./ Cebolinha		H	E	C	Leaf	In natura	-
Anacardiaceae
Anacardium occidentale L./ Caju		T	N	C	Fruit and pseudo fruit	Torrado ou cooked; in natura	-
Mangifera indica L./ Manga		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, jelly	-
Schinus terebenthifolia Raddi/ Aroeira	X	T	N	W	Fruit	Seasoning	-
Spondias mombin L./Cajá		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, jelly	-
Spondias purpurea L./ Siriguela		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Spondias tuberosa Arruda/ Umbu	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura, jelly	-
Annonaceae		T
Annona mucosa Jacqxa./ Articum	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Annona muricata L./ Graviola	X	T	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Annona squamosa L./ Pinha		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Apiaceae
Coriandrum sativum L./ Coentro		H	E	C	Leaf	In natura	-
Eryngium foetidum L./ Coentro-da-índia	X	H	N	C	Leaf	Seasoning	-
Araceae
Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott/ Taioba	X	H		W	Leaf	Braised
Arecaceae
Cocos nucifera L./ Coco		T	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura, oil, milk	-
Elaeis guineensis Jacq. / Dendê	X	T	Nd	W	Fruit	Oil
Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc./ Licuri	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura, oil, milk	-
Syagrus vagans (Bondar) A. D. Hawkes/Ariri	X	S	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Brassicaceae
Brassica oleracea L./ Couve		H	E	C	Leaf	In natura, braised	-
Brassica juncea (L.) Czern/Mostarda		H	Nd	C	Leaf	braised	-
Bromeliaceae
Ananas comosus (L.) Merril/ Abacaxi		H	N	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Bromelia antiachanta Bertol. /Gravatá	X	H	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Karawata multiflora (L. B. Sm) J. R. Maciel & G. Souza/ Chupa-chupa	X	Ep	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Cactaceae				W
Melocactus cf. bahiensis (Britton & Rose) Luetzelb. / Cabeça-de-frade		H	N	W	Stalk	sweet	-
Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill/ Palma	X	S	N	C	Cladode and fruit	Braised, in natura	-
Selenicereus undatus (Haw.) D.R. Hunt/ Pitaya ou Mandacaru-de-três-quinas		Cl	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Peresquia aculeata Mill. / Quiabá or Ora-pro-nobis	X	S	N	C	Fruit	In natura, braised	-
Capparaceae
Crateva tapia L./Trapiá	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura	-
Caricaceae
Carica papaya L./ Mamão		T	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Convolvulaceae
Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. / Batata-doce	X	H	Nd	C	Tuber and leaf	cooked, roast	-
Cucurbitaceae
Citrullus lanatus(Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai/ Melancia		Cr	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Cucumis anguria L./ Maxixe		Cr	N	C	Fruit	Braised	-
Cucurbita pepo L./ Abóbora	X	Cr	E	C	Leaf, flower and fruit	Braised	-
Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. / Caxixe	X	Cl	E	C	Fruit	Braised
Momordica charantia L./ Melão-de-São-Caetano	X	Cl	N	W	Fruit	In natura	156
Sicyos edulis Jacq./ Chuchu		Cl	Nd	C	Fruit	Braised
Euphorbiaceae
Manihot esculenta Crantz/ Aipim		S	N	C	Root	Cooked, roast (flour), in natura (gum)	-
Manihot sculenta Crantz/ Mandioca		S	N	C	Root	Toast in the form of flour	-
Fabaceae		S
Cajanus cajan (L.) Huth/Andu	X	S	Nd	C	Seed	Cooked	-
Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet/ Mangalô	X	Cl	N	C	Seed	Seed cooked	-
Phaseolus vulgaris L./ Feijão		H	E	C	Leaf and seed	Braised, cooked	-
Senna occidentalis (L.) Link/ Fedegoso	X	H	N	W	Seed	roasted seed powder	139
Tamarindus indica L./ Tamarindo		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, jelly, pulp	-
Vicia faba L./ Fava	X	Cl	E	C	Seed	Cooked
Lamiaceae
Mentha piperita L./ Hortelã-miúdo		H	E	C	Leaf	Seasoning	-
Ocimum basilicum L./ Manjericão-roxo and Manjericão-branco	X	H	E	C	Leaf	Seasoning	171, 172
Ocimum campechianum Mill./ Alfavaca	X	H	N	C	Leaf	Seasoning	141
Ocimum sp./ Quioiô	X	H		C	Leaf	Seasoning
Ocimum sp./Alfavaca-de-peixe	X	H	N	C	Leaf	Seasoning	188
Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng./ Hortelã-grosso		H	E	C	Leaf	Seasoning	-
Rosmarinus officinalis L./ Alecrim-de-quintal or alecrim-de-caco		H	E	C	Leaf	Seasoning	-
Lauraceae
Cinnamomum verum J.Presl/ Canela		T	E	C	Bark	Seasoning	-
Persea americana Mill./Abacate		T	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Lytraceae		T
Punica granatum L./Arrumã	X	T	E	C	Fruit	In natura	182
Malpighiaceae		T
Malpighia emarginata DC./Acerola		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, pulp	-
Malvaceae
Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench/ Quiabo		S	E	C	Fruit	Braised	-
Moraceae
Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. / Jaca	X	T	Nd	W	Fruit and seed	In natura, sweet, jelly, seed cooked	-
Morus nigra L./ Amora	X	T	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Moringaceae		T
Moringa oleifera Lam. / Moringa	X	T	N	C	Leaf and seed	In natura	134
Musaceae
Musa sp./ Banana	X	T	E	C	Flower and fruit	In natura, sweet	-
Myrtaceae		T
Eugenia dysenterica(Mart.) DC./Beba	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Eugenia uniflora L./ Pitanga	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura, pulp, jelly	-
Myrciaria cuspidata O. Berg/ Cambuí	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Plinia peruviana (Poir.) Govaerts/ Jabuticaba	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura and jelly	-
Psidium guajava L./ Goiaba		T	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura pulp and jelly	-
Nyctaginaceae
Boerhavia diffusa L./ Pega-pinto	X	H	Nd	W	Leaf	Braised	156
Passifloraceae				W
Passiflora cincinnata Mast. / Maracujá-do-mato	X	Cl	N	W	Fruit	In natura, pulp, jelly, cooked	-
Passiflora edulis Sims/ Maracujá		Cl	N	C	Fruit	In natura, geleia, polpa	-
Poaceae
Zea mays L./ Milho		H	E	C	Seed	Roast, cooked (grain, mush porridge)	-
Portulacaceae
Portulaca oleracea L./ Beldroega	X	H	N	W	Leaf	Braised	202
Rhamnaceae				W
Sarcomphalus joazeiro (Mart.) Hauenschild /Juá-babão	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura
Rubiaceae		T
Coffea sp./ Café		T	Nd	C	Seed	Infusion
Genipa americana L./ Jenipapo	X	T	N	W	Fruit	In natura, pulp, sweet, liquor, jelly.	-
Morinda citrifolia L./ None	X	T	E	C	Fruit	In natura
Rutaceae
Citrus aurantium L./ Laranja		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, pulp	-
Citrus × limon (L.) Osbeck/ Limão		T	E	C	Fruit	In natura, pulp	-
Sapotaceae		T
Sideroxylon obtusifolium (Roem. & Schult.) T.D.Penn. / Quixaba-preta	X	T	N	S	Fruit	In natura
Solanaceae
Capsicum annuum L./ Pimentão		H	E	C	Fruit	In natura	-
Capsicum cf. frutescens L./ Pimenta		S	Nd	C	Fruit	In natura, Canned	-
Physalis pubescens L./ Paco-paco	X	H	Nd	S	Fruit	In natura
Solanum aethiopicum L./ Jiló		S	E	C	Fruit	Braised, in natura	-
cf. Solanum lycopersicum L./ Tomate-cereja	X	S	E	C	Fruit	In natura, seasoning	-
Solanum lycopersicum L./Tomate		S	E	C	Fruit	In natura, Seasoning	-
Solanum paniculatum L./ Jurubeba	X	S	N	S	Fruit	Cachaça, wine	183
Talinaceae
Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn. / Língua-de-vaca	X	H	N	S	Leaf	Braised	157
Turneraceae
Turnera subulata Sm. / Chanana	X	H	N	S	Leaf and flower	In natura	180
Unidentified
Batata-de-teiú	X	H		S	Tuber	In natura
Branganzela or branganzala	X	Cl		S	Tuber	Cooked
Folha-larga	X	T		S	Fruit	In natura
Inhame	X	Cl		S	Tuber	In natura

The principle recorded habit among the nonconventional food species was arboreal (38.48%), followed by herbaceous (29.67%), shrubby (13.18%), climbing (12.08%), creeping (3.29%), and epiphytic (1.09%). In terms of their biogeographical origins, native (38.46%) and exotic (36.26%) species occurred in similar proportions, and in greater quantities, than naturalized taxa (20.87%). In terms of their management, cultivated species (63.73%) were predominant as compared to wild species (36.26%). All of the different plant organs were mentioned as being used, with fruits having the highest prevalence (60.43%), followed by leaves (26.37%), seeds (9.89%), tubers (6.59%), roots and flowers (2.19%). As for the method of preparation, most (60.43%) were consumed in natura (Table 2, Fig. 2).

Figure 2.
Ethnobotanical characteristics of the food plants mentioned in the Paus Altos and Matinha dos Pretos quilombola remnant communities, Bahia State, Brazil. Subtitle: N (native); E (exotic); Nd (naturalized); T (tree); S (shrubby); H (herb); Cl (climbing); Cr (creeping); Ep (epiphyte); W (wild); C (cultivaded).

When considering only UFP, we observed the prevalence of tree (41.05%) and herbaceous (28.31%) species, followed by vines (15.09%), shrubs (11.32%), creepers and epiphytes (1.88%). Regarding food plants in general, the data were different in relation to their origins and management (Fig. 2). In regards to their origins, native species (52.83%) prevailed over exotic (18.86%) and naturalized (13.20%) species, as well as over wild (62.26%) and cultivated taxa (37.73%) (Fig. 2).

UFP and socioeconomic and ethnobotanical aspects of the communities

Thirty-nine UFP species were used by both communities (Fig. 3). Thirteen species were used exclusively by the inhabitants of Paus Altos, while only one species was cited exclusively in Matinha (Fig. 3). The most cited UFP species in both communities were bredo, língua-de-vaca, licuri, umbu, and jackfruit seeds, all cultivated. Among the most cited cultivated species were andu, mangalô, and cherry tomatoes. The graph in Fig. 4 lists the UFP species cited by the communities according to the average ages of the interviewees. It was possible to observe that the PA community cited the greatest number of species.

Figure 3.
Data representing the unconventional food plants (UFP) cited in the Paus Altos and Matinha dos Pretos quilombola remnant communities, Bahia State, Brazil, focusing on the plants unique to each one.

Figure 4.
Data related to the ages and numbers of species cited by participants from the Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos quilombola communities, Bahia State, Brazil.

These results point to consumption/cultivation correlations between the UFPs analyzed. Cherry tomatoes showed a weak, regular or strong correlation with the other PFUs (Table 2). Mangalô and andu, both cultivated species, showed a strong correlation with each other, as well as with the wild species licuri and umbu (Table 2, Fig. 5). The UFP consumption and cultivation behaviors of the Paus Altos (PA) and Matinha dos Pretos (MA) communities (Table 3) indicated that bredo and lígua-de-vaca were among the most important UFP species in both communities. Umbu, licuri and cherry tomatoes were identified as very important in Paus Altos.

Table 2.
Correlation matrix obtained from the analysis of some unconventional food plants cited in the Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos quilombola remnant communities, Bahia State, Brazil.

Correlation matrix
	Andu	Beldroga	Bredo	Caroço de jaca	Licuri	Mangalô	Ora-pro-nóbis	Tomate-cereja	Umbu
Andu	-	0,15	0,03	0,34	0,45	0,82	0,29	0,49	0,29
Bredo	0,03	0,15	-	0,12	0,30	0,13	0,19	0,37	0,48
Caroço de jaca	0,34	0,18	0,12	-	0,43	0,31	0,28	0,34	0,48
Licuri	0,45	0,32	0,30	0,43	-	0,63	0,15	0,66	0,83
Mangalô	0,82	0,24	0,13	0,31	0,63	-	0,29	0,62	0,48
Ora-pro-nóbis	0,29	0,19	0,19	0,28	0,15	0,29	-	0,29	0,13
Tomate- cereja	0,49	0,42	0,37	0,34	0,66	0,62	0,29	-	0,50
Umbu	0,29	0,30	0,15	0,48	0,83	0,48	0,13	0,50	-

Table 3.
Cultural importance of unconventional food plants cited in the the Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos quilombola remnant communities, Bahia State, Brazil.

Plant species	IVs Paus Altos	IVs M. dos Pretos
Amaranthus viridis L	0.75	0.69
Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.	0.63	0.26
Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet	0.63	0.26
cf. Solanum lycopersicum L.	0.66	0.23
Spondia tuberosa Arruda	0.81	0.11
Syagrus coronata (Martius) Beccari	0.81	0.39
Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn.	0.66	0.62

Figure 5.
Correlation between the unconventional food plants species of andu and mangalô (A), licuri and umbu (B) for the Matinha dos Pretos and Paus Altos communities, Bahia state, Brazil.

Discussion

Botanical and ecological aspects of communities

Local knowledge about 53 UFP species and their recorded uses, as identified in the MP and PA communities studied here, is quite notable when compared with the 83 botanical PANC species listed in the List of Food Species of Brazilian Biodiversity published by the Environmental Ministry (CRN5, 2018). On the other hand, this number is relatively small in relation to the estimated number of food species for Brazil, which is 5,000 spp (Kinupp & Lorenzi, 2014).

The main botanical families consumed in both of the quilombo communities have been commonly cited in ethnobotanical studies of UFP in the Brazilian semiarid region (Campos et al., 2015; Lima et al., 2022). Some species of these families are considered emergency foods (Chaves et al., 2019), as was also observed in the present study. Ethnospecies such as língua-de-vaca, bredo, chupa-chupa and licuri have been essential for survival in the PA community, as evidenced in the following conversations:

“There have been hard times, good lady. I remember when we took a small ceramic bowl and a bit of salt and went into the woods to gather some licuri, chupa-chupa and maracujá verde that we could eat. [...] That was our food for the day.” Sra. C, 76 anos, Paus Altos.

“Things are good today. People can choose what to eat.” Srta. P, 79 anos, Paus Altos.

The prevalence of native UFP species that are managed in the wild, as cited in the present study, is consistent with reports of other ethnobotanical studies in Brazil (Barbosa et al., 2021; Medeiros et al., 2021 a ). The preponderance of trees for providing edible resources can be explained by their ready availability and the fact that their fruits and seeds can very often be consumed in natura, as ease of access and the way a resource can be consumed influence food preferences and their other uses (Barbosa et al., 2021).

UFP and socioeconomic and ethnobotanical aspects of the communities

The comparison of the ethnobotanical repertoires of UFP species between the two quilombo communities revealed that the inhabitants of the PA community, which is closer to a forest, knew and used more species. That greater ease of access to plant resources apparently influenced their knowledge of UFP, as was likewise observed in a study of medicinal plants in a quilombola community in the Recôncavo Bahia (Santana et al., 2022). The authors of that study observed that the community’s proximity to the forest and relative isolation from more urbanized areas influenced local knowledge about medicinal plants.

Studies carried out in other quilombola communities with different degrees of urbanization, however, have generally shown that urbanization does not significantly influence their ethnobotanical repertoires (Ávila et al., 2015; Gomes et al., 2020), with other factors apparently exerting greater influence. In the present study, the participants from the community (AP) with the largest UFP repertoire were slightly older on the average, indicating age as a possible factor influencing a greater accumulated knowledge. This corroborates other studies indicating several socioeconomic factors as favoring the detention of a more detailed knowledge of plants - especially age and gender (Santana et al., 2022). Additionally, some plants cited as edible in the region are unknown to younger community members, and there are indications of local species extinctions (Campos et al., 2015).

Another factor that may influence a person’s knowledge of UFP is their length of permanence in the community, as most respondents claim to have lived in both communities for a long time. Age and length of residence have been noted in other studies as important factors for acquiring local knowledge of plant resources (Hanazaki et al., 2013; Campos et al., 2015).

Regarding the cultural importance of the species, the high popularity of bredo and língua-de-vaca in both communities is probably due to ecological factors, such as both being herbaceous species, their spontaneous growth, easy access to them, and their nutritional potential (Barbosa et al., 2021). Andu and mangalô, cultivated plants that are resistant to semiarid conditions can substitute conventional beans and thus guarantee food security. Low-maintenance perennial species such as umbu, licuri and jackfruit are also among the UFP having high cultural importance, reflecting their accessibility and availability (Campos et al., 2015). These tree and palm species can be consumed in natura (except for jackfruit seeds), which also helps explain their high citation rates. Such ecological and cultural factors help explain the preservation and cultivation of important species in gardens and backyards (Suto & Voeks, 2021). The preservation of cultural identity also appears as an important factor in the use of UFP species, as was observed in an ethnobotanical study of the gardens of Japanese-American expatriates (Suto & Voeks, 2021).

These findings reinforce the view that resource availability and ease of access are important factors for modeling knowledge of non-conventional and wild food plants. Availability, considered here to be related to management, indicates that despite the fact that few areas of caatinga remain still fully intact, it is still possible to extract varied renewable resources from them. Likewise, wild plants, such as bredo, are widely conserved in gardens and backyards as a way of having food resources close at hand, and are examples of cultural preservation (Almada & Souza, 2017).

Wild food species derived from both the local fauna and flora are part of the collective memories of families and populations, especially in rural areas, and reports of children collecting natural resources on their own are quite common (Oliveira, 2014; Ferreira & Franco, 2017). These forays, generally without adult supervision, serve to gather food, but also train younger generations in the arts of survival. By foraging, they learn to use simple available instruments (such as sticks, hooks and rocks), to collect and feed on natural resources - thus preserving cultural repertoires (Faustino & Mota, 2016).

However, according to the interviewees, foraging for food is rarely practiced now in the quilombo communities studied here. The organization of those communities into associations, the availability of government assistance programs, and easy access to urban centers have improved the general quality of life in quilombos (Marés, 2021). In the past, the availability of wild food plants meant survival, but such resources are of little interest now to young people or are even associated with poverty and low social status. This situation can lead to cultural erosion regarding these food resources, increasing future risks of food insecurity, especially in vulnerable communities and during difficult times (Silva et al., 2017).

The quilombola communities in this study know, cultivate, and consume both conventional and unconventional food plants. The consumption of species available in gardens and backyards is quite high, confirming the importance of ease of accessibility for maintaining the use of these species. Exotic species increase the diversity and nutritional potential of the human diet and are even acquired through exchange, a common practice among traditional peoples (Gonçalves et al., 2022). The reduced consumption of UFP can be due to lack of knowledge about them, limited access to them, taboos, as well as food prejudices, as was verified in interviews and informal conversations. Their high consumption in the past was linked to hunger, and to the difficulty of acquiring conventional foods (usually for economic reasons). Socioeconomic factors such as age, income, time of residence, and proximity to an urban center appear to influence UFP consumption more in the MP community in relation to the PA community. We suggest educational efforts in these quilombos that could make them more aware of the nutritional value of easily available UFP.

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the quilombola residents of Paus Altos and Matinha for their hospitality

and collaboration throughout the research. We also wish to thank: the Post-graduate program in Recursos Genéticos Vegetais at the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, Bahia, for financial support for the project. Finally, we acknowledge the Flora and Vegetation laboratory (FLOVE) and herbarium (HUEFS) teams, and the researchers who identified the collected species Daniela Carneiro, Efigênia de Melo, Luciano Paganucci Queiroz and Reyjane Patrícia Oliveira.

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Edited by

• Editor-in-Chief:
  Thaís Elias Almeida

• Associate Editor:
  Vania Gonçalves Lourenço Esteves

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  11 Nov 2024
• Date of issue
  2024

History

• Received
  26 July 2023
• Accepted
  24 Nov 2023