Plant Food-Medicines: Perceptions, Traditional Uses and Health Benefits of Food Botanicals, Mushrooms, and Herbal Teas
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The intersection of food and medicine has emerged as a burgeoning field, attracting attention from diverse disciplines such as history, anthropology, and biosciences. This convergence is marked by a deep exploration of traditional food practices and the medicinal potential of plant-based ingredients. Delving into neglected and underutilized species, local landraces, and wild food plants reveals a wealth of culinary diversity with untapped health benefits. From aromatic botanicals to fermented foods and herbal teas, these traditional preparations offer valuable insights into the realm of "food-medicines". Additionally, the concept of "folk nutraceuticals" sheds light on plants historically consumed for their health-promoting properties. As these local medicinal foods resurface globally, they not only inspire innovative gastronomies but also contribute to holistic community well-being and sustainable food systems. This exploration of traditional knowledge and its integration into contemporary food practices holds promise for shaping future public health policies and fostering a healthier, more resilient society.
The workshop Plant Food-Medicines: Perceptions, Traditional Uses and Health Benefits of Food Botanicals, Mushrooms, and Herbal Teas was organised on behalf of Prof. Renata Sõukand and Prof. Andrea Pieroni, the ERC-StG-2016 DiGe team and members of COST Action ConservePlants Working Group 4 (CA18201) on 24th (10:30 - 12:30 CET) and 25th (10:30 - 17:00 CET) of February.
Day 1: Roundtable and presentation of topics with Guest Editors
Day 2: Teamwork on assigned topics:
- Trends between traditional food medicines and healthy foodsacross Countries
- Practices of re-inventing healthy foods across the world
- Cross-cultural analysis of public nutrition policies
- Defining healthy food across Countries
- Are you working on a research topic for this Special Issue? Let's do it together!
The workshop was intended to explore the potential of plant ingredients in culinary transformations to broaden our knowledge of healthy foods and "food-medicines" and develop the base material for two or more papers to submit to the Special Issue of the journal Foods.
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