This
paper reports on a subset of data of two independent ethnobotanical
studies in Georgia and Albania/Macedonia. As part of the broader
ethnobotanical interviews, participants were asked about their use of
plants in general. When discussing the interviews of both regions, the
authors found an interesting shared use of potato (Solanum tuberosum
L.) leaves in parts of both study regions, that had never been reported
before, and decided to combine their data in this paper. While potatoes
are widely grown for regular food purposes (use of the tubers) at all
researched altitudes (from 500 to 2335 m) in both regions, potato leaves
are normally regarded as toxic (Turner and von Aderkas 2009).
We hypothesized that using them as food would be a custom of isolated
high altitude villages, where fresh herbs would be rare, especially
after the long winter, and that second, this custom would have been
discontinued with increasing accessibility of the region after the
construction of roads.
The territory of modern-day Georgia (Fig. 1)
has been continuously inhabited since the early Stone Age, and
agriculture was developed during the early Neolithic era (Javakhishvili 1987).
In Georgian, the name of the country is “Sakartvelo,” and “Georgia” is
semantically linked to Greek (γεωργία) meaning “agriculture”
(Javakhishvili 1987).
Human occupation, however, started in the Early Pleistocene. The
1.7-Myr-old hominid fossils of Dmanisi in Southern Georgia are the
earliest known hominid-site outside of Africa (Gabunia and Vekua 1995; Gabunia et al. 2000; Finlayson 2005). Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Neanderthal and modern human occupation are well documented (Adler and Bar-Oz 2009).
The archeological findings from Neolithic and Early Bronze periods are
rich with plant fossils and seeds of both wild species and local
landraces (Melikishvili 1970).
The earliest grapevine seeds indicating cultivation were excavated in
southern Georgia and date to ∼8.000 years BP (Ramishvili 1988).
Due to its long tradition, agriculture in Georgia is characterized by a
great diversity of landraces and endemic species of crops, as well as
crop introductions (Bussmann et al. 2014). Early research documented this great variety (Ketskhoveli 1928, 1957; Dekaprelevich and Menabde 1929; Menabde 1938, 1948; Ketskhoveli et al. 1960),
but a rapid loss of local cultivars of cereals, legumes, and flax began
in the 1950s with Stalinist agricultural reform (Akhalkatsi 2009; Akhalkatsi et al. 2010).
Despite the long cultural history, recent studies on cultivated plants
in Georgia are rather scarce (Zhizhizlashvili and Berishvili 1980; Pistrick et al. 2009).
Fig. 1
Study area Republic of Georgia and Albania (based on United Nations, modified).
Although the mountainous territory of Eastern Albania and NW Macedonia (Fig. 1)
is separated from Georgia by hundreds of kilometers, it is
characterized by similar livelihoods and environments. Like in
mountainous Georgia, the populations rely on small-scale farming and
pastoralist activities. A significant portion of the population migrates
seasonally to city centers, in some cases only returning to their
villages for a few months during the late spring and summer. According
to the Albanian Institute of Statistics data, Gollobordo and the entire
Eastern Albania (covering both Peshkopia and Kukës counties) are among
the economically poorest areas of not only the country, but also all of
Europe. All of the villages in the Gollobordo are nowadays permanently
inhabited only by families of Islamic faith, while until the 1990s, most
of the Macedonian villages also had an important Christian Orthodox
component. The local dialect of the Macedonian minority is now spoken by
less than 3000 inhabitants. The climate of the Eastern Albanian and
Western Macedonia area is continental, with very harsh temperatures and
snowfall during the winter season.
Materials and Methods
Ethnobotanical Interviews
Fieldwork
was conducted in Khevsureti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Tusheti, Svaneti, and
Racha-Lechkhumi in July–August 2013, July–August 2014, and
September–October 2015. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires
were conducted with 170 participants (80 women and 90 men) after
obtaining their oral prior informed consent Samtskhe-Javakheti: 34
participants (10 Armenian speakers/23 Georgian speaker/1 Greek/Russian
speaker); Svaneti and Racha: 63 participants (all Georgian/Svan and
Rachian speakers); and Khevsureti, and Tusheti: 74 participants (all
Georgian/Tush and Khevsuer speakers). The participants were selected by
snowball sampling, trying to reach gender balance and represent members
of different ages (13–93 years). However, most participants were over
50 years old, as interviews targeted remote villages where only very few
younger people remain. All interviews were carried out in the
participants’ homes and gardens by native speakers of Georgian and its
local dialects (Svan, Tush, Khevsur, Phshav) or where participants spoke
these as their native language, Armenian, and in one case Greek.
Russian, which all participants and interviewers were fluent in, was
used as the lingua franca in some interviews involving Armenian and
Greek participants. Interviews were subsequently translated into
English. In Albania data were gathered during several weeks in the
spring and summer months in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In Eastern Albania and
NW Macedonia 94 elderly locals were interviewed.
Statistical Analysis
Because the underlying studies used different methodologies, we tabulated informant reports of S. tuberosum leaves and S. tuberosum
tubers used as food only for each community within three regions of
Georgia: Tusheti-Khevsureti, Samtschke-Kavaketi, and Svaneti-Racha. We
then tested whether the distribution of elevations at which informants
reported eating S. tuberosum leaves
differed from the distribution of elevations at which informants
reported eating tubers, constructing box-and-whisker plots comparing the
first, second, and third quartiles (boxes) and the data extremes
(whiskers).
Results
Of
the 170 participants in Georgia, only 21 reported to know of the
consumption of potato leaves, in contrast to 160 who reported to
regularly eat potatoes (Table 1).
All reports about leaf eating came from participants from
Tusheti-Khevsureti. Within this region, only participants from the
highest villages (Fig. 2)
reported to have eaten potato leaves. The seven participants from
Samtshke-Javakheti (who lived in the lower villages of this region), who
indicated leaf consumption had all been born in Tusheti and recalled
the custom from their youth (Figs. 2 and 3).
None of the participants ate potato leaves nowadays, but all agreed
that for consumption young leaves had to be collected in early spring,
should be boiled in water, and after discarding the liquid the remaining
herb material could be used for pkhali (herb pie). All indicated that with increased market access the custom has been abandoned.
Table 1
Reports of using Solanum tuberosum leaves in Georgia
Region
Community
Elevation
N (leaf)
N (root)
SK
Bakuriani
1650
2
13
SK
Mzetamze
1150
5
5
SK
Moliti (Armenian)
2200
1
SK
Tabatskuri (Armenian)
2200
14
SR
Khophuri
660
2
SR
Oqhureshi
716
6
SR
Gvimbrala
800
4
SR
Babili
850
2
SR
Lahamula
1050
3
SR
Nakuraleshi
1100
10
SR
Mananauri
1150
3
SR
Tskhekvani
1320
3
SR
Labsqhaldi
1530
1
SR
Ebuthi
1550
10
SR
Chvabiani
1600
2
SR
Leli
1660
2
SR
Tzvrimi
1850
2
SR
Zeskho
1920
2
SR
Murqhmeli
2050
2
SR
Zhibiani
2125
8
TK
Shtrolta
NA
1
TK
Barisakho
1300
1
14
TK
Ortskali
1350
2
TK
Kobulo
1400
1
TK
Shatili
1450
4
TK
Atabe
1750
1
TK
Chagsopeli
1780
2
2
TK
Dartlo
1780
2
3
TK
Aragvispiri
1800
3
TK
Ardoti
1800
1
TK
Diklo
1900
1
TK
Dino
1900
2
2
TK
Jarvoseli
1900
2
TK
Juhta
1900
1
TK
Omalo
1900
10
TK
Shenako
1900
3
TK
Beghelas Tchala
2000
2
2
TK
Roshka
2000
2
5
TK
Tchesho
2000
1
TK
Girevi
2085
1
TK
Gogrulta
2100
2
2
TK
Bochorna
2335
4
Total number of reports for each community of the use of potato leaves and potato roots as food are given (SK Samtskhe-Javakheti, SR Svaneti-Racha, TK Tusheti-Khevsureti)
Fig. 2
Elevational distribution of use reports of Solanum tuberosum leaves vs. roots. Each vertical line represents a community; its height represents the number of reports within that community (SK Samtshke-Javakheti, SR Svaneti-Racha, TK Tusheti-Khevsureti).
Fig. 3
Elevational distribution of use reports of Solanum tuberosum leaves vs. roots. Each point is an individual use report (SK Samtshke-Javajheti, SR Svaneti-Racha, TK Tusheti-Khevsureti).
The same practice of consuming young potato leaves was found in our study area in Eastern Albania and Western Macedonia (Fig. 1),
where it is restricted to the highest elevation inhabited villages
(above 1000 m). In Western Macedonia and the Mokra area of Eastern
Albania, this practice is only remembered by the elderly. However,
ethnic (Muslim) Macedonians in Gollobordo (one of the poorest areas of
Europe) still practice it. Young leaves are collected in April–May,
shortly boiled, and used, mixed together with sour cream, or sour
ricotta, or cheese or butter, and sometimes onions (possibly to balance
the taste) as a filling for salty pies (börek), or even as wrapping
leaves for sarma (Pieroni et al. 2013, 2015a, b).
Discussion
The use of potato leaves has not before been reported in the literature, whereas the use of fruits and leaves of other Solanum species, e.g., members of the Solanum nigrum L./S. americanum L. complex is common around the globe. In Hawai’i, S. americanum leaves and berries were used as famine foods (Krauss 1976, 1993; Abbott 1992). Similar uses are reported for S. nigrum in Tanzania (AVRDC 2001, 2003), Uganda (Bukenya and Carasco 1995, 1999; Bukenya 1996; Katende et al. 1999), Kenya (Maundu et al. 1999), and Africa in general (Schippers 2000). Crowe (1990) reported S. nigrum leaves as food for New Zealand, and Henderson (1974) and Symon (1981) indicated Australian aboriginal use of the species as food, while Reid (1946) reported food use of the species from old sources in China, Schilling and Andersen (1990) for India, and Singh and Kachroo (1976) specifically for high altitude regions in Jammu and Kashmir. Niebuhr (1970) mentioned the use of S. nigrum leaves as food in the Aegean. Some of the authors of this paper (Bussmann and Paniagua-Zambrana) frequently ate S. nigrum leaves as vegetables in Madagascar. Both S. nigrum and S. americanum are reported as foods on a global scale (Edmonds 1977, 1979, 1984; Hedrick 1972; Huxley 1992; Edmonds and Chweya 1997) and S. americanum is also widely known as a food plant among Native Americans (Moerman 1998).
In contrast, the use of leaves of S. tuberosum
seems to be a very restricted custom in high mountain communities in
Europe. No references on this custom could be found in the literature
for Georgia, and no references seem to exist for high mountain regions
beyond Europe, especially Andean South America. The author’s personal
experience of several decades of fieldwork in the Andes, whence S. tuberosum originates, excludes any observations of potato leaf use as food. S. tuberosum
leaves clearly represent an emergency staple, at times when no other
fresh food is available, in particular in very isolated mountain
communities. The preparation of potato leaves for food does in most
cases involve careful selection of young leaves—which may be
significantly less toxic (Brown et al. 1999; Pieroni et al. 2014)—and
preparation to leach out any toxins, a clear indication of the adaptive
ingenuity of mountain populations. We believe that the emergence of
this practice in remote areas of the Southern Balkan Mountains is the
result of an extreme adaptation due to the spring food shortages
affecting high elevation villages, especially in the past.
Interestingly, many of the highest villages originated in the Southern
Balkan study area about one century ago, as an adaptation to demographic
increase generated in the lower villages when potatoes were introduced
as crop. In other words, the arrival of potato as a crop may have
simultaneously brought locals to high elevation communities and given
them the resources for the practice of consuming young potato leaves. In
Georgia, the practice is restricted to mountain regions that did not
have any road access until a few decades ago (Tusheti, Upper
Khevsureti). In regions that for centuries had good accessibility (e.g.,
Svaneti), potato leaves never played a role in local diet.
Conclusions
The
consumption of potato leaves is clearly a custom restricted to
high-altitude villages with very limited access, and isolation due to
snow closure of mountain passes. Local inhabitants use carefully
processed leaves of S. tuberosum as
one of the first vegetables in spring, when forest areas are still
inaccessible. New access roads, abandonment of villages during winter,
and better storage options have largely made the custom obsolete. This
cryptic practice has remained previously undescribed due to the
isolation, which previously necessitated it. The fact that the practice
has been discontinued in most of Georgia, as well as in Macedonia,
highlights the urgency of traditional knowledge documentation in rapidly
changing mountain communities.
Acknowledgements
The
authors thank all participants for their generous hospitality and
friendship. We are hopeful that this and subsequent work in the area
will help the communities meet their needs and aspirations.
