Non-Conventional Food Plants (Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionais (PANC)) of the Petrópolis–Teresópolis Crossing, Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

We conducted a floristic survey of Non-Conventional Food Plants (Plantas Alimentícias Não Convencionais (PANC)) on the trail of Travessia Petrópolis–Teresópolis in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Wild food plants with food potential were collected along a sinuous transect of 27 km in length and 3 m in width. The collected material was identified in virtual herbariums by specialists, and later, a literature review on the food use of the identified plants was carried out. Thus, 90 food and potential food species were identified, belonging to 54 genera and distributed in 34 families present along the trail, including the Asteraceae (10), Begoniaceae (9), Passifloraceae (8), Piperaceae (7), and Cactaceae (6) families, which showed the greatest species richness. We conclude that the diversity of the PANC found in a protected area demonstrates enormous potential for future domestication to produce food from the native flora of Brazil. Another potential use is in educational activities and pedagogical tourism, highlighting the gastronomic dimension of plant diversity present in protected areas.