Abstract Detail

Phytochemical Section

Bode, Gwen [1], O'Quinn, Robin [1].

An Analysis of the Aboveground Biomass Vitamin Content of Claytonia lanceolata, a Wild-Foraged Food.

The shift from foraged foods to agriculture as the primary source of human nutrition has resulted in a dramatic alteration of the human diet in such a short time frame that our genome has had insufficient time to adapt. To curb the risk of diet-related ailments, recent initiatives advocate diets that recreate the foraging lifestyle of our ancestors. One important foraged food plant found in Eastern Washington is the Western Spring Beauty (Claytonia lanceolata). In a previous study we analyzed the nutritional content of C. lanceolata corms from 12 populations, and found they contain vitamins B₃, B₅, B₆, B₉ and C, and that vitamin concentration varies with population. Although there is no documentation that the aboveground biomass of C. lanceolata was consumed by indigenous people several closely related taxa have been historically eaten. Claytonia perfoliata, known as “Miner’s lettuce”, was consumed by miners to prevent scurvy during the Gold Rush and analysis of its nutritive content found it high in vitamins C and A, providing 33% and 22% respectively of recommended daily allowances (RDA). Another closely related taxon, Montia fontana, or water-blinks, is still foraged as a wild edible in Spain, where studies suggest it has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and roughly 30% the RDA of vitamin C in its aboveground biomass. However, whereas previous workers have quantified the nutritional content of aboveground biomass for known foraged foods, their samples were obtained from a limited number of sites, which we suggest may not represent actual nutritional values across a species distribution. Instead we hypothesize that nutritional content likely varies significantly by population and location. Our study seeks to further our understanding of the relationship between population location and nutritional content of wild-foraged foods. To test these hypotheses, we sampled representative populations from the distribution for C. lanceolata. We conducted vitamin assays using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UVD) to determine the approximate vitamin content of the aboveground biomass by population. Qualitative vitamin analysis was conducted by matching peak retention time of vitamin standards with samples prepared from C. lanceolata aboveground biomass. We then tested for the relative concentration of vitamins A, B-Complex, C, E, and K by comparing samples to standard curves for each vitamin. Additionally we looked for differences in vitamin content between populations. We will report mean vitamin content for each population and use a series of one-way ANOVAs to test for differences between populations.

1 - Eastern Washington University, Biology Deparment, 526 5th Street, Cheney, Wa, 99004, USA

Keywords:
Vitamin Analysis
HPLC-UVD
Wild-Foraged Foods.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PPH002
Abstract ID:1261
Candidate for Awards:None