Sources on plants and growing

A chromosome-scale genome assembly of turmeric provides insights into curcumin biosynthesis and tuber formation mechanism

Yanpeng Yin, Xiaofang Xie, Luojing Zhou, Xianmei Yin, Shuai Guo, Xianjian Zhou, Qingmiao Li, Xiaodong Shi, Cheng Peng, Jihai Gao · Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 1003835 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A chromosome-scale genome of one turmeric plant collected in Sichuan. Read in full. Competent for the chromosome number, genome size and heterozygosity of that plant, which the authors describe as triploid; it sequenced one plant and does not address where turmeric arose.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1003835

Also listed under: Chemistry

A Historical Review of the Artificial Pollination of Vanilla planifolia: The Importance of Collaborative Research in a Changing World

Adam P. Karremans · Plants 13(22): 3203 · 2024

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A botanist’s review of who first pollinated vanilla by hand, from the letters and reports of the 1830s to 1860s. The abstract, the sections on Charles Morren and the section on Edmond Albius were read in full; the sections on later cultivation and conservation were not. It argues, against most earlier writers, that the method goes back to Morren in 1836 and that the year 1841 for Albius rests on recollection. Competent for the documents it quotes; its conclusion is one author’s reading. Also cited for vanilla flower biology and the rarity of natural pollination, from an earlier reading that was not recorded.

doi.org/10.3390/plants13223203

Also listed under: History and archaeology

Allium hypsistum Stearn — Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal

Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, as published on eFloras

Botanical database · Catalogue or database entry · High reliability

A checklist record: the name and its place of publication, the Nepali name jimbu, the region and altitude of the type collection in central Nepal, and the distribution (Nepal). It is a single catalogue entry with no description of the plant.

www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=242420270

Allium przewalskianum Regel — Flora of China, volume 24

Flora of China, as published on eFloras (volume 24, page 183)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The Flora of China treatment of the species: synonymy, a morphological description, flowering period, chromosome number, habitat, altitude and distribution. Read in full. Competent for what the plant is and where it grows; it says nothing about its gathering or use as a seasoning.

www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200027523

Allium ursinum L. as a Source of Natural Antioxidants: Phytochemical Diversity, Biological Effects, and Functional Food Applications

Cristina Adriana Rosan, George Alin Opris, Alexandra Cristina Tocai (Moțoc), Daniela Gitea, Ruben Budău, Manuel Alexandru Gitea, Simona Ioana Vicas · Antioxidants 15(9): 1144 · 2026

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A review of ramsons: its morphology, reproduction and range, its traditional and culinary uses, its archaeobotanical record and the sulphur chemistry behind its garlic smell. Read in full in sections 3, 4 and 6.1. Competent for botany, use and aroma chemistry; its sections on biological effects are not cited and are outside what SpiceHQ covers. Open access under CC BY.

doi.org/10.3390/antiox15091144

Also listed under: Chemistry; Culture and cuisine

Amomum compactum Soland. ex Maton — Plant Resources of South-East Asia: Spices

X. Y. Wolff, Hartutiningsih · PROSEA Foundation, via Pl@ntUse

Reference work · High reliability

Round (Java) cardamom: origin in western Java, cultivation, propagation, harvest, bleaching and drying, sorting, seed-oil composition, trade (combined with true cardamom in Indonesian statistics) and the related "false cardamoms" including Siam cardamom. Competent for botany, production and composition; its medicinal notes are not cited as health evidence.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Amomum_compactum_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; Culture and cuisine

An ethnobotanical study of the medicinal plants in the Beloslav area, Northern Black Sea coast (Bulgaria)

Petya Boycheva, Viktoria Marinova · International Journal of Advanced Research 5(12): 205–218 · 2017

Academic paper · Read in full · Low reliability

A survey of 92 people in three communities near Varna on the plants they use, by two botanists of Sofia University, published in a journal of low standing. Read in the copy deposited on Zenodo: the abstract and the passage of the results on plants used as condiments. Cited only for what that passage says: that sharena sol, which it translates as colorful salt, is a highly popular condiment there, and that dried honey garlic (Nectaroscordum siculum) is one of its ingredients in that area. One district, and the paper does not list the rest of the mixture.

doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/5956

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Ancient Artworks and Crocus Genetics Both Support Saffron’s Origin in Early Greece

Seyyedeh-Sanam Kazemi-Shahandashti, Ludwig Mann, Abdullah El-nagish, Dörte Harpke, Zahra Nemati, Björn Usadel, Tony Heitkam · Frontiers in Plant Science 13: 834416 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review that sets Bronze Age Aegean depictions of crocus beside cytogenetic and sequencing studies of saffron and its wild relative Crocus cartwrightianus. Read for the abstract, the introduction and the sections on the frescoes. Competent for what the paintings show and how they have been read, and as a summary of the genetic studies; written by plant geneticists, it reports the archaeology at second hand.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.834416

Also listed under: History and archaeology

Andaliman (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium DC.) a herbal medicine from North Sumatera, Indonesia: Phytochemical and pharmacological review

Adrian, Rony Abdi Syahputra, Nur Aira Juwita, Ririn Astyka, Muhammad Fauzan Lubis · Heliyon 9(5): e16159 · 2023

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A review whose subject is the chemistry and pharmacology of andaliman, with an introductory account of the plant: distribution, habitat in North Sumatra, morphology and how growers obtain it. Read: abstract and introduction, including the botanical description (CC BY-NC-ND). Competent for that description as compiled from Indonesian literature; it is not a field study, and it contains no account of flowering, yield or harvest.

doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16159

Also listed under: Chemistry

Assessing the impact of global warming on the distributions of Allium stipitatum and Kelussia odoratissima in the Central Zagros using a MaxEnt model

Farzaneh Khajoei Nasab, Amin Zeraatkar · PLOS ONE 20(4): e0321167 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt, one climate model, two emissions scenarios, 2050s and 2070s) for two wild-harvested plants of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, with the authors’ field observations on harvesting and their own conservation rating. Read: abstract, the study-species and status passages, results and the mitigation section (CC BY). Competent for the modelled range in that province and for the authors’ provincial assessment, which is not an IUCN assessment.

doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321167

Assessment of genetic diversity among 16 promising cultivars of ginger using cytological and molecular markers

Sanghamitra Nayak, Pradeep K. Naik, Laxmikanta Acharya, Arup K. Mukherjee, Pratap C. Panda, Premananda Das · Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C 60(5–6): 485–492 · 2005

Academic paper · Abstract read · Medium reliability

Karyotype, nuclear DNA content and RAPD markers compared across 16 ginger cultivars. Only the abstract was read. RAPD is an early marker system whose results are hard to reproduce between laboratories, so the study shows that the cultivars could be told apart, not how different they are.

doi.org/10.1515/znc-2005-5-618

Barcode high-resolution melting (Bar-HRM) analysis to authenticate true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) from its adulterants and contaminants

M A L M Peiris, Dhanesha Nanayakkara, Cristian Silva, Sachith P Abeysundara, Priyanga Wijesinghe · PLoS One 20(9): e0328808 · 2025

Academic paper · Abstract read · Medium reliability

DNA barcode regions and high-resolution melting markers to tell Cinnamomum verum from three other cinnamons, validated on commercial products. Read in the abstract only. Competent for which marker discriminated the species.

doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328808

Also listed under: Chemistry

‘Bhut Jolokia’ — the world’s hottest known chile pepper is a putative naturally occurring interspecific hybrid

Paul W. Bosland, Jit B. Baral · HortScience 42(2): 222–224 · 2007

Academic paper · High reliability

Replicated field trials of Bhut jolokia at Las Cruces, New Mexico, measuring about one million Scoville heat units by HPLC, and morphological and molecular evidence that it is a Capsicum chinense cultivar with possible introgression from C. frutescens.

journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/42/2/article-p222.xml

Also listed under: Chemistry

Bixa orellana L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

R. Rajendran · PROSEA Foundation (dye and tannin-producing plants volume); species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of annatto: origin, uses, production and trade, ecology, husbandry, diseases, harvesting and yield. Read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction (CC BY-SA). Competent for the crop’s ecology and husbandry; its market figures describe the 1970s and 1980s and are estimates, as the account itself says.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Bixa_orellana_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing; Standards and trade

Capsicum L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

J. M. Poulos · PROSEA Foundation (vegetables volume); species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the cultivated Capsicum peppers as a group: ecology (temperature, rainfall, soil, shade), husbandry, diseases and pests, and harvesting. Read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction (CC BY-SA). It treats the genus as a vegetable and spice crop of South-East Asia and does not separate pod types; its disease priorities are those of Asia in the early 1990s.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Capsicum_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Chromosome numbers and genome size variation in Indian species of Curcuma (Zingiberaceae)

Jana Leong-Škorničková, Otakar Šída, Vlasta Jarolímová, Mamyil Sabu, Tomáš Fér, Pavel Trávníček, Jan Suda · Annals of Botany 100(3): 505–526 · 2007

Academic paper · Abstract read · High reliability

Chromosome counts and flow-cytometric genome sizes for 161 cultivated samples of 51 Curcuma taxa from the Indian subcontinent. Only the abstract was read: it gives the counts found, the base number the authors infer and the variation within cultivated turmeric, and no count for any single accession.

doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcm144

Cleome viscosa L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

P. C. M. Jansen · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2004

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the plant as a minor leaf vegetable of tropical Africa, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant, its distribution and ecology, its life cycle, the composition of its seed oil and its standing as a weed. What it says of India, where the seed is the condiment, is brief and second-hand: that the seed stands in for mustard and cumin, that the plant is rarely cultivated, and one seed yield with no place given. It does not mention Uttarakhand. Its medicinal uses and pharmacological findings are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Cleome_viscosa_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Culture and cuisine

Climate change-induced distributional change of medicinal and aromatic plants in the Nepal Himalaya

Uttam B. Shrestha, Pramod Lamsal, Suresh K. Ghimire, Bharat B. Shrestha, Sajita Dhakal, Sujata Shrestha, Kishor Atreya · Ecology and Evolution 12(8): e9204 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Ensemble species-distribution models (seven algorithms, the average of twelve climate models, one medium emissions pathway, 2050) for 29 traded, wild-harvested medicinal and aromatic plants of Nepal, including Zanthoxylum armatum. Read: abstract, introduction, methods and the results table of suitable area by species (CC BY). Competent for modelled climatic suitability in Nepal; it does not measure populations, harvests or trade.

doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9204

Contrasting clonal and population genetic structure in two endangered Costa Rican Vanilla species of commercial interest

Maria Alejandra Serna-Sánchez, Adam P. Karremans, Diego Bogarín, Eric J. Fuchs · Scientific Reports 15: 19295 · 2025

Academic paper · Abstract read · High reliability

Population genetics of wild Vanilla odorata and Vanilla pompona in Costa Rica. Read: the abstract and the opening of the introduction only (CC BY). Cited solely for its statement that both species are listed as Endangered by the IUCN.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-04101-5

Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World

Ben-Erik van Wyk · Kew Publishing / University of Chicago Press · 2014

Reference work · High reliability

Species-level accounts of culinary herbs and spices worldwide, including many regional seasonings absent from Western references — identity, the part used, main aroma compounds, and where and how each is used. Accounts are short, so it establishes identity and use rather than depth.

Also listed under: Chemistry; Culture and cuisine

Enough to Feed Ourselves!—Food Plants in Bulgarian Rural Home Gardens

Teodora Ivanova, Yulia Bosseva, Mihail Chervenkov, Dessislava Dimitrova · Plants 10(11): 2520 · 2021

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A survey of the food plants grown in 65 rural home gardens across Bulgaria. Read through Europe PMC in passages only: the rows of Table 3 for peppers, parsley, spearmint and summer savory, and the paragraphs on fruiting vegetables and on herbs and spices. Competent for which seasoning plants are grown, in what share of the gardens surveyed, and what their growers say they use them for. It does not describe dishes.

doi.org/10.3390/plants10112520

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Ethnobotanical Knowledge on Herbs and Spices in Bulgarian Traditional Dry-Cured Meat Products

Teodora Ivanova, Mihail Chervenkov, Ekaterina Kozuharova, Dessislava Dimitrova · Diversity 14(6): 416 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Interviews and a review of the literature on the plants used to season 24 artisanal and home-made Bulgarian dry-cured meats, compared with 16 industrial ones, by researchers of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Read in the publisher’s PDF: the abstract, the start of the introduction, and the results from Table 1 to the paragraph on how spices are measured. The discussion and the later results were not read. Competent for which plants are used, where they come from, which are most frequent, and how quantities are judged. It is about cured meat, not about cooking in general, and it does not mention sharena sol.

doi.org/10.3390/d14060416

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Facultative Apomixis in Garcinia atroviridis (Clusiaceae) and Effects of Different Pollination Regimes on Reproductive Success

S. Pangsuban, N. Bamroongrugsa, K. Kanchanapoom, C. Nualsri · Tropical Life Sciences Research 20(2): 89–108 · 2009

Academic paper · Abstract read · High reliability

Pollination experiments in an orchard in Songkhla province, southern Thailand, from February to July 2003, with DNA comparison of seedlings and their mother trees. Read in the abstract only: the full text is deposited in PubMed Central but the Europe PMC service returned an error for it. Competent for the finding that the tree sets fruit and seed both with and without pollination, and for the share of seedlings that matched the mother tree. One orchard and one season.

europepmc.org/article/MED/24575182

Frequency and behavior of Melipona stingless bees and orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in relation to floral characteristics of vanilla in the Yucatán region of Mexico

José Javier G. Quezada-Euán, et al. · PLOS ONE 19 · 2024

Academic paper · High reliability

Field observation of stingless and orchid bees around flowering vanilla in Yucatán, finding the flowers nectarless and not visited. Competent against the claim that Melipona bees pollinate vanilla; not a survey of every region.

Galinsoga parviflora Cav. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

R. R. Schippers · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2004

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of gallant soldier as a weed and a gathered vegetable of tropical Africa, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant, what its seed needs to germinate, where it grows, how it behaves as a weed and how it is eaten in Africa. Of the herb’s use in South America it has one sentence, and it says nothing of how the plant is grown or dried there. It gives the origin of the species as Central America. The energy value in the food composition figures it quotes cannot be right for a leaf that is 88 per cent water; only the water content is cited. Its medicinal uses are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Galinsoga_parviflora_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Garcinia L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia genus account (Fruits and nuts)

P. C. M. Jansen · PROSEA Foundation; genus account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the genus Garcinia, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. It treats Garcinia atroviridis, G. dulcis and G. xanthochymus together, with the mangosteen in a separate article. Competent for the name, description, native range and uses of G. atroviridis and for the ecology and propagation of the genus; its agronomy is a few sentences about the genus and not about this species. The year of the volume is not given on the page and is left out here. Its medicinal uses are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Garcinia_(PROSEA_Fruits)

Also listed under: Food science and processing; Standards and trade; Culture and cuisine

GBIF Backbone Taxonomy

Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Botanical database · High reliability

Accepted names, synonymy and family placement assembled from checklists including the Catalogue of Life and Kew’s World Checklist, with occurrence records that indicate distribution. Cited where the names were checked here rather than in Plants of the World Online. Competent for botanical identity only.

www.gbif.org/dataset/d7dddbf4-2cf0-4f39-9b2a-bb099caae36c

Genetic Diversity and Differentiation Among Guatemalan Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton) Accessions

Martha Patricia Herrera-González, Lizbeth Coxaj, Ana Oliva, Margarita Palmieri, Alejandra Zamora-Jerez, Rolando Cifuentes-Velasquez, Santiago Pereira-Lorenzo · Plants 15(4): 655 · 2026

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Molecular-marker diversity in 288 cardamom accessions from Guatemala’s main producing region, with an introduction on the history and scale of the crop there. Read: abstract, introduction and the discussion of diversity (CC BY). Competent for the genetic findings; its figures for area, export value and families dependent on the crop, and the introduction dates, come from Guatemalan sources it cites.

doi.org/10.3390/plants15040655

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Genetic diversity and structure of Brazilian ginger germplasm (Zingiber officinale) revealed by AFLP markers

Eleonora Zambrano Blanco, Miklos Maximiliano Bajay, Marcos Vinícius Bohrer Monteiro Siqueira, Maria Imaculada Zucchi, José Baldin Pinheiro · Genetica 144(6): 627–638 · 2016

Academic paper · Abstract read · Medium reliability

AFLP marker analysis of 55 Brazilian and 6 Colombian ginger accessions. Only the abstract was read: it supports the pattern of similarity found and gives no diversity statistics.

doi.org/10.1007/s10709-016-9930-1

Genetic diversity patterns in Curcuma reflect differences in genome size

Eliška Záveská, Tomáš Fér, Otakar Šída, Jana Leong-Škorničková, Mamyil Sabu, Karol Marhold · Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 165(4): 388–401 · 2011

Academic paper · Abstract read · High reliability

AFLP analysis of Indian Curcuma species across ploidy levels, comparing genetic diversity within populations with how each species reproduces. Only the abstract was read: it supports the contrast between seed-setting hexaploids and vegetatively reproducing higher polyploids, and does not name the species in each group.

doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2011.01122.x

Genomic insights into the origin, domestication and diversification of Brassica juncea

Lei Kang, Lunwen Qian, Ming Zheng, Liyang Chen, Hao Chen, et al. · Nature Genetics 53(9): 1392–1402 · 2021

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A genome assembly of a yellow-seeded brown mustard and nuclear and organelle phylogenies of 480 accessions from 38 countries. Read for the abstract, the introduction and the results on origin and population structure. Competent for the genetic case for a single origin and for the lineages of seed, leaf, root and stem mustards; its dates are molecular estimates, not archaeological ones.

doi.org/10.1038/s41588-021-00922-y

Also listed under: History and archaeology

Global range expansion history of pepper (Capsicum spp.) revealed by over 10,000 genebank accessions

Pasquale Tripodi, Mark Timothy Rabanus-Wallace, Lorenzo Barchi, Sandip Kale, Salvatore Esposito, et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(34): e2104315118 · 2021

Academic paper · Abstract read · High reliability

Genotyping of 10,038 Capsicum accessions from genebanks worldwide, used to detect duplicates and to compare the chillies held from different regions. Read in the abstract and significance statement only. Competent for the general finding that the chillies of distant regions overlap genetically in a pattern the authors relate to trade; no figure beyond those the abstract gives is taken from it.

doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2104315118

Also listed under: Standards and trade; History and archaeology

Glycine max (L.) Merr. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account (Pulses)

S. Shanmugasundaram, Sumarno · PROSEA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the soybean. Read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction: the name and synonyms, origin and geographic distribution, uses, properties, description, and growth and development. The sections on ecology, husbandry, diseases, harvesting and yield were not read. Competent for the name, the plant, the colours of the seed, how long the crop takes and how it is pollinated, and the handbook’s summary of where the soybean was domesticated. It does not mention douchi. The year of the volume is not given on the page and is left out here.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Glycine_max_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing; History and archaeology

Haplotype-resolved genome of diploid ginger (Zingiber officinale) and its unique gingerol biosynthetic pathway

Hong-Lei Li, Lin Wu, Zhaoming Dong, Yusong Jiang, Sanjie Jiang, Haitao Xing, Qiang Li, Guocheng Liu, Shuming Tian, Zhangyan Wu, Bin Wu, Zhexin Li, Ping Zhao, Yan Zhang, Jianmin Tang, Jiabao Xu, Ke Huang, Xia Liu, Wenlin Zhang, Qinhong Liao, Yun Ren, Xinzheng Huang, Qingzhi Li, Chengyong Li, Yi Wang, Baskaran Xavier-Ravi, Honghai Li, Yang Liu, Tao Wan, Qinhu Liu, Yong Zou, Jianbo Jian, Qingyou Xia, Yiqing Liu · Horticulture Research 8: 189 · 2021

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A chromosome-scale genome of one cultivated ginger, ‘Zhugen’ from south-west China, assembled as two separate haplotypes. Read in full. Competent for the chromosome number, genome size and heterozygosity of that plant; it sequenced one cultivar and says nothing about where ginger was domesticated or how its cultivars relate.

doi.org/10.1038/s41438-021-00627-7

Also listed under: Chemistry

Hibiscus sabdariffa L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

T. Boonkerd, B. Na Songkhla, W. Thephuttee, Undang A. Dasuki · PROSEA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of roselle in South-East Asia, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Most of it concerns roselle as a fibre crop. Competent for the plant, its synonyms and vernacular names, the two cultivar groups, the dates of its spread, the uses of leaf and calyx, the composition of the seed and its oil, and the statement that the calyx holds about 4 per cent citric acid. The page combines an account of the vegetable with a later one of the fibre crop and does not give a single year, so none is recorded. Its medicinal uses are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Hibiscus_sabdariffa_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; History and archaeology; Culture and cuisine

Hibiscus sabdariffa L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

N. C. McClintock, I. M. El Tahir · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2011

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of roselle as a crop of tropical Africa, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant and its naming, its ecology, cultivation, harvest and drying, the uses of calyx, leaf and seed in Africa, and production and trade as they stood when it was written. Its date for domestication is hedged and is not tied to an excavation. Its trade figures are of its period, and its export figure for Sudan in 1995 is larger than its own world total, so that figure is not cited. Its statements on medicinal use and on effects on blood pressure are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Hibiscus_sabdariffa_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; History and archaeology; Culture and cuisine

Histological Features Detected for Separation of the Edible Leaves of Allium ursinum L. from the Poisonous Leaves of Convallaria majalis L. and Colchicum autumnale L.

Márta M-Hamvas, Anna Tótik, Csongor Freytag, Andrea Gáspár, Asma Nouar, Tamás Garda, Csaba Máthé · Plants 14(15): 2377 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

How the leaves of ramsons are told from those of lily of the valley and autumn crocus, whose habitats overlap with it and whose leaves have been mistaken for it with serious poisonings; with an introduction on where ramsons is eaten and how. Read in full through Europe PMC. Competent for identification and the fact of the confusion; not a toxicological source. Open access under CC BY.

doi.org/10.3390/plants14152377

Also listed under: Safety and health

Houttuynia Thunberg and Houttuynia cordata Thunberg, in Flora of China, vol. 4

Xia, Brach · Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press; eFloras · 1999

Botanical database · Read in full · High reliability

The treatments of the genus and of its one species, read in full on eFloras. Competent for the name, the synonyms, the description, the habitats and altitude, and the provinces and countries of its range. On use it says one thing: the leaves are used medicinally and the shoots eaten as a vegetable.

www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005537

In Vitro Regeneration of Korarima (Aframomum corrorima (Braun) P. C. M. Jansen): A Threatened Spice and Medicinal Herb from Ethiopia

Tilahun Hailu, Teklehaimanot Haileselassie, Tileye Feyissa · Scientifica 2022: 8237723 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A tissue-culture study of korarima. Read: the abstract and the introduction only (CC BY). Cited for the introduction’s account, drawn from earlier Ethiopian studies, of the plant’s shrinking forest habitat; the paper makes no conservation assessment of its own.

doi.org/10.1155/2022/8237723

Limnophila aromatica (Lamk) Merr. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

G. H. Schmelzer · PROSEA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

A short botanical account of the species: its names, distribution, habit, habitat and altitude range, and its medicinal uses in Indonesia and Malaysia. Competent for what the plant is and where it grows; it says nothing about its cultivation as a herb, its propagation or its culinary use. Read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction (CC BY-SA).

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Limnophila_aromatica_(PROSEA)

Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia: Essential-oil plants

M. A. Nor Azah, S. Susiarti · PROSEA Foundation, via Pl@ntUse

Reference work · High reliability

Distribution, ecology, propagation, flowering and fruiting, the may chang oil trade and its citral chemistry, and uses in Indonesia and Vietnam, including the fruit as a vegetable side dish and a cubeb substitute. Competent for botany, production and oil composition; its medicinal notes are not cited as health evidence, and it does not describe Chinese regional cooking.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Litsea_cubeba_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Culture and cuisine

Myrtaceae in Australia: Use of Cryobiotechnologies for the Conservation of a Significant Plant Family under Threat

Lyndle K. Hardstaff, Karen D. Sommerville, Bryn Funnekotter, Eric Bunn, Catherine A. Offord, Ricardo L. Mancera · Plants 11(8): 1017 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review of seed banking, tissue culture and cryopreservation for Australian Myrtaceae threatened by myrtle rust. Read: the passages on the bush-food species and the section on Syzygium (CC BY). Competent for how Syzygium anisatum is conserved outside the wild and for the statement that it is grown in mixed-species plantations; it gives no agronomy.

doi.org/10.3390/plants11081017

Peppers: Vegetable and Spice Capsicums

Paul W. Bosland, Eric J. Votava · CABI · 2012

Book · High reliability

The five domesticated Capsicum species, pod types and cultivars, capsaicinoid biosynthesis in the placenta, drying, and paprika and chilli processing. Second edition.

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Phylogenomic inference of the African tribe Monodoreae (Annonaceae) and taxonomic revision of Dennettia, Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis

Léo-Paul M. J. Dagallier, Frank M. Mbago, Marie Couderc, Myriam Gaudeul, Aurélie Grall, et al. · PhytoKeys 233 · 2023

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A long open-access monograph, read as the full text held by Europe PMC for two parts only: the paragraph on uses in the introduction, and the whole species treatment of Dennettia tripetala (name and synonym, type, description, distribution, habitat, phenology, vernacular names, uses, notes and preliminary conservation status). The phylogenomic analysis and the other species were not read. Competent for the accepted name, the plant, where it has been collected and when it flowers and fruits. Its vernacular names are compiled from five Nigerian papers not read here and from specimen labels; its statement on use is one line.

doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.233.103096

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Phytochemical Screening and Biological Activities of Lippia multiflora Moldenke

Dorcas Tlhapi, Ntsoaki Malebo, Idah Tichaidza Manduna, Monizi Mawunu, Ramakwala Christinah Chokwe, Claudio Ferrante · Molecules 30(13): 2882 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A review of the chemistry and pharmacology of the plant. Read as the full text held by Europe PMC for the opening of the introduction only. Cited for the English and French names, the names it lists in Hausa, Akan, Ga, Ewe and Kikongo, and the height and habit of the plant. Nothing else in it was read, and nothing in it about health is cited.

doi.org/10.3390/molecules30132882

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Phytochemicals and Biological Activities of Garcinia atroviridis: A Critical Review

Muhammad Shahid, Douglas Law, Ahmad Azfaralariff, Mukram M. Mackeen, Teek Foh Chong, Shazrul Fazry · Toxics 10(11): 656 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A review of the species written for its pharmacology. Read through Europe PMC: the abstract, the introduction, the sections on distribution, botany and traditional uses, the account of composition with its first table and the organic acids of its second, and the paragraph on hydroxycitric acid. Competent for the vernacular names, the name and use of the dried slices, where the tree is cultivated, and which organic acids earlier studies reported in the fruit. It gives no amounts for the acids. Its sections on biological activity were not read and nothing in them is cited.

doi.org/10.3390/toxics10110656

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; Culture and cuisine

Pimenta racemosa (Miller) J.W. Moore — Plant Resources of South-East Asia: Essential-oil plants

PROSEA Foundation

Reference work · High reliability

The West Indian bay tree: distribution, cultivation, leaf-oil yield and its chemotype variation between eugenol, chavicol and myrcene-dominated types. Competent for botany, production and oil composition; not for culinary practice.

prosea.prota4u.org/view.aspx?id=671

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Plants of the World Online

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Botanical database · High reliability

Accepted botanical names, synonymy, family placement and native distribution. Not a source for culinary, sensory or commercial information.

powo.science.kew.org

Population genetics and phylogenomic insights into the origin of economically important black pepper (Piper nigrum)

Dominik Metschina, Luiz A. Cauz-Santos, Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Nilni A. Wimalarathna, Tara D. Silva, et al. · American Journal of Botany 113(4): e70187 · 2026

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Genome-wide markers and genome sizes for cultivated black pepper varieties, the two Indian species long proposed as its parents, and a set of Sri Lankan endemic Piper. Read for the abstract, the introduction, the discussion and the conclusions. Competent for the relationships it finds among the plants sampled; the authors call their Sri Lankan conclusion preliminary because few Indian species, and no certainly wild black pepper, could be included.

doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70187

Also listed under: History and archaeology

PROTA4U — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

PROTA Foundation, Wageningen

Reference work · High reliability

Species accounts of useful African plants by named specialist authors: identity, uses including food and condiment uses, processing, composition, production and trade. Competent for African plant resources; each account is cited by its species and author with a locator. Coverage and depth vary widely between accounts.

prota.prota4u.org

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; Culture and cuisine

Punica granatum. In: Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants, Volume 5, Fruits, pp. 136–194

T. K. Lim · Springer · 2013

Reference work · Read in full · Medium reliability

A handbook chapter compiling the literature on the pomegranate. Read as the full text held by Europe PMC: the scientific name, the family, the list of vernacular names in part, and the section on edible plant parts and uses. The long sections on nutrients and pharmacology were not read. Cited for the name and family and for the one paragraph that records pomegranate sauces and syrups in Iran, Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Syria. It is a compilation, it gives no method for any of them, and elsewhere in the chapter it cites a general encyclopaedia. The volume and page numbers are as Europe PMC gives them.

doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5653-3_10

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Review of the Leaf Essential Oils of the Genus Backhousia Sens. Lat. and a Report on the Leaf Essential Oils of B. gundarara and B. tetraptera

Bruce F. Bowden, Joseph J. Brophy, Betsy R. Jackes · Plants 11(9): 1231 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review of the leaf oils of Backhousia and of Syzygium anisatum, formerly placed in that genus, with a short account of each species. Read: abstract, introduction and the section and table on Syzygium anisatum (CC BY). Competent for the tree’s habit and wild range, its chemical forms and oil yield as reported in the earlier studies it summarises; it does not describe cultivation.

doi.org/10.3390/plants11091231

Also listed under: Chemistry

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is an autotriploid that evolved in Attica (Greece) from wild Crocus cartwrightianus

Zahra Nemati, et al. · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 136: 14–20 · 2019

Academic paper · High reliability

Genomic evidence that saffron arose once, as a sterile triploid of wild Crocus cartwrightianus, from populations near Athens, and has been propagated vegetatively ever since. Competent for the plant’s origin; it does not date the domestication.

Also listed under: History and archaeology

Sesamum indicum L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

G. S. Mkamilo, D. Bedigian · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2007

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of sesame as a crop of tropical Africa, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant and its naming, its ecology, cultivation, harvest and storage, the uses of the seed, the composition of the seed and oil, and production and trade as they stood in 2000–2005. Its account of the crop’s origin, which places domestication on the Indian subcontinent, and its dates for sesame in antiquity are a handbook’s summary and not archaeological evidence. Its remarks on allergy and on traditional medicine are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Sesamum_indicum_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; History and archaeology

Sesamum orientale L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account (Vegetable oils and fats)

E. A. Weiss, Q. D. de la Cruz · PROSEA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2001

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of sesame, published under the name Sesamum orientale and read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant, its ecology, cultivation, harvest and storage, for the composition of the seed and its oil as the handbook summarises earlier analyses, and for the trade as it stood up to 2000. Its history of the crop, and its view that sesame originated in Africa, are a handbook’s summary of the literature and not archaeological evidence.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Sesamum_indicum_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade; History and archaeology

Status and consolidated list of threatened medicinal plants of India

R. Gowthami, Neelam Sharma, Ruchira Pandey, Anuradha Agrawal · Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 68(6): 2235–2263 · 2021

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A compilation by India’s National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources of the threat status of Indian medicinal and aromatic plants: the IUCN Red List category (as of 2020) beside the state-level ratings given by Conservation Assessment and Management Prioritisation workshops between 1995 and 2016, each with its state and year. Read: the introduction, the account of threat assessment, and the two consolidated tables, on Europe PMC. Competent for which category each assessor assigned and when; it reports assessments and does not make them, the state ratings are of varying age, and all concern wild populations.

doi.org/10.1007/s10722-021-01199-0

Tamarindus indica L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

R. E. Coronel · PROSEA Foundation (edible fruits and nuts volume); species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of tamarind: uses, composition of the pulp, ecology, propagation, husbandry, pests, harvesting and production. Read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction (CC BY-SA). Competent for the tree’s ecology and for orchard and roadside production as described; its production figures are for India in 1964 and Thailand in the early 1980s.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Tamarindus_indica_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing; Standards and trade

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

International Union for Conservation of Nature

Reference work · High reliability

Extinction-risk assessments of wild populations. Competent for the conservation status of a species in the wild; says nothing about the cultivated crop.

www.iucnredlist.org

Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague ex Turrill — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

G. H. Schmelzer · PROSEA Foundation (medicinal and poisonous plants volumes); species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of ajwain: distribution, uses, production and trade, ecology, husbandry and harvesting. Read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction (CC BY-SA). Competent for where and how the crop is grown as the handbook describes it; its trade figures are Indian exports of 1966–1973 and it says so. It gives no numeric temperature or rainfall requirements.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Trachyspermum_ammi_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Using transect sampling to determine the distribution of some key non-timber forest products across habitat types near Boumba-Bek National Park, South-east Cameroon

T. Marlène Ngansop, Elvire H. Biye, F. Evariste Fongnzossie, Preasious F. Forbi, D. Cédric Chimi · BMC Ecology 19: 3 · 2019

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

An inventory of eight commercially important forest-product trees, among them Afrostyrax lepidophyllus, along sixteen transects through thirteen habitat types north of Boumba-Bek National Park. Read: abstract, introduction, the table of uses, the results on density by habitat and the discussion (CC BY). Competent for where the tree stands and how abundant it is in that landscape, and for the parts used locally; it does not study its reproductive biology, yield or harvesting.

doi.org/10.1186/s12898-019-0219-y

Vanilla beyond Vanilla planifolia and Vanilla × tahitensis: Taxonomy and Historical Notes, Reproductive Biology, and Metabolites

Renatha Tavares de Oliveira, Joana Paula da Silva Oliveira, Andrea Furtado Macedo · Plants 11(23): 3311 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review of the wild relatives of cultivated vanilla: taxonomy, reproductive biology and flavour chemistry, with a summary of how many species of the crop’s section had been assessed for the IUCN Red List when the authors consulted it in November 2022. Read: abstract, introduction and the taxonomy section (CC BY). Competent for the count of assessed species and their categories as the review reports them; it is not itself an assessment.

doi.org/10.3390/plants11233311

Also listed under: Chemistry

Wild Species from the Family Apiaceae, Traditionally Used as Food in Some Mediterranean Countries

Ekaterina Kozuharova, Giuseppe Antonio Malfa, Rosaria Acquaviva, Benito Valdes, Alla Aleksanyan, et al. · Plants 13(16): 2324 · 2024

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A literature survey of 81 wild umbellifers eaten in eleven countries. Read as the full text held by Europe PMC for the row of Table 1 on Ammodaucus leucotrichus and the two passages of the text that mention it. Cited for the botanical name with its authors, for the plant being one of those confined to North Africa, and for its seeds being listed as a food in Morocco. The entry is one table row and says no more than that.

doi.org/10.3390/plants13162324

Also listed under: Culture and cuisine

Wild Vanilla and pollinators at risk of spatial mismatch in a changing climate

Charlotte Watteyn, Tobias Fremout, Adam P. Karremans, Koenraad Van Meerbeek, Steven B. Janssens, Sander de Backer, Monika M. Lipińska, Bart Muys · Frontiers in Plant Science 16: 1585540 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Species-distribution models (MaxEnt) for eleven Neotropical wild Vanilla species and the known pollinators of four of them, projected to 2050 under two emissions scenarios. Read: abstract, introduction and the methods tables on species and pollinators (CC BY). Competent for modelled changes in climatically suitable range and in plant–pollinator overlap, and for the statement that many wild Vanilla are listed as threatened; it says nothing about cultivated, hand-pollinated vanilla.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1585540

Agro-Physiological Traits of Kaffir Lime in Response to Pruning and Nitrogen Fertilizer under Mild Shading

Rahmat Budiarto, Roedhy Poerwanto, Edi Santosa, Darda Efendi, Andria Agusta · Plants 12(5): 1155 · 2023

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A pot-and-plot trial of pruning height and nitrogen on young grafted makrut lime grown for its leaves in Indonesia, with an account of how the crop is grown and harvested there. The abstract, introduction and discussion were read in full. Competent for how the leaf crop is managed in Java and for the trial’s comparison; its figures belong to nine-month-old plants.

doi.org/10.3390/plants12051155

Allium cepa L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

C.-M. Messiaen, A. Rouamba · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2004

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of onion and shallot as crops of tropical Africa. The sections on origin, properties, growth and development, ecology, management, diseases and pests, harvesting and handling after harvest were read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for how the crop responds to temperature and day length, for its cultivation, diseases and pests in Africa, and for the sulphur chemistry of the bulb as the handbook summarises it; its dates for the crop in antiquity are a handbook’s summary and are not archaeological evidence.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Allium_cepa_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Allium cepa L. cv. group Common Onion — Plant Resources of South-East Asia species account

Q. P. van der Meer, A. C. Leong · PROSEA Foundation (vegetables volume); species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the seed-grown bulb onion, read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the plant, its response to day length and temperature, and its cultivation, harvest and storage in South-East Asia, chiefly the Philippines; its yield and trade figures are from about 1989, and its remark on Egyptian depictions is a handbook’s summary.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Allium_cepa_Common_Onion_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Allium sativum L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

C.-M. Messiaen, A. Rouamba · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2004

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of garlic as a crop of tropical Africa. The sections on origin, properties, ecology, propagation and planting, diseases and pests, harvesting and handling after harvest were read in full on the Pl@ntUse reproduction. Competent for the soil and season garlic is grown in there, for its diseases and pests, and for how it is harvested and stored; its date for garlic in Egypt is a handbook’s summary and is not archaeological evidence.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Allium_sativum_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Apium graveolens L. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

R. R. Schippers · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2004

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of celery as a vegetable of tropical Africa. Every section from Origin and geographic distribution to Prospects was read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction; the reference lists were not. Competent for the plant’s life cycle, the temperature and soil it needs, how it is raised, and its diseases. It describes leaf celery, stalk celery and celeriac, and says of the seed crop only that seed is produced in temperate areas; its remarks on medicinal use are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Apium_graveolens_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Assessing multi-decadal climatic variability and its impact on cardamom cultivation in the Indian Cardamom Hills

S. Ramalingam, K. Tanaka, N. Tarakaramu, et al. · Scientific Reports 14 · 2024

Academic paper · High reliability

Trends in temperature, rainfall and rainy days in the Indian Cardamom Hills from observed records for 1958–2017, and their correlation with cardamom yield. Competent for that region and period; correlation with yield is not a demonstration of cause.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78174-z

Assessment of Chinese suitable habitats of Amomum tsao-ko in different climatic conditions

Tian-yu Guo, Qing Yang, Da-ju Chen, Xiao-yu Wang, Qi-Qing Cheng, Shi Wang, Ming-li Hu · Frontiers in Plant Science 16: 1561026 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt) of climatic suitability for tsaoko in China under past, present and future climates (2041–2060 and 2081–2100, two emissions scenarios), with volatile-oil analysis of samples from Yunnan. Read: abstract, introduction, modelling methods and the results on present and future suitable area (CC BY). Competent for what the model projects; it is a suitability model, not a yield study, and the figure it prints for one high-emissions scenario is implausibly large and is not used here.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1561026

Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

R. R. Schippers, N. A. Mnzava · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2007

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of brown mustard in tropical Africa, where it is chiefly a leaf vegetable. Every section from Origin and geographic distribution to Prospects was read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction; the reference lists were not. Competent for the plant, its pollination and the conditions it tolerates, and for the little it says of the seed crop: when it is cut, how it is dried and what it yields in India and the United States. Its husbandry and its diseases and pests are those of the leaf crop and are not cited for mustard seed; its remarks on medicinal use are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Brassica_juncea_(PROTA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Climate variability and change in the spices and plantation cropping systems in Kerala state, India

Manoj Oommen, C. S. Gopakumar, John Jo Varghese, A. B. Rema Shree · Journal of Plantation Crops 50(3): 169–179 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

Rainfall and temperature trends for Kerala (1950–2018, 1956–2014) and for the Idukki high ranges (1989–2020, from the Indian Cardamom Research Institute station), set beside state crop area and production statistics for 1952–53 to 2018–19. Read in full (CC BY). Competent for the observed climate trends and for the named drought and flood years; its statements about effects on cardamom and pepper are the authors’ assessment and are not derived from a yield analysis.

doi.org/10.25081/jpc.2022.v50.i3.8237

Compounding impacts of COVID-19, cyclone and price crash on vanilla farmers' food security and natural resource use

H. Rakoto Harison, J. P. Herrera, O. S. Rakotonarivo · PLOS ONE 19: e0311249 · 2024

Academic paper · High reliability

Semi-structured and scenario-based interviews in two vanilla-growing villages in north-eastern Madagascar on the effects of Cyclone Enawo (2017), the COVID-19 restrictions and the vanilla price collapse. Competent for what households in those villages reported; not a regional damage survey.

doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311249

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Current status, breeding strategies and future prospects for managing chilli leaf curl virus disease and associated begomoviruses in Chilli (Capsicum spp.)

Manoj Kumar Nalla, Roland Schafleitner, Hanu R. Pappu, Derek W. Barchenger · Frontiers in Plant Science 14: 1223982 · 2023

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review from the World Vegetable Center of begomovirus diseases of chilli: the viruses and their whitefly vector, recombination, the history and spread of the disease, losses, and breeding for resistance. Read: abstract, introduction and the sections on virus diversity, symptoms and transmission (CC BY). Competent for the nature and importance of the disease; the loss figures are the upper bounds reported in the studies it cites.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1223982

Diagnosis and potential invasion risk of Thrips parvispinus under current and future climate change scenarios

Timmanna Hulagappa, Gundappa Baradevanal, Shwetha Surpur, Devaramane Raghavendra, Sagar Doddachowdappa, Pathour R. Shashank, Kumaranag Kereyagalahalli Mallaiah, Jamuna Bedar · PeerJ 10: e13868 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A field survey of chilli districts in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka in November and December 2021, identification of the thrips by morphology and DNA, and a climate-suitability model. Read in full. Competent for what the survey found; the area infested and the yield loss are quoted from a joint government survey the paper cites, and the suitability maps are models of climate, not forecasts of harvests.

doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13868

Drip fertigation improves cumin productivity, essential oil content, water use efficiency and profitability in arid zones of Rajasthan

Ravindra Singh, C. B. Harisha, Sharda Choudhary, Y. Ravi, N. K. Meena, Ram Swaroop Meena, Suresh Kumar, A. K. Verma · Scientific Reports 16: 1893 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A three-season field trial (2016–2019) at the ICAR National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer, comparing surface irrigation with drip irrigation at three depths and three fertiliser levels in cumin. Read: abstract, introduction and discussion (CC BY-NC-ND). Competent for yield, oil content and water use in that trial; a research-station experiment on one site.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31467-3

Drought and Vulnerability assessment in the fluctuation of saffron production affected by rainfall shortage — Case study: Razavi and South Khorasan province

Marjan Karimi, Mohammad Bannayan, Mohammad Mousavi Baygi · Iranian Journal of Irrigation & Drainage 13(3): 773–787 · 2019

Academic paper · Abstract read · Medium reliability

Meteorological drought indices from thirty years of monthly rainfall at six stations in Razavi and South Khorasan, compared with a relative yield index for saffron. The article is in Persian; only its English abstract was read. It supports the association the abstract states and nothing in the paper’s tables.

idj.iaid.ir/article_95449.html?lang=en

“El Niño” event in Viet Nam: agriculture, food security and livelihood needs assessment in response to drought and salt water intrusion

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Ha Noi · 2016

Government publication · Read in full · High reliability

A needs assessment in the Central Highlands, South Central and Mekong Delta regions carried out with the Vietnamese agriculture ministry in 2016. Read: the summary, the country context, the sections on affected households and crops in the Central Highlands and on perennial crops, the recommendations and the annex tables. Competent for area affected and yield lost by crop as reported by provincial officials (to mid-May 2016) and by focus groups; the figures are reported, not measured, and cover the provinces visited.

www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/emergencies/docs/a-i6020e.pdf

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Elevation determines the productivity of large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) cultivars in Sikkim Himalaya

Patrush Lepcha, Kailash S. Gaira, Aseesh Pandey, Santosh Kumar Chettri, Jarina Lepcha, Jhony Lepcha, Rajesh Joshi, Nakul Chettri · Scientific Reports 13: 21673 · 2023

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Yield traits of five large cardamom cultivars measured at 41 cultivation sites in Sikkim between 975 and 2069 m. Read: abstract, introduction and discussion (CC BY). Competent for the relation between elevation and capsule and seed traits in those cultivars, and for the cultivation shifts it observed; its statements on the decline of the crop and its causes are drawn from earlier studies and are not its own measurement.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47847-6

Evaluation of climate factors affecting the quality of red huajiao (Zanthoxylum bungeanum maxim.) based on UPLC-MS/MS and MaxEnt model

T. Zheng, J.-Q. Sun, X.-J. Shi, et al. · Food Chemistry: X 16, 100522 · 2022

Academic paper · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt) of climatic suitability for red huajiao in China under current conditions and for the 2030s and 2050s under two emissions scenarios (SSP126, SSP585) from one climate model (BCC-CSM2-MR), with a field and laboratory study of how climate relates to amide content. A single-model projection for China only; suitability is not production. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND.

doi.org/10.1016/j.fochx.2022.100522

Also listed under: Chemistry

From Plains to Mountains: Results of Current and Future Climatic Suitability Analysis for Crocus sativus L. Cultivation in Italy

L. Giupponi, D. Pedrali, A. Giorgi · Plants 15: 693 · 2026

Academic paper · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt) of climatic suitability for saffron in Italy, projected to 2055 and 2085 under one climate model (GFDL-ESM4) and one emissions scenario (SSP3-7.0), with moderate predictive performance. A projection for Italy only, and a single-model one.

doi.org/10.3390/plants15050693

Grenada: a gender impact assessment of hurricane Ivan — making the invisible visible

United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, with UNIFEM and UNDP (LC/CAR/L.48) · 2005

Government publication · High reliability

A post-disaster assessment of Hurricane Ivan (September 2004) in Grenada, drawing on focus groups and the OECS damage assessment: the devastation of the nutmeg industry, the loss of cinnamon-bark harvesting in one community, and the livelihoods of the women who worked in the nutmeg pools. Qualitative on crop damage; it does not quantify the trees lost.

hdl.handle.net/11362/27582

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Grenada: A Nation Rebuilding — An assessment of reconstruction and economic recovery one year after Hurricane Ivan

The World Bank, Latin America and the Caribbean Hazard Risk Management Unit (report 35566) · 2005

Government publication · Read in full · High reliability

A World Bank review of Grenada’s recovery a year after Hurricane Ivan, from a mission in September 2005. Read: the executive summary and the agriculture chapter, including the nutmeg section. Competent for the share of the nutmeg crop and trees damaged as the Bank reported it, the Grenada nutmeg association’s recovery plan, sales and stocks after the storm, and the age of the farmers; its volumes are those supplied by the association.

documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/538951468030331426/pdf/355660GD0rebuilding0hurricane0ivan.pdf

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Grenada: Macro-Socio-Economic Assessment of the Damage caused by Hurricane Emily, July 14th, 2005

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat · 2005

Government publication · Read in full · High reliability

The regional body’s damage assessment for Hurricane Emily in Grenada, with a crop-by-crop table comparing Emily with Hurricane Ivan and a reassessment of nutmeg losses to Ivan. Read: the agriculture section and its damage table. Competent for acreage and damage estimates as assessed in August 2005; acreages are estimates, not a tree census.

www.eird.org/isdr-biblio/PDF/Grenada%20Macro-socio-economic%20Emily.pdf

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Impact of Harvest Periods on the Physicochemical and Flavour Characteristics of Sichuan Pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim)

Lian He, Yuwen Yi, Hongfeng Jia, Chengjian Xu, Mingfeng Qiao, Xuemei Cai, Sze Ying Leong, Nallammai Singaram, Sook Wah Chan, Hua Peng · Foods 14(7): 1155 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

Red Sichuan pepper picked on five dates between late July and late September 2022 at Huili in Sichuan, compared for size, composition and taste. The abstract, introduction, sampling and conclusions were read in full. Competent for one orchard district in one season.

doi.org/10.3390/foods14071155

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

Investigation of the impact of diverse climate conditions on the cultivation suitability of Cinnamomum cassia using the MaxEnt model, HPLC and chemometric methods in China

Yanqun Li, Yang Yang, Dingze Gu, Yanrong Cheng, Xuejuan Lv, Yan Huang, Peng Ye, Xinxuan Zhang, Jing Zhang, Wanying Jian, Yujie Liu, Yingtong Guo, Mei Bai, Rongshao Huang, Hong Wu · Scientific Reports 14: 25686 · 2024

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt, one climate model, two emissions scenarios, 2041–2060 and 2081–2100) of climatic suitability for Chinese cassia, with chemical analysis of bark from zones of differing suitability. Read: abstract, introduction, the climate-data methods and the results on present suitable area (CC BY-NC-ND). Competent for what the model projects for China; a suitability model, not a production forecast.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-75189-4

Also listed under: Chemistry

Kerala Post Disaster Needs Assessment: Floods and Landslides, August 2018

Government of Kerala and the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority with United Nations agencies and the European Union · 2018

Government publication · Read in full · High reliability

The joint assessment of damage, loss and recovery needs after the Kerala floods and landslides of 2018, submitted to the state government in October 2018. Read: the disaster summary, the flood diagnostics and the crop subsector chapter with its tables of damage to permanent crops. Competent for the rainfall, and for area affected, damage and production loss by crop as the assessment estimated them; pepper is the only spice it quantifies, and it gives no figures for cardamom, ginger or turmeric.

www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/PDNA_Kerala_India.pdf

Also listed under: Standards and trade

Long-term optimization of saffron yield and economic water productivity as influenced by irrigation water depths, salinity levels, and planting techniques

Zahra Khosravi, Ali Reza Sepaskhah, Rezvan Talebnejad · Scientific Reports 16: 2518 · 2025

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A field experiment at Shiraz University over the life of a saffron planting (to its sixth season, 2017–2021 for the last four), crossing four salinities of irrigation water, three irrigation depths and two planting methods. Read: abstract, introduction and site description (CC BY-NC-ND). Competent for yield and water productivity at that site; one semi-arid location, not a regional water account.

doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32330-1

Morphology Characterization, Molecular Identification, and Pathogenicity of Fungal Pathogen Causing Kaffir Lime Leaf Blight in Northern Thailand

Nakarin Suwannarach, Surapong Khuna, Jaturong Kumla, Ratchadawan Cheewangkoon, Piyawan Suttiprapan, Saisamorn Lumyong · Plants 11(3): 273 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

The first report of a leaf blight on makrut lime, from one plantation area in Lamphun Province, Thailand, in 2021, with the fungus identified and shown to cause the disease. The abstract, introduction and symptom description were read in full. Competent for that outbreak; it does not show how widespread the disease is.

doi.org/10.3390/plants11030273

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. — Plant Resources of Tropical Africa species account

E. N. Matu · PROTA Foundation; species account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA) · 2011

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the curry-leaf tree as a plant grown in tropical Africa, written for the volume on medicinal plants. Every section from Origin and geographic distribution to Prospects was read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction; the reference lists were not. Its account of cultivation is short: competent for how the tree is propagated, how long before leaf can be cut, and the soil and light it grows best in. Its sections on medicinal use and pharmacology are not cited.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Murraya_koenigii_(PROTA)

Papaver L. — Plant Resources of South-East Asia genus account

Khozirah Shaari, M. Brink · PROSEA Foundation; genus account reproduced on Pl@ntUse (CC BY-SA)

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

The handbook account of the poppies, written for the volume on medicinal and poisonous plants and concerned chiefly with the opium poppy as a drug crop. The sections on origin and on production and trade, and every section from Description to Prospects, were read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction; Uses and Properties were not read and nothing is cited from them. Competent for how the plant grows, the conditions it needs, how it is sown, and the little it says of the seed crop: when it is harvested and what it yields. Most of its husbandry describes poppies grown for opium or for alkaloid extraction, not for seed.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Papaver_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 13: Spices

C. C. de Guzman (ed.), J. S. Siemonsma (ed.) · PROSEA Foundation / Backhuys Publishers; species accounts reproduced on Pl@ntUse · 1999

Reference work · Read in full · High reliability

Species-by-species agronomy of the spice crops of South-East Asia and beyond: ecology (temperature, rainfall, altitude, soil), propagation, husbandry, diseases and pests, harvesting, yield and handling after harvest. The figures are those the handbook gives for the production areas it describes, and describe conditions around 1999; they are ranges for regions, not thresholds for the species everywhere. Read on the Pl@ntUse reproduction of each species account (CC BY-SA). In October 2026 the accounts of rosemary, sage, parsley, marjoram and oregano, tarragon, chervil, fenugreek, coriander, black mustard and white mustard were read from their sections on origin through to prospects; their reference lists were not. The accounts of thyme, dill, fennel and cumin were read in the same month from origin to prospects, without the tables of essential-oil composition and without the reference lists. Other accounts cited from this volume were read in earlier work, and how much of each was read then was not recorded.

uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Piper_nigrum_(PROSEA)

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Potential Suitable Habitats of Chili Pepper in China under Climate Change

Changrong Deng, Qiwen Zhong, Dengkui Shao, Yanjing Ren, Quanhui Li, Junqin Wen, Jianling Li · Plants 13(7): 1027 · 2024

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A species-distribution model (MaxEnt, one climate model) of climatic suitability for open-field Capsicum annuum in China under four emissions scenarios for the 2050s and 2090s. Read: abstract, introduction, the climate-data methods and the results on present and future suitable area and overlap (CC BY). Competent for modelled suitability in China; it does not model yield.

doi.org/10.3390/plants13071027

Relationship among Agroclimatic Variables, Soil and Leaves Nutrient Status with the Yield and Main Composition of Kaffir Lime (Citrus hystrix DC) Leaves Essential Oil

Darda Efendi, Rahmat Budiarto, Roedhy Poerwanto, Edi Santosa, Andria Agusta · Metabolites 11(5): 260 · 2021

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

Leaves of makrut lime harvested at four sites in Java between 109 and 1,189 m, with climate, soil and leaf nutrients set against the yield and composition of the leaf oil. Read in full. Competent for those four sites in one rainy season; with four sites its correlations show association only.

doi.org/10.3390/metabo11050260

Also listed under: Chemistry

Released varieties of turmeric and ginger

ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode

Government publication · High reliability

The institute’s own descriptions of the varieties it has released — year, duration, yield, dry recovery, curcumin or oil content and pest tolerance. Figures are trial means, not what every field achieves. The institute’s pages refused direct retrieval when these records were written, so the figures were taken from search-engine extracts of those pages rather than read on them; they should be re-read at source.

spices.res.in/pages/turmeric-varieties

Also listed under: Food science and processing

Technology, Chemistry and Bioactive Properties of Large Cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.): An Overview

Nawaraj Gautam, Rewati Raman Bhattarai, Bal Kumari Sharma Khanal, Prakash Oli · International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology 4(2): 139–149 · 2016

Academic paper · Read in full · Medium reliability

A review from Nepal of large cardamom: production, cultivars, the chirkey and foorkey virus diseases, harvesting, curing in traditional and improved dryers, composition and uses. Read: the sections on production, diseases and curing (CC BY). Competent as a summary of the Nepali and Indian literature on those subjects; it is a review in a regional journal, reports no measurements of its own, and gives no figure for fuelwood use.

doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v4i2.15104

Also listed under: Chemistry; Food science and processing

The Chemical and Genetic Characteristics of Szechuan Pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum and Z. armatum) Cultivars and Their Suitable Habitat

Li Xiang, Yue Liu, Caixiang Xie, Xiwen Li, Yadong Yu, Meng Ye, Shilin Chen · Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 467 · 2016

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Volatile oil and non-volatile ether extract in 47 batches of six Chinese cultivars of red and green Sichuan pepper, set against the climate of the places they were grown. Read in full. Competent for the six cultivars and where each is grown; the suitable areas it maps are predictions from climate similarity.

doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2016.00467

Also listed under: Chemistry

The clove tree of Madagascar: a success story with an unpredictable future

Pascal Danthu, Eric Penot, Karen Mahafaka Ranoarisoa, Jean-Chrysostome Rakotondravelo, Isabelle Michel, Marine Tiollier, Thierry Michels, Frédéric Normand, Gaylor Razafimamonjison, Fanja Fawbush, Michel Jahiel · Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 320(2): 83–96 · 2014

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review by CIRAD and Malagasy researchers of the clove tree in Madagascar: its biology and enemies, its two products (buds and leaf oil), the history of production and exports from the colonial period, cropping systems, household economics and the world market. Read in the English edition (CC BY): the abstract and the sections on the tree’s biology and enemies, its two products, the history of production, cropping systems, household economics, the world market and the perspectives. Competent for the Malagasy sector and its history; its export series come from FAOSTAT and older colonial sources, and it describes labour arrangements from earlier studies of Sainte-Marie rather than from a survey.

doi.org/10.19182/bft2014.320.a20547

Also listed under: Food science and processing; Standards and trade; History and archaeology

Weather extremes and plantation crops in the humid tropics

G. S. L. H. V. Prasada Rao · MAUSAM 67(1): 251–258 (India Meteorological Department) · 2016

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

A review, in the journal of the India Meteorological Department, of climate trends in Kerala and of crop–weather relationships in its plantation crops, drawing on state statistics and station records. Read: abstract, introduction, the temperature and method sections and the sections on cardamom and black pepper (CC BY-NC). Competent for the named drought and rainfall years and their reported effects on cardamom and pepper; the crop effects are described from secondary and experimental data rather than estimated statistically, and losses are mostly not quantified.

doi.org/10.54302/mausam.v67i1.1189

Win-win opportunities combining high yields with high multi-taxa biodiversity in tropical agroforestry

Annemarie Wurz, Teja Tscharntke, Dominic Andreas Martin, Kristina Osen, Anjaharinony A. N. A. Rakotomalala, Estelle Raveloaritiana, Fanilo Andrianisaina, Saskia Dröge, Thio Rosin Fulgence, Marie Rolande Soazafy, Rouvah Andriafanomezantsoa, Aristide Andrianarimisa, Fenohaja Soavita Babarezoto, Jan Barkmann, Hendrik Hänke, Dirk Hölscher, Holger Kreft, Bakolimalala Rakouth, Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez, Hery Lisy Tiana Ranarijaona, Romual Randriamanantena, Fanomezana Mihaja Ratsoavina, Lala Harivelo Raveloson Ravaomanarivo, Ingo Grass · Nature Communications 13: 4127 · 2022

Academic paper · Read in full · High reliability

Species richness of trees, herbaceous plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies and ants, with vanilla yields, in thirty smallholder vanilla agroforests in north-eastern Madagascar, compared with old-growth forest, forest fragments and fallow land. Read: abstract, introduction, the results on biodiversity and yield, and the discussion (CC BY). Competent for those plots and that region; it compares land uses side by side and does not follow plots through time.

doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30866-8