Phytochemical Diversity, Ecosystem Services and Conservation of Food Plants

Dear Colleagues,

We are excited to announce a new Special Issue focused on phytochemical diversity of plants used for food. The emphasis of current research is on the phytochemicals of wild plants but cultivated ones should not be neglected. A combination of traditional knowledge about food plants and contemporary phytochemical studies will establish a strong foundation for sustainable development. Phytochemical diversity in plants is a major reason for their wide range of use as a source of food, medicines and beverages, as repellents, as well as in rituals and traditional customs. The traditional knowledge regarding plant–human interactions has been accumulated and transferred through generations and has consequently become a starting point for modern research. The investigation of plant benefits for humans has accelerated in recent decades following the quest for plant-based diets and new functional foods. However, the present rapid trends of urbanization, industrialization of food and drug production, depopulation of rural areas and aging of their inhabitants cause a considerable loss of traditional knowledge even before it has been assessed from the modern science point of view.

The concept of ecosystem services has emerged in the last few decades for understanding nature’s benefits to people, i.e., the many ways in which ecosystems support and fulfill peoples’ lives. Plants play a central role in that. They support life on Earth by ensuring the soil and cycle nutrients (supporting services), they are an important source of food, fiber and medicines (provisioning services), they help with the control of pests and diseases and help in carbon sequestration to minimize the negative effects on Earth’s climate (regulating services). Last, but not least, plants accompany people in all major life and religious events and are a part of local folklore (cultural services).

The loss of ecosystem services spurs a growing interest in innovative, practical, politically feasible, and ultimately effective approaches to nature conservation compared to the protection of biodiversity for its own sake. Such approaches demonstrate more clearly to people the positive impact of conservation actions on their own wellbeing, and, at the same time, provide a reliable and complex framework for decision-makers.

The aim of this Special Issue is to assess the phytochemical diversity of plants and its importance for humans from traditional and modern perspectives, to assess the ecosystem services that originate from it and to seek innovative measures for plants preservation that involve local communities and their traditional knowledge. We particularly encourage the submission of papers on the following topics:

• Phytochemical diversity of plants and their practical use by humans; impact of preparation/processing techniques on the chemical composition of the end products;
• Impact of ecological conditions and climate change on the phytochemical composition of plants;
• Phytochemical composition of plants and ecosystem services:
  • Provisioning services: plants as food, beverages, and medicines; functional foods; plant-based diets; foraging; plant-based medicine—traditional knowledge and modern pharmacy;
  • Supporting services: soil and cycle nutrients;
  • Regulating services: plants as repellents; natural soil enhancers; carbon sequestration;
  • Cultural services: plants as a part of major life and religious events; plants and folklore.
• Conservation and sustainable management of plants:
  • Traditional knowledge and livelihoods as a tool for sustainable management of plant genetic resources;
  • Weeds, invasive species, neglected crops and their interaction with humans;
  • Impact of protected areas on plant conservation;
  • Maintenance of plant genetic diversity.

Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Kozuharova
Dr. Dessislava Dimitrova
Prof. Dr. Luca Rastrelli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• phytochemical diversity
• ecosystem services
• conservation
• food and edible plants
• Ethnobotany
• plant diversity
• phytochemistry
• wild vegetables
• functional food
• ethnogastronomy