Folkloric Knowledge of Endemic Plants: Their Traditional Uses as Spices, Food and Herbal Teas by the Local Communities in Turkiye

As a reflection of cultural heritage, different consumption patterns of endemic plants represent special traditional gastronomy. As we cannot find these endemic plants everywhere, they are not found in people’s daily consumption preferences. In this chapter, it is aimed to list potential endemic plants that may serve as promising future sources of food, spice, and herbal tea in Turkiye. In Turkiye’s traditional knowledge, a total of 103 endemic food plants, 23 endemic spice plants, and 59 endemic herbal teas have been found to be used. The most common endemic food plants used are cooked, followed by raw, suck the nectar, and eaten fresh. Some of the endemic plants, especially species belonging to the genera Allium, Cerasus, Digitalis, Gypsophila, Origanum, Ranunculus, Scorzonera, Sideritis, and Thymus, collected are also sold in the local neighborhood markets. In addition, in terms of contributing to the country’s economy, Allium tuncelianum and Origanum minutiflorum are important endemic plant species exported abroad.