Edible plants of Armenia
Assessment of the supplied ES based on the number of honey plant species
Data and text – George Fayvush (Institute of Botany after A. Takhtajyan NAS RA)
The wild flora of Armenia includes around 3,800 species of vascular plants, which accounts for more than half of the entire flora of the Caucasus. Among this botanical richness, many plant species have been used as food by the local population since ancient times. For this study, we selected species that are widely used both across Armenia and in specific regions. In the vast majority of cases, these plants are collected from natural ecosystems for personal use in households. They are more rarely sold at markets in small quantities, and large-scale commercial harvesting is practically absent.
Our review includes 75 species used as vegetables (in fresh or home-cooked form), 27 species of fruit, berry, and nut-bearing plants (used fresh, or in the form of juices, compotes, etc.), 9 species of aromatic herbs typically used as flavoring for dishes or beverages, 5 species used in alcoholic beverage production, and 17 species used in the preparation of non-alcoholic drinks. These species are found in various altitudinal zones and natural ecosystems (Figure 1, Table 1). The highest number of edible plant species is found in forest and steppe ecosystems, primarily within the mid-mountain belt. Slightly fewer species grow in broadleaf woodlands, meadow-steppes, and subalpine meadows. Edible plants are virtually absent in desert ecosystems and are very scarce in the alpine zone.
Figure 1. The number of edible plant species characteristic for different types of natural vegetation
Table 1. The number of edible plant species characteristic for different types of natural vegetation
| Type of vegetation | Vegetable | Fruit-berry and nuts | Spicy plants | Used in alcohol drinks | Used in non-alcohol drinks | Total |
| Alpine meadows and carpets | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | 6 |
| Broadleaf woodland | 28 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 57 |
| Desert | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Forest | 38 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 83 |
| Juniper | 12 | 1 | 4 | – | 2 | 19 |
| Marsh | 13 | 2 | 1 | – | 3 | 19 |
| Meadow-steppe | 27 | 5 | 3 | – | 8 | 43 |
| Semidesert | 28 | 2 | 3 | – | 2 | 35 |
| Steppe | 41 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 60 |
| Subalpine meadows | 27 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 45 |
Most edible plants are common in Armenia (taking into account the distribution of different ecosystems across the various regions of the country). The only species included in the Red Data Book of Plants of Armenia is Gundelia hajastana (listed in the Red Book as Gundelia rosea). This species was widely used as a food plant in the Kotayk Province (where its main range is located) until the 1950s. It was then largely forgotten and is now rarely gathered or used.
Edible plants in Armenia are collected primarily by the local rural population for personal use and in very small quantities for sale at urban markets. At the current level of use, wild populations of most species remain stable. Only a few species are collected in relatively large quantities for export. For example, several years ago, licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) was harvested for export to Georgia for the production of non-alcoholic beverages; however, even in that case, it was collected from abandoned agricultural fields where it was naturally spreading intensively.
Nevertheless, if large-scale commercial harvesting were to begin, many species could face the risk of overexploitation. Unfortunately, while some studies on wild plant resources were conducted during the Soviet period, in the past 30 years such research has been almost entirely lacking, and there are no available data on the current or potentially usable reserves of these plants.
Figure 2. Map of the ES provided by natural vegetation, assessed by the total number of edible plant species
References
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