Bituminaria bituminosa
(L.) C. H. Stirt.
(c) eugenevs, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) lamprisdimitris, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Antti Henttonen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Antti Henttonen
What to Eat
Edible parts: Leaves, Flower
The leaves and flowers are eaten.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant.
Africa, Europe, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Türkiye,
How to Identify
A herb. It does not have a stem. The leaves have 3 leaflets with teeth along the edge. The flowers are on long stalks.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Bituminaria bituminosa, the Arabian pea or pitch trefoil, is a perennial Mediterranean herb species in the genus Bituminaria. The pterocarpans bitucarpin A and B can be isolated from the aerial parts of B. bituminosa. It has several potential uses: (i) forage crop, (ii) Phytostabilization of heavy metal contaminated or degraded soils, (iii) Synthesis of furanocoumarins (psoralen, angelicin, xanthotoxin and bergapten), compounds of broad pharmaceutical interest. It is easily recognizable by the characteristic smell of bitumen from its leaves. This strong tar-like characteristic aroma appears to be the result of a combination of several substances such as phenolics, sulphurated compounds, sesquiterpenes and probably short-chain hydrocarbon. Total polyphenols content was < 2% and the condensed tannins was <0.8% in a dry weight basis.
Names & Synonyms
Angelota, Asfaltotu
References (2)
- Blanco-Salas, J., et al, 2019, Wild Plants Potentially Used in Human Food in the Protected Area “Sierra Grande de Hornachos” of Extremadura (Spain). Sustainability 2019, 11, 456
- Ertug, F, Yenen Bitkiler. Resimli Türkiye Florası -I- Flora of Turkey - Ethnobotany supplement
