Ethnobotany of the crab apple tree ( Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill., Rosaceae) in Spain
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NOTES ON NEGLECTED AND UNDERUTILIZED CROPS
Ethnobotany of the crab apple tree (Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill., Rosaceae) in Spain J. Tardı´o
. A. Arnal . A. La´zaro
Received: 9 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 September 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The crab apple is the most widespread wild relative of the apple tree in Europe. Although it is more extended in the northern regions, in Spain this species is mainly located on mountainous areas. Archaeobotanical records show that human beings have used Malus sylvestris since ancient times. After an exhaustive search in almost 200 ethnobotanical and ethnographical works, a compilation of the traditional knowledge registered on Malus sylvestris in Spain is presented here. A total of 60 use-reports of 6 main use categories were registered, Human food being the most widespread, with almost half of the use-reports. Crab apples, often called maı´llas in Spanish, were consumed either raw, usually after frost or overmaturation, or cooked, in jams and bakery. Other important food use was the elaboration of alcoholic beverages, both cider and, especially, liqueurs by macerating crab apples in liquor for several months. Besides Human food, the following important uses were as a rootstock for grafting apple tree; as medicinal remedies mentioned for treating several
J. Tardı´o (&) A. Arnal A. La´zaro Instituto Madrilen˜o de Investigacio´n y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario (IMIDRA), Finca El Encı´n, Apdo. 127, 28800 Alcala´ de Henares, Madrid, Spain e-mail: [email protected] A. Arnal e-mail: [email protected] A. La´zaro e-mail: [email protected]
ailments, mainly those related with digestive system; and finally, the use of the ripe crab apples as air freshener thanks to their strong aroma. This study have shown the importance of this species in the past and may be a starting point for further research in several fields, such as Pharmacology, Cosmetics and Food Industry and could also serve for the revaluation and protection of this wild genetic resource. Keywords European crab apple Traditional knowledge Traditional uses Wild fruits Wild crop relatives
Introduction Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill., known in English as crabapple or European crab apple, belongs to the family Rosaceae. The name of the species is formally attributed to Philip Miller who published in the eighth edition of The Gardeners Dictionary (Miller 1768). Some years before, Linnaeus had named it as a variety of the apple tree, as Pyrus malus var. sylvestris (Linnaeus 1753). It is the only indigenous wild apple species in Middle Europe and the most widespread throughout the European territory, from South-Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula and from the Volga to the British Isles (Terpo´ 1981; Reim et al. 2012). Nevertheless,
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Genet Resour Crop Evol
this species is more extended in the northern regions, whereas on southern Europe it is mainly located on the mountains, as occurs in Spain (Terpo´ 1981; Aedo et al. 1998)
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