Diversity and distribution of edible plants in Colombia

More than 7,000 plant species are known to be edible and safe for human consumption. Modern commercialization of agriculture favouring yield, however, has reduced almost the entire global human diet to just 10 species.

Despite being the second most biodiverse country in the world with thousands of useful plants, Colombia’s human communities suffer widespread poverty, with more than half the population experiencing from food insecurity.

To gain a full picture of the potential for revitalizing edible plants and conservation-through-use, this study combined spatial and taxonomic analyses to map the diversity and distribution of edible plants in Colombia.

Compiling taxonomic data from various international and Colombian checklists, the authors catalogued a total of 3,805 edible plant species in the country, most of them native. While local farmers cultivate 662 species, only about 24 per cent of these are native to Colombia.

The authors downloaded GBIF-mediated occurrence records of all catalogued species, covering 82 per cent of the edible Colombian flora. Initial analysis revealed, however, that just 10 species made up 25 per cent of the occurrences and the top three species were not native to Colombia.

The area with most species (and occurrence data) was Antioquia, the sixth-largest department of Colombia, with 1,823 edible species. Distribution was very specific with most species only occurring in five or fewer departments. Only a single species, Eleusine indica—an introduced grass—occurred in all 33 departments.

The study highlighted the cultivation of breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum) as an example of best practice for revitalization through sustainable production and consumption to increase food security. The authors, however, also stressed a need to fill data gaps through focussed research in poorly explored areas, especially in the Amazonian and Caribbean regions.