Literature Introducing Wild Food Plants in the USSR in 1941-1989"

Abstract

The thesis was aimed at studying the use of wild plants for food purposes in the region of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and quantifying the obtained data. With a territory of 22 402 200 km2, the USSR was the largest country in the world. This fact emphasizes the significance of the research and demonstrates the potential contribution to current knowledge about wild food plant use in the region.

In the scope of the study, 15 books of the Soviet period written in Russian between 1941 and 1989 were analyzed. Of particular interest were the books of the period of World War II at the Eastern Front published between 1941 to 1945.

As a result, a database including 511 plant species was created and their food use according to the authors was recorded. Next, the analysis was performed to identify the accepted Latin name and family of the plant species. Later, the categorization of the food use of the plants was carried out in order to systematize the obtained information and consolidate usage into broader categories using a generalization.

The outcome of the study is to be used for a comparison with previous research in the area and as a basis for future exploration of the use of wild plants for food purposes in the USSR region.