ABSTRACT
Wild and domesticated or semidomesticated plants are a versatile resource for many rural, traditional, or indigenous communities worldwide and are often used in overlapping contexts, including nu trition, health, firewood, construction material, hygiene, cosmetics, handicrafts, and as ornamentals (Etkin, 2002). A particularly interest ing relationship exists between food and medicinal plants, since the borderline between food and medicine is sometimes diffuse (Bennett and Prance, 2000). Hence, food plants are often used as medicines, and vice versa. Furthermore, in many cases the food use of a plant cannot be separated from its medicinal action (Bonet and Valles, 2002). A continuum has been described, ranging from plants that are exclusively used as food, through multipurpose food medicinals, to predominantly medicinal plants (Pieroni et ah, 2002).
