Mexico and the diversity of edible plants: The case of the state of Querétaro

In Mexico, as in the rest of the world, the decreasing use of edible plant diversity for food and agriculture endangers the food sovereignty and security. Under this scenario, our focus was to identify both native and introduced edible species from the natural vegetation and their agroecosystems at the state of Querétaro, Mexico. We obtained the edible plants information through the inhabitants from different areas of the State, with complementary information from herbarium, digital databases, and specific literature. Finding information about edible plants is a routine activity at the QMEX herbarium fieldtrips. However, we have had two important periods for this research, one in 2012 for plant genetic resources information in the State, and recently for agrobiodiversity at the Sierra Madre Oriental (locally known as Sierra Gorda) between the years 2020 and 2022. A 1,098 records data base for edible plants of the state of Querétaro was assembled, containing 277 species, 156 genera and 61 families. Out of these, 240 (86.6%) were native species and 37 (13.3%) introduced. The Cactaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Asparagaceae and Amaranthaceae families accounted for 125 (44.9%) edible species. The eastern areas of the state represented the highest species richness, with ca. 41 species present. Our findings indicate that Querétaro has a genetic resources reserve of edible plants adapted to 19 of vegetation types and nine agroecosystems.