Knowledge of wild poisonous plants among students of the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek

Samoniklo bilje raste u prirodi te na njegov rast i razvoj čovjek nema utjecaj. Veliki broj samoniklih vrsta koristi se u prehrani ljudi i životinja, u kozmetičke i medicinske svrhe, no brojne vrste su otrovne te mogu izazvati štetne učinke. U okviru ovog rada provedeno je istraživanje na uzorku od 80 studenata Fakulteta agrobiotehničkih znanosti Osijek. Glavni cilj rada bio je ispitati kako studenti percipiraju samoniklo otrovno bilje, što znaju o simptomima trovanja te ispitati kakvi su njihovi stavovi o potrebi ulaganja u edukacije o samoniklom bilju. Dobiveni rezultati ankete ukazuju na slabo znanje ispitanika jer je većina izrazito neinformirana o samoniklom otrovnom bilju i simptomima trovanja. Studente se u anketi tražilo da označe koliko su upoznati s navedenim biljnim vrstama: tisa (Taxus baccata L.), bršljan (Hedera helix L.), đurđica (Convallaria majalis L.), velebilje (Atropa bella-donna L.) i mrazovac (Colchicum autumnale L.). Najveći broj studenata prepoznalo je bršljan (92,5 %) i đurđicu (67,5 %) kao otrovno bilje. Upravo ovakvi podaci ukazuju na nužnost i potrebu dodatnog educiranja o samoniklom bilju.Wild plants grow in nature and man has no influence on their growth and development. A large number of wild species are used in human and animal nutrition, for cosmetic and medical purposes, but many species are poisonous and can cause harmful effects. Within this study, a research was conducted on a sample of 80 students of the Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek. The main goal of the paper was to examine how students perceive wild poisonous plants, what they know about the symptoms of poisoning and to examine their attitudes about the need to invest in education about wild plants. The obtained survey results indicate a poor knowledge of the respondents because most of them are extremely uninformed about the wild poisonous plants and symptoms of poisoning. Students were asked in the survey to indicate how familiar they are with following plant species: yew (Taxus baccata L.), common ivy (Hedera helix L.), lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis L.), deadly nightshade (Atropa bella-donna L.) and autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale L.). The largest number of students recognized common ivy (92.5%) and lily of the valley (67.5%) as poisonous plants. Precisely such data indicate the necessity and need for additional education about wild plants