Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.5
4.7
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a...
share announcement

Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a More Sustainable Future

A Special Issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 6799

Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrea Pieroni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ethnobotany and Ethnobiology, University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 9, Pollenzo, I-12042 Cuneo, Italy
Interests: food heritage; ethnobiology; ethnobotany; wild food plants; fermentations; neglected species
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Renata Sõukand

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172 Venice, Italy
Interests: ethnobotany; ethnobiology; ecosemiotics; biocultural diversity; Eastern Europe; post-Soviet
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Investigations of the interactions between plants species and human societies are quintessential for the sustainable use of biodiversity and in fostering environmental educational platforms aimed at decreasing plant blindness, as well as further helping local communities cope with food security, sound rural development, biocultural heritage, and nature tourism, or to propose new plant foods, new herbal remedies, and, in general, new durable materials of plant origin.

This Special Issue aims to include original and pathbreaking contributions that explore this interface in areas from ethnobotany to applied botany, economic botany to the botanical humanities, and the intersection between botany and art.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Pieroni
Dr. Renata Sõukand
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ethnobotany
  • plant blindness
  • plant awareness disparity
  • neglected species
  • plant handicraft
  • wild food plants
  • medicinal plants
  • ornamental plants
  • ritual plants
  • new plant materials
  • plant perceptions

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

40 pages, 3046 KB  
Article
Nine Centuries, Seven Words: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Temporal Evidence for the Erosion of Gallo-Lucanian Plant Heritage in Inland Southern Italy
by Stefano De Canio, Ettore Nepote, Shujat Ali, Tahir Shahzad, Renata Sõukand, Naji Sulaiman and Andrea Pieroni
Plants 2026, 15(17), 2731; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15172731 - 7 Sep 2026
Viewed by 507
Abstract
This study investigates traditional plant knowledge among Gallo-Lucanian and Lucanian-speaking communities of inland Lucania (Basilicata), Southern Italy, through a cross-cultural and cross-temporal ethnobotanical approach. In a handful of mountain villages, a Gallo-Lucanian substratum survives, carried south by settlers from Piedmont and Liguria between [...] Read more.
This study investigates traditional plant knowledge among Gallo-Lucanian and Lucanian-speaking communities of inland Lucania (Basilicata), Southern Italy, through a cross-cultural and cross-temporal ethnobotanical approach. In a handful of mountain villages, a Gallo-Lucanian substratum survives, carried south by settlers from Piedmont and Liguria between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries; nine hundred years later, we ask what remains of the plants and of the words they brought with them. Fieldwork carried out in 2024 and 2025 with 90 participants in fifteen municipalities, half of them Gallo-Lucanian and half Lucanian speakers, documented 127 identified plant taxa and 12 emic taxa used mainly as wild food and household medicine. The two communities share most of their botanical repertoire: 74 taxa are cited by both, and their Jaccard similarity reaches 0.58. What sets them apart is not the flora but the lexicon, together with the emphasis placed on individual taxa, which differs significantly between the groups. Seven vernacular phytonyms have no counterpart in the surrounding Southern Italian dialects and preserve forms with plausible Piedmontese or Ligurian cognates; several survive attached to plants no longer gathered, so the word outlives the practice it once named. Set against surveys carried out in the same region in 2000–2005 and in inland Liguria, the contemporary repertoire has contracted, particularly among taxa of montane and subalpine distribution, in a landscape reshaped by pastoral decline, land abandonment and recurrent drought. Notably, a substantial share of the gathered taxa is crop wild relatives, among them Beta vulgaris, Daucus carota, Lactuca serriola, Cynara cardunculus, Pastinaca sativa, Asparagus acutifolius, Diplotaxis tenuifolia, Prunus spinosa and Pyrus spinosa, maintained in the interstitial habitats of terraces, field margins and abandoned pastures that these inner areas still preserve. Folk plant uses recorded in minority communities thus provide both a sensitive record of biocultural change and a route to identifying, conserving in situ, and potentially using plant genetic resources in marginal Mediterranean territories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a More Sustainable Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 12356 KB  
Article
On the Use of the Neglected Edible Plants Soda inermis Fourr. and Bunias erucago L. on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia
by Ivana Vitasović-Kosić, Marija Jug-Dujaković, Katija Dolina, Tonka Ninčević Runjić and Łukasz Łuczaj
Plants 2026, 15(14), 2206; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15142206 - 19 Jul 2026
Viewed by 1418
Abstract
Background: Between 2012 and 2023, extensive fieldwork was carried out in coastal Croatia to document traditional plant use. Among the wild vegetables collected, we noted two edible species of leafy greens that are both wild-gathered and cultivated. These are Soda inermis Fourr. (syn. [...] Read more.
Background: Between 2012 and 2023, extensive fieldwork was carried out in coastal Croatia to document traditional plant use. Among the wild vegetables collected, we noted two edible species of leafy greens that are both wild-gathered and cultivated. These are Soda inermis Fourr. (syn. Salsola soda L., Amaranthaceae) and Bunias erucago (Brassicaceae). Methods: The aim of this paper was to review their use in Croatia, both based on the published data and our unpublished observations, altogether encompassing 502 interviews on wild food use. Results: S. inermis was recorded in 11 localities (20 interviews). Although mainly cultivated, it is gathered from the wild and sold at vegetable markets on a few islands of northern Dalmatia and near Zadar. B. erucago was recorded in 40 localities (78 interviews). Used chiefly in central and southern Dalmatia as well as on a few adjacent islands, it is usually collected from the wild, more rarely cultivated. Conclusions: S. inermis represents a declining tradition of cultivation that is closely tied to specific ecological niches and worth preserving. The more resilient B. erucago is either a neglected crop or an example of incipient domestication. Cultivation trials should be undertaken to establish its potential as a future crop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a More Sustainable Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

30 pages, 6814 KB  
Article
The Consumption of Edible Leaves by Afro-Descendants in French Guiana and Suriname: An Overview of a Constantly Evolving Ethno-Culinary Practice
by Marc-Alexandre Tareau, Alexander M. Greene, Clarisse Ansoe-Tareau, Nicholaas Pinas and Michael Rapinski
Plants 2026, 15(13), 2096; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15132096 - 6 Jul 2026
Viewed by 1001
Abstract
This paper explores the culinary and cultural significance of cooked leafy vegetables among Afro-descendant communities in French Guiana and Suriname, including French Guianese and Surinamese Creoles, Maroons, and Haitian migrants. While leafy greens play a major dietary role across sub-Saharan Africa, their consumption [...] Read more.
This paper explores the culinary and cultural significance of cooked leafy vegetables among Afro-descendant communities in French Guiana and Suriname, including French Guianese and Surinamese Creoles, Maroons, and Haitian migrants. While leafy greens play a major dietary role across sub-Saharan Africa, their consumption in the Americas remains understudied. This ethnobotanical study of edible leafy plants is based on surveys of local markets, gardens and residents. Drawing on 26 informal interviews conducted in four local languages (French, French Guianese Creole, Haitian Creole, and Nengee Tongo), we describe 36 species of edible leaves from 20 plant families consumed in the region. Our findings show that although the practice of eating leafy greens is widely shared, the species selected, their names, and their perceived properties vary noticeably across cultural groups. Some plants are eaten exclusively by Maroons (e.g., Cestrum latifolium, Capsicum spp.), others by Haitians (e.g., Corchorus olitorius, Rivina humilis), and some have fallen into disuse among younger generations. These differences are shaped by ecological availability, cultural memory, food-medicine beliefs, and interethnic influences. We suggest that the term callaloo (referring to both dishes and leafy vegetables), which circulates in multiple linguistic and culinary forms throughout the African diaspora, can serve as a metaphor for the interculturalization of foodways. More than ingredients, these leafy vegetables act as dynamic cultural markers—symbols of resilience, transmission, and transformation. In a context of rapid globalization, where unseen foods risk sinking further into obscurity, these plant-based traditions highlight both the adaptability and fragility of Afro-descendant culinary heritage in the Guiana Shield. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a More Sustainable Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 1089 KB  
Article
Return to Nature: Sacred Plants in the Azerin Funerary Rite of Candomblé Nação Angola
by Thaís Salatiel de Azevedo, Ygor Jessé Ramos and Nina Claudia Barboza da Silva
Plants 2026, 15(2), 260; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15020260 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 2315
Abstract
During the transatlantic diaspora, enslaved Africans brought cultural and religious elements to Brazil, such as Candomblé, that deeply influenced local society. In Candomblé communities of Bantu origin, the death of an initiate requires specific rites, such as the Azerin. In this [...] Read more.
During the transatlantic diaspora, enslaved Africans brought cultural and religious elements to Brazil, such as Candomblé, that deeply influenced local society. In Candomblé communities of Bantu origin, the death of an initiate requires specific rites, such as the Azerin. In this ritual practice, sacred plants are selected according to their associations with deities and their capacity to provide spiritual protection. Each plant used holds particular meanings and is deliberately chosen to create an atmosphere of respect and reverence for the deceased. This study analyzes the symbolism and ritual functions of plants in the Azerin funeral rite of Candomblé Nação Angola, with emphasis on their role in spiritual protection. Participant observation and review of specialized literature were employed to describe the rite and its vegetal repertoire. Five sacred plant species were identified (Elaeis guineensis Jacq, Raphia vinifera P.Beauv., Dracaena fragrans (L.) Ker Gawl., Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. and, Morus nigra L.), whose functions range from protection against Eguns to the material representation of the initiate’s body. The results indicate that, in the Azerin, plants do not merely express protection but operate as mediating elements in communication with ancestors, structuring the greeting and continuity of ancestor worship in Candomblé Nação Angola. The study thus expands the understanding of ritual plants in Afro-Brazilian religiosity and the biocultural heritage of these communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies on Plant–Humans Interactions as a Means for Fostering a More Sustainable Future)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop