Carbohydrates are a group of organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen generally in the ratio of 1:2:1.The comparatively high percentage of oxygen makes carbohydrates a less efficient source of energy than fats and oils. They may be divided roughly into three groups; monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.

Before turning our attention to spices, it would seem pertinent to know what they are and how they differ from condiments. In fact, it is difficult to draw a distinction between the two. Broadly speaking, spices are aromatic vegetable products of tropical origin that are used, in a pulverised state, primarily for seasoning or garnishing foods and beverages.They are characterised by pungency, strong odour and sweet or bitter taste. Included in this category are hard or hardened parts of plants, such as pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg and mace, allspice and vanilla. In ancient times, they were valued as basic components of incense, embalming preservatives, ointments, perfumes, antidotes against poison, cosmetics and medicines, and were little used in food. It was only in the first century AD that spices found their way into the kitchen.

Multiplying onion (Allium cepa L. Aggregatum-Group), commonly known as shallot or potato onion, has a long tradition of cultivation in Fennoscandian home gardens. During the last decades, more than 80 accessions, maintained as vegetatively propagated clones, have been gathered from home gardens in all Fennoscandian countries. A genetic analysis showed regional patterns of accessions belonging to the same genetic group. However, accessions belonging to the same genetic group could originate in any of the countries. These results suggested both short- and long-distance exchange of set onions, which was confirmed by several survey responses. Some of the most common genetic groups also resembled different modern varieties. The morphological characterization illustrated that most characters were strongly influenced by environment and set onion properties. The only reliably scorable trait was bulb skin color. Neither our morphological nor genetic results support a division between potato onions and shallots. Instead, naming seems to follow linguistic traditions. An ethnobotanical survey tells of the Fennoscandian multiplying onions as being a crop with reliable harvest, excellent storage ability, and good taste. An increased cultivation of this material on both household and commercial scale should be possible.

The Society for Economic Botany has increasingly defined itself as a context for fostering expertise in ethnobotany and its various applications. However, given that my own work as an ethnobotanist has been much influenced by my training as an anthropologist, there may be merit in re-examining the 'economic' in economic botany from the standpoint of anthropology. In this address I suggest that economic anthropology provides a useful framework through which to interrogate the notions of 'use' and 'value' attributed to plant resources, and to understand how plants move - by exchange and dissemination - through socio-economic systems, how plant knowledge informs decision-making, and how ethnobotanical knowledge is socially embedded. Each of these processes rests on the foundational idea that all plants with which humans interact are necessarily and simultaneously biological and cultural. Such perspectives may even help us rethink the still sometimes unresolved issues as to what 'theory' in ethnobotany actually entails

Diospyros lotus L. is an arboreal species native to the Balkans and Caucasus and ranging to the Far East. In Italy, it has been cultivated for centuries and has reverted to the wild state in some regions. During archaeological excavations carried out in the historical center of Modena (northern Italy), two floral calyxes of D. lotus were discovered in a layer dating from the first century ce. These are the first and only remains of D. lotus found in an archaeological context in Italy thus far. The first historical mention of this species as an arboreal plant in Italy occurs in the 1565 edition of Dioscorides’ Commentarii de Medica materia by Pietro Andrea Mattioli. Our research allowed us to establish that the first three Italian herbaria containing samples of D. lotus, dating to the 1551–1570 period, are the Erbario B of the Biblioteca Angelica of Rome, the Erbario Aldrovandi (Bologna) and the Erbario Cesalpino (Florence). However, archaeobotanical remains reveal that the fruits of this species were known during the Roman period, probably arriving in northern Italy as a luxury food owing to their exceptional flavor.

Multipurpose NTFP species typically experience higher harvest demand because of their multiple uses, which, when combined with unsustainable land use practices, may threaten population viability. We assessed local knowledge on the uses, habitat, and population status of Mimusops andongensis and Mimusops kummel, both multipurpose NTFP species in Benin, to promote their valorization and conservation and thus sustain local knowledge on their uses for domestication issues. One hundred households were randomly selected for structured interviews for M. andongensis and 500 for M. kummel. The relationship between age, sex, and ethnic groups and the species uses was assessed using comparison and correspondence analyses. Nearly all organs of the species were used. Both species were mainly exploited for medicinal purposes but also in construction and as firewood. We found similarities in some uses of the species organs, although the species occur in different ecological zones and are used by different ethnic groups. This result should be considered for the valorization of the species. Most informants reported that populations of M. andongensis were decreasing, although some felt that they were increasing, whereas less than one-third said that M. kummel was decreasing. There were strong relationships between gender, age, and ethnic affiliation of the users and the exploited organs of both species. Potential uses exist based on both the past and current uses of the species and in comparison to other countries where they are exploited. Local ethnoecological knowledge and practices will help to valorize and conserve the species. However, further research on the species’ seed germination and propagation ability are also necessary.

Childhood and adolescence are important life stages for the acquisition of knowledge about non-timber forest products (NTFPs). We show at which stage in life traditional plant knowledge is learned and analyze whether cross-cultural ethnobotanical knowledge transmission takes place. We evaluate whether the degree of forest dependency influences ethnobotanical knowledge by comparing two indigenous communities in Suriname. Traditional knowledge was documented and vouchers collected during forest walks with adult informants. Questionnaires were completed by 74 schoolchildren (age 4 to 14) to capture their knowledge of names and uses of nine important NTFPs. We tested for knowledge differences by ethnicity and NTFP categories. Local names for NTFPs were analyzed to determine cross-cultural transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge. Children from the forest-dependent Trio community (n = 23) possessed similar knowledge of NTFPs as their more urbanized peers from Apoera (n = 51). NTFP uses were acquired at an earlier age than plant names. Food and commercial NTFP uses were better known than medicinal plant uses. Cross-cultural transfer of knowledge occurred between the two communities. NTFP knowledge of children appeared to be influenced more by the time they spent within the forest, either walking to school or walking to agricultural plots, than by the level of forest dependency or acculturation.

It is widely agreed that in industrialized Europe, knowledge on the use of wild food plants shows a decreasing trend with few instances of valorization. We employed a folk history approach in order to understand the changes that have occurred in the use of wild food plants within the lifetime of the older generation living on Saaremaa Island. Comparing current and remembered past uses and evaluating temporal encounters afforded the understanding that, while the general picture of the use of wild food plants seems diverse and promising (89 plant taxa used, median 20 taxa used per person, Informant Consensus Index of 0.9), only 36% of uses have been practiced throughout life. Another third (34%) of uses existed as a childhood memory, which also encompassed taxa useful during times of food shortage, and 20% of the uses recorded were recently abandoned. The uses of wild food plants acquired later in life, at some point during adulthood (4%) or recently (6%), were few in number, rather temporal in nature and affected by fashion trends. To understand the temporal changes in the use of wild food plants and to identify the reasons causing those changes, it may be important for future researchers to document the exact time of the actual use. To ensure the survival of food security–related knowledge, during times of relative food abundance, it is important to ensure the continuity of the use of wild food plants on the family level by educating children through their participation in making food from wild plants.