ABSTRACT
Edible wild plants (EWP) continue to be an important food source for indigenous communities. A survey was conducted to identify the consumption and management of EWP known as quelites in the Zongolica region of Mexico. 15 species of quelites are consumed mainly during the rainy season, whose local name is associated with the plant’s shape, smell and flavor. Changes in food patterns and land use threaten the permanence and consumption of these species. Indigenous and local knowledge is crucial for the use, management and conservation of this group of plants, whose consumption can be leveraged to address malnutrition and unhealthy food use.
Acknowledgments
We thank the residents of the communities that participated in the survey. We also thank Jaime Tepole, Griselda Tzitzihua and Emiliano Colohua for data collection and the translation from Nahuatl to Spanish, as well as Prof. David Jimeno and Carolina Elizondo for the valuable support at the herbarium.
Availability of data and materials
Data and materials can be accessed by https://github.com/Edible-plants/Quelites.
Notes
1. Group of native Mesoamerican peoples, including the Mexicas and other ancient peoples of the Anahuac, who speak a common language: Nahuatl. According to Mexico’s Cultural Information System (SIC, Spanish acronym) (1. http://sic.gob.mx/ficha.php?table=grupo_etnico&table_id=1), today there are more than 1.6 million indigenous Nahuas, which means this group has the highest number of people who speak an indigenous language in the country.
2. The milpa is a system where maize is planted in rows; it is a unique cereal cropping system that allows planting maize in association with other crops that can be cared for individually. Milpa crops (maize, beans, squash, and quelites) can be sown at different times and different development stages, i.e., maize (to be eaten as corn on the cob), green beans (immature bean pods), squash fruits, and squash flowers (Mapes and Basurto Citation2016, 89).