Ethnobotanical study on traditional use of local fruit varieties in Gargano Promontory (Apulia, Italy)

This study is a first attempt at documenting the ethnobotanical value of local fruit trees, the quantity of which has been decreasing for the past fifty years, while the cultivation has gradually been abandoned. The current study focuses on Gargano Promontory area, where some traditional agricultural practices are still in use. Many species and ethnobotanical categories are involved in a range of uses, such as domestic and craft products (22 species), agroforestry (16 species) and economic (13 species), not just for food. In these cases, fruits (62%) and other parts (leaves, seeds, remnants of pruning, wood) of a plant are important (38%). 217 fruit trees are involved (landraces, ancient cultivars) and they belong to 33 species, mainly Rosaceae’s (53%). Chestnut, pear, almond and walnut trees are most widely exploited, proving that an ethnobotanical heritage of great importance has developed thanks to the diversity of traditional fruit trees, whose relevance is far from being completely studied. In the Gargano area, the variety of traditional fruit trees has become a strong distinctive feature of the Mediterranean diet. This is in turn still the base of the nutritional regime of a community that developed a sound gastronomic knowledge based on fruits (salads, starters, etc.). The socio-economic changes of the past fifty years have obviously led to abandoning most of said uses. The interest in foodstuff remains, but it is limited to few species, or to an even lower number of their morphotypes. In intercultural comparisons with other Italian regions (Campania, Basilicata) and other countries (Serbia), we have found common uses, but above all a great uniqueness. At the same time, there is evidence showing the close relationship between the diversity of fruit trees in use and the resulting biocultural abundance. The abandonment of traditional agricultural practices has also led to the loss of ethnobotanical values linked to local fruits. Hence, preserving the ethnobotanical knowledge is the only way of recovering and enhancing this precious heritage made of biological and cultural biodiversity.