Basic information from reports

The age distribution of 175 interviewees was segmented, and the results showed that all interviewees were between 18 and 85 years of age; 25 were between 18 and 25 years of age, 25 were between 25 and 30 years of age, 42 were between 30 and 35 years of age, 22 were between 36 and 45 years of age, 21 were between 46 and 55 years of age, 19 were between 56 and 65 years of age and 21 were over 65 years of age. Of those interviewed, 142 were of rural origin (i.e., they were born in rural areas and raised in rural areas during childhood and adolescence), accounting for 81.14 percent of all interviewees, and 33 were of urban origin (i.e., they were born and lived in urban areas), accounting for 18.86 percent of the total. There were 87 males and 33 females, with a male-to-female ratio close to 1:1. A total of 148 of the interviewees were of the Han nationality, 22 were of the Hui nationality, and 5 were of the Mongolian nationality (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

Basic information about the interviewees

The results of the survey showed that the number of species of wild plants eaten by the interviewee was positively correlated with age. Eleven wild plant species were consumed by each of the 25 reporters under 25 years of age, while up to 47 wild plant species were consumed by each of the 21 reporters over 65 years of age, 4.27 times the number of reported species consumed by respondents under 25 years of age. Most of the 11 wild plants eaten by people under the age of 25 are common wild vegetables (with tender stems and leaves), such as Sonchus wightianus DC., Mulgedium tataricum (L.) DC., Nostoc commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz., Allium mongolicum Regel, the flower of Robinia pseudoacacia L., the samara of Ulmus pumila L., and the bud of Toona sinensis (Juss.) M. Roem.. The number of species consumed by people over 65 years old was significantly higher than the number of species consumed by people in the other age groups, and the difference was mainly due to the consumption of dermatophytes and spermatophytes, such as the bark of U. pumila L., the seeds of Corispermum hyssopifolium L. and Chenopodium album L. These plants were eaten only in years with famine. With abundant material on resources and the fact that people are no longer lacking food, these plants are rarely eaten by people.

The consumption of edible wild plant species is also directly related to the growth environment of the interviewee. Individuals from rural areas consumed significantly higher numbers of edible wild plant species than individuals from urban areas. For example, among interviewees between the ages of 30 and 35, 37 wild plants had been consumed by all the interviewees from rural areas, while only 14 wild plants had been consumed by all the interviewees from urban areas. The 14 plants consumed by individuals from urban areas are also mainly wild vegetables, such as S. wightianus DC., N. commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, T. mongolicum Hand.-Mazz., A. mongolicum Regel, and the buds of T. sinensis (Juss.) M. Roem.. Furthermore, modern urban food and beverage items are often derived from the species A. mongolicum Regel, and the buds of T. sinensis (Juss.) M. Roem. have been artificially cultivated.

Sources of wild edible plants in the Hassan area

A statistical analysis was performed on wild edible plants in the Hassan region. There were 53 species (based on incomplete statistics) of wild edible plants belonging to 24 families in the Hassan region. Compositae and Liliaceae were the most prevalent families, with 8 wild edible plants belonging to Compositae and 7 wild edible plants belonging to Liliaceae, most of which were eaten as wild vegetables. The 8 wild edible plants belonging to Compositae had a relatively wide distribution range and were generally distributed throughout the investigation area; among these 8 plants, S. wightianus DC., M. tataricum (L.) DC., and T. mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. were the most common wild vegetables in the region. The distribution of edible wild plants of Liliaceae is relatively regional, and communities of this species are relatively concentrated. There were four, four, and three species of wild edible plants belonging to Solanaceae Juss., Chenopodiaceae Vent. and Rosaceae Juss., respectively. Most of the wild edible plants belonging to these three families were consumed as snacks.

Edible parts of the wild edible plants in the Hassan area

Among the 53 wild edible plants identified, the tender stems and leaves (including tender buds) were the most commonly used parts of the plants, with 17 species, followed by the fruits (including tender fruits), with 16 species. In addition, the edible plant parts included the roots or rhizomes (bulbs), seeds, and whole plants (Table 1). Plants were consumed in two forms: raw and cooked. Raw food, typically fruit, was mainly used as snacks. Cooked food mainly consisted of vegetables, and some wild edible plants have multiple edible parts or multiple forms of consumption (Fig. 3). In addition, there are plants that are mainly used as flavoring and in medicinal diets, such as Thymus quinquecostatus Celak., Cistanche deserticola Ma, and Cynomorium songaricum Rupr.. The edible parts of herbs mainly consisted of young stems and leaves, which were typically eaten as vegetables, while tall woody plants mainly provided fresh and tender fruits or mature fruit seeds, which were typically eaten as snacks. The wild edible plants whose edible parts were tender stems and leaves and tender buds were generally eaten as vegetables after being mixed with cold elements or pickled, and the fruits, roots, and rhizomes were mainly eaten fresh as snacks. The seeds and skins of fruits were typically used as an emergency resource and supplementary food in times of famine. Currently, given the abundance of resources, seeds, such as those of C. hyssopifolium L. and C. album L., are rarely eaten by people.

Table 1 Catalogue of wild edible plants in mixed area of Hui and Han in Northwest ChinaFig. 3

Steamed stuffed bun with ground ear and shallot salad

Quantitative evaluation of edible wild plants in the Hassan area

The results of the comparison of the CFSI values of wild edible plants near Mount Hassan are shown in Table 2 and Fig. 4. The edible wild plants in the region were clustered based on their CFSI values to screen out the wild edible plants that were widely used in the region (i.e., those with high values) and played an important role in the traditional diet of local people. The plants with the highest importance values (CFSI > 500) are M. tataricum (L.) DC., N. commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, S. wightianus DC., T. mongolicum Hand.-Mazz., Allium schoenoprasum L., Hemerocallis citrina Baroni, Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Medicago sativa L., U. pumila L., Stachys sieboldii Miq., and T. sinensis (Juss.) M. Roem., consisting mainly of wild vegetables. These group of wild edible plants play an important role in the lives of local people; for example, M. tataricum (L.) DC., S. wightianus DC., A. schoenoprasum L., M. sativa L., and N. commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault have been used in dishes prepared by local people since ancient times. Prior to the widespread use of greenhouses, S. wightianus DC., A. schoenoprasum L., and M. sativa L. were the main vegetables consumed by local people in spring. Currently, these vegetables are the most representative wild vegetable varieties for the catering organizations in the region. The plants with the second highest importance values (500 > CFSI ≥ 100) included mainly wild vegetables and plants used as snacks, such as Z. jujuba Mill. and Hippophae rhamnoides L., and these edible wild plants also had good development value. The reason for their lower CFSI values was mainly related to their narrow distribution range and limited edible parts. Most plants with the third highest importance values (100 > CFSI ≥ 10) were consumed typically as snacks, and some of them had high medicinal value, such as C. songaricum Rupr., Isatis indigotica Fortune ex Lindl., and C. deserticola Ma. The plants with the fourth highest importance values (10 > CFSI) were mainly distributed in only certain areas or had poor taste; these plants were mostly collected and eaten in times of famine. The interviewees who reported eating these species were mainly elderly individuals, and currently the species in this group, such as C. hyssopifolium L. and Populus davidiana Dode, are rarely eaten by people.

Table 2 Quantitative evaluation index of edible wild plants in Hassan areaFig. 4

Heatmap of edible wild plants in the Hassan area