Conservation and Valorization of Two Endemic Calabrian Species Used as Food Within the Graecanic Area (Southern-Italy) Through Domestication Trials

The potential use of plants in Mediterranean diets based on local cuisines is of great interest to nutritionists because of their numerous nutraceutical compounds. In many Mediterranean regions, including Italy, these traditions are at risk of disappearing. Therefore, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted in the Graecanic area of the province of Reggio Calabria, which has unique linguistic and cultural characteristics. Two species, due to its exceptional nature, stood out from all the information gathered as a food source: Crepis aspromontana Brullo, Scelsi & Spamp. and Pimpinella anisoides V.Brig., which are both threatened with extinction. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance and conserve C. aspromontana and P. anisoides through domestication of these species and their cultivation from germplasm collected in the wild. Plants germplasm was collected, preliminary viability tests of the collected germplasm were carried out, followed by in vivo and in vitro tests to assess germination. These initial tests have shown that domestication of the species is possible, that ethnobotany is a valuable tool for the discovery of important species that are still used by some rural populations.