Introduction
The use of wild greens is an important issue in gastronomic ethnobotany as in some
parts of the world, wild greens have been widely used to supplement human nutrition
(Bharucha and Pretty 2010; Cruz-Garcia and Struik 2015; Johns 1990; Leonti 2012; Serrasolses
et al. 2016; Turner et al. 2011). One of the places where the use of wild vegetables
has been sparsely documented until recently, in spite of the incredible richness of
their use, is the area of the Caucasus. Some uses of wild vegetables in this area
are recorded by older Russian and Georgian sources (see for example Grossgejm 1952;
Javakhishvili 1986) and a few general ethnobotanical studies were made recently (Bussmann
et al. 2014, 2016a, b, 2017a, b; Hovsepyan et al. 2016), whereas Kaliszewska and Kołodziejska-Degórska
(2015) studied the use of wild vegetables in Dagestan (North Caucasus, Russian Federation).
However, no such studies have been conducted in the Imereti region. We document the
use of all the wild greens, which are predominantly used in a dish called —which according
one of the Georgian transliteration rules (Romanization system for Georgian link 2017)
is written pkhali (though in some texts it is also written pxali, phkhali, phali,
or pchali). This dish is of great importance in the culinary tradition of Georgia,
especially its western part, and is eaten almost on a daily basis. Pkhali is also
made with cultivated vegetables such as cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), beetroot (Beta
vulgaris L.), or spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), but the consumption of pkhali made
of wild vegetables, so called veluri pkhali (wild pkhali) or mindvris pkhali (field
pkhali), is equally common. Pkhali constitutes the main form of consumption of wild
greens in the area and is served as a side dish. The term mkhali, the literary version,
is often used as well, while pkhali is its synonym in the local dialects of Imereti,
Guria, and Racha (Lomtatidze et al. 1962). As a large number of species are used in
the dish, some of them of little known edibility, it is of scientific and economic
importance to document the plants used.
Study Site
Imereti is a historical region of western Georgia located on the Colchic Plain, sandwiched
between the Great and Lesser Caucasus Mountains. The climate is transitional between
humid subtropical and warm temperate, with high rainfall throughout the year. Imereti
is a plain with some low mountains surrounding it. The climate is transitional between
humid subtropical and warm temperate, with high rainfall throughout the year (Kordzakhia
1971). The mean August temperature is 29 °C (the hottest month), and in January, it
is 8 °C. In this climate, some wild vegetables may be collected virtually all year,
as a clear drought period is not apparent. The native vegetation is composed of deciduous
forests, and the dominant trees are Quercus robur spp. imeretina (Steven ex Woronow)
Menitsky, Zelkova carpinifolia (Pall.) K. Koch, Carpinus betulus L., Castanea sativa
L., Alnus glutinosa ssp. barbata (C.A.Mey.) Yalt, Corylus avellana L., Acer cappadocicum
Gled., Fagus orientalis Lipsky, Ulmus glabra Huds., Buxus colchica Pojark., and Prunus
laurocerasus L. Large tracts of the Caucasian foothills are managed as wood pastures
with freely roaming cattle and pigs, and many species of fruit trees are interspersed
between deciduous copses and pastures (Nakhutsrishvili 2012; Otte et al. 2011; Zazanashvili
et al. 2000). The area is relatively densely populated. The local farmers plant a
variety of annual crops, mainly maize, and there are multi-species orchards around
each house.
Kutaisi is the largest town in Imereti (196,000 inhabitants) and the third most populated
town in Georgia. It has two large vegetable markets. The one in the center of the
city is a retail market including wild vegetables, while the wholesale market is located
outside the city center and hosts less wild vegetables. Single wild vegetable stalls
may also be encountered in smaller towns, at least occasionally, particularly in Samtredia
and Choni.
Methods
We carried out 41 single and group interviews among knowledgeable informants (40 women,
13 men), selected mainly through contacts with village leaders and by the snowball
technique between March and June 2016. The informants were usually accompanied by
their extended families who commented on the information and supplied specimens. The
informants supplied data about wild vegetable use in the following towns and villages:
Bagdati, Banoja, Cholebi, Geguti, Gelati, Gumbra, Khoni, Kumistavi, Kutaisi, Maglaki,
Meskheti, Mukhiani, Opshkviti, Partskhanakanevi, Rioni, Sakhulia, Samtredia, Simoneti,
Sormoni, Tkibuli/Hresili, Vani, Vartsikhe, Zarati, and Zubi. The age of respondents
ranged from 42 to 85 (mean 65, median 66 years). In the interviews, we asked which
wild plants were added to the pkhali dish. We also asked interviewees to list other
leaves, fruits, roots, or mushrooms used for food or herbal drinks in order to see
wild vegetables in the context of all wild food. However, for this paper, we only
list the numbers of species listed in other food categories without specifying the
species. Voucher specimens were deposited in the herbarium of the Faculty of Biology,
University of Warsaw in Poland (WA). The International Society of Ethnobiology Code
of Ethics (2006) was followed (see website link).
Results
On average, respondents mentioned 10.4 species of wild greens per interview (compared
to 6.9 species of fruits and 6.3 species of fungi). Altogether, 53 species of wild
green vegetables were documented (Table 1). Vegetables for pkhali are boiled for 10
to 30 min, then strained and minced or finely chopped. They are added to crushed or
minced walnuts and spiced with vinegar, dill (Anethum graveolens L.), coriander (Coriandrum
sativum L.), pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.), celery (Apium graveolens L.), and parsley
(Petroselinum crispsum (Mill.) (Fuss). Some more abundant wild vegetables are made
as single-species dishes, but most species are used in a mix, and there is no general
rule as to which species are served single and which separately. A form of pkhali
is also made without walnuts, in which the green mass is spiced by tkemali, a sauce
made of green cherry plums (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh. s.l.) and spiced with similar
herbs as the classic walnut pkhali. Mixed plants for pkhali are commonly sold in Kutaisi
in the main city market, where 5 to 15 sellers may be encountered every day from the
beginning of the year until late April, with a few still selling the plants until
June.
Table 1
Species of wild plants used in the dish known as pkhali
Discussion
We recorded five species which are not listed in inventories of wild edible plants
(e.g., Hedrick 1919; Tanaka 1976; Kunkel 1984; Plants for a Future 2017), nor are
they listed in any ethnobotanical literature concerning wild foods. These are Ranunculus
chius DC, Ranunculus georgicus Kem.-Nath., Symphytum grandiflorum DC, Geranium columbinum
L., and Geranium rotundifolium L. It must be emphasized that the way wild vegetables
are consumed in Georgia, i.e., with crushed walnuts, is very unique to this country.
It is interesting that many toxic wild vegetables, such as buttercups Ranunculus spp.
and comfrey S. grandiflorum, are used and sold in the market of Kutaisi. Raw buttercups
contain protoanemonin, (Aslam and Ijaz 2012) which is very pungent, and Symphytum
species contain pyrrholizidine (PA) alkaloids (e.g., Rode 2002; Roitman 1981). Prolonged
cooking probably removes most of these toxins, but there is a lack of studies focused
specifically on the alimentary use of comfrey after longer cooking.