South European Brassica oleracea leafy types: traditional foods and uses in a cross-country, intercultural perspective

Poster publicado em: BaSeFood Newsletter - Special Issue n.º7, October 2012 - Traditional Food International 2012, p. 11. ISBN: 978-88-902152-6-1Introduction. Brassica oleracea L. is a polymorph species including, besides the more commonly used horticultural types (cauliflower, broccoli, head cabbage, Brussels sprouts), also types which leaves are the more commonly used part. These are mainly referred to as kales, or collards, but also include kohlrabi types, when the leaves are consumed. Kales are typical components of local food systems of many European areas, but are not generally utilised as large scale commercial crops. The rather unique abundance of glucobrassicin, besides that of flavonoids and carotenoids, make them also a potentially interesting health promoting crop. Material and methods. On site surveys were carried out during BaSeFood project, interviewing local respondents, according to qualitative descriptive methods in Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria. Information about the local populations, growing systems, uses, recipes and health promoting properties perceptions were retrieved. Cross country comparison were carried out. Results. Kales are used in Italy, Portugal and Turkey, whereas the use of kohlrabi leaves is reported in Bulgaria and Georgia. The local populations present a different level of variability; selection is practised by farmers but only in Italy and Portugal some kind of organised seed production seems to occur. In almost all areas, the leaves are used at different stages, as a typical winter vegetable, often representing the only fresh green available during the cool season. Over 40 traditional recipes were recorded and critically compared. They combine locally available ingredients and, in almost all cases, they represent a main course: use of kales as side dish does not belong to tradition. Kales are exploited at commercial level especially in Italy, and to a lesser extend in Portugal; these cases may represent an example for other situations. The local perception of health promoting value is very low. Conclusions. As a whole leafy forms of Brassica oleracea can be considered a very significant example of traditional crops with potential of exploitation. They are highly adaptable to local conditions but also sufficiently plastic to be fitted to more intensive exploitation systems. This flexibility represents a possibility for the preservation of local populations, together with the selection of stabilised varieties. Kale recipes also represent a typical example of how traditional foods make use of what available, are intrinsically variable and are difficult to define in terms of quality and quantity of ingredients. Kales are also a good example of how new knowledge of potential health promoting properties can enhance the interest on traditional crops and foods.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n.º 227118