Some wild edible plants and their dietary fiber contents

Abstract

Wild plants are important in terms of human nutrition and folk medicine in Turkey. Especially the ones collected from rural areas and sold in the market are rich sources of dietary fiber important for human health. In this study, the dietary fiber contents of 13 different plants consumed frequently were determined by enzymatic-gravimetric method. The lowest amounts of insoluble fiber was found in Trachystemon orientalis L. and Nasturdium officinale and the highest was found in Polygonum cognatum. Nasturdium officinale was determined to have the lowest amount of soluble fiber, whereas Trachystemon orientalis L. had the highest. The lowest amount of total dietary fiber was found in Nasturdium officinale and Chenopodium album L. and the highest was found in Polygonum cognatum Meisn. and Trachystemon orientalis L. Overall, it was shown in this study that edible wild plants are rich sources of both soluble and insoluble fibers which have been proven to have positive health effects and help prevent many frequently seen diseases. These results suggest that besides their current use, edible wild plants can also be utilized as ingredients in developing new functional food products.