Sumac: An underutilized plant in rural communities of Khorasan

Sumac (Rhus coriaria L.) belonging to the Anacardiaceae family is a small tree or shrub. It grows widely in Mediterranean countries, North Africa, South Europ, Afghanistan and Iran (1). R. coriaria is a medicinal plant popularly known to people in Iran due to its multiple applications such as pharmaceutical, condimental and industrial properties. Its main medicinal effect is related to tannins. Also it has multiple biological effects including antibacterial, antimicrobial and antioxidant (1,2). Dehbar county in Khorasan province is one of the main natural habitats of R. coriaria in Iran, where in autumn fruits are collected wildly from its natural habitat by rural people. This species is critical to the livelihood of many rural people of the area and has the potential to alleviate poverty being a source of income generation for local communities. Fruits being accepted as 'wild organic product' are collected by local communities on the basis of cooperative systems. In such cases, natural resource authorities of the area allow the rural people to collect the fruits and share the benefits. This has lead to proper protection of this plant in the vicinity of villages. Morphological characteristics and yield differ between northern and southern slopes where in northern slopes, shrubs have an average plant height of 157cm, crown area of 232cm, plant density of 14375 plant/ha and fruit yield of 1507kg/ha compared to southern slopes with an average plant height of 112cm, crown area of 203cm, plant density of 14500 plant/ha and fruit yield of 789kg/ha. Better understanding of habitat and plant criteria based on autecological studies and also means of propagation provide insights to better utilization.

References: 1. Ozcan, M. et al. 2004. Bulg. J. Plant Physiol. 30:74–84. 2. Lauk, L. et al. 1998. Phytotherapy Res.12:s152-s153.