https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05500-9
Regular Article
How familiar is the population of Southeast Serbia with the biosafety procedures for collecting, preparing and preserving wild plants from their surroundings
1
Faculty of Forensic Sciences and Engineering, University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies, Cara Dusana 196, Belgrade, Serbia
2
Department of Security Studies, Faculty of Criminal Investigation, University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies, Cara Dusana 196, Belgrade, Serbia
Received:
30
March
2024
Accepted:
25
July
2024
Published online:
7
August
2024
Southeastern Serbia has around 1,700 plant species, making it the most diverse region in the Balkans. Wild plants are richer in bioactive ingredients than foods obtained from cultivated plants and successfully neutralize poisons that are brought into the body daily through air, water and food. The nutritional and medicinal properties are influenced by the time of picking, the method of processing, preparation and storage. Activities that directly threaten wild plants are uncontrolled and unprofessional collection of medicinal plants or their parts from natural habitats and illegal trade. A survey was conducted in which 254 respondents from Southeast Serbia participated, of which 68.50% were women and 31.50% were men. Respondents most often collect wild plants in nature (67.50%), and least often purchase them online (2.36%). A third of participants who procure herbs in nature indicated that they are not sufficiently familiar with the procedures for identification and collection of wild herbs. Respondents most often use wild plants for medicinal (84%) and food (39%) purposes. The most commonly used plant species among the respondents are herbs that have a long tradition of use and confirmed medicinal effects, as well as wild species that are appetizing. Because the conclusions of this study are based on survey participants’ self-reports, they are subjective. The following stage would include additional questions to allow for an objective assessment of how familiar is the population of Southeast Serbia with the biosafety procedures for collecting, preparing and preserving wild plants from their surroundings.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
