ECONOMIC BOTANY

Dogan, Yunus (Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, 35150, Buca-Izmir, Turkey; e-mail yunus.dogan@deu.edu.tr), Suleyman Baslar (Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, 35150, Buca-Izmir, Turkey), Gungor Ay (Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Science-Art, Department of Biology, Muradiye-Manisa, Turkey), and Hasan Huseyin Mert (Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, 35150, Buca-Izmir, Turkey). THE USE OF WILD EDIBLE PLANTS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL ANATOLIA (TURKEY). Economic Botany 58(4):684-690, 2004. In this study, 121 wild edible plants used as food in Anatolia were surveyed to determine the plant parts used and their detailed preparation methods. The results of this study show that the plants may be boiled, fried in fat, and eaten raw or as rolled vegetables. They may also be consumed as pickles, fruits, sweets and spices, and drunk as cold and hot drinks. Thirty species (8 genera) were identified as belonging to the Lamiaceae family, 15 species (15 genera) belong to the Asteraceae family, 13 species (5 genera) belong to the Rosaceae family, 8 species (7 genera) belong to the Brassicaceae family, 6 species (3 genera) belong to the Orchidaceae family and 5 species (5 genera) belong to the Apiaceae family. The genera represented by the highest number of species in the study are as follows: Sideritis L. is represented by 13 species, Origanum L. by 7 species, Rubus L. by 5 species, Thymus L. by 4 species and Rumex L. by 4 species