RAST ISTRE

Project summary

Istria location and climate enable successful cultivation of grapes, olives, figs and fruit trees, such as almond, jujube, pomegranate, strawberry tree, hackberry and some others (such as Sorbus domestica, Morus, Mespilus germanica) that could potentially broaden the assortment of production, and enrich the tourist offer. In the past, mentioned fruit trees were commonly cultivated, however they are rare today. Currently, there is no data about their biodiversity in Istria and they have so far not been morphologically or botanically described. Revitalization of their cultivation could be a niche market, as these varieties have high content of biologically active molecules such as antioxidants, vitamins, essential fatty acids, which could be used in food industry and pharmaceutical application. In the proposed project we will focus on the five selected fruit trees: almond, jujube, pomegranate as known old cultural plants of Istria area, and on strawberry tree and hackberry as wild grown species. Fruits of these plants have different biological effects and for that reason, it is reasonable to restore and expand cultivation of these plants in Slovenian and Croatian Istria and to prepare products with nutritional and medicinal value. Basic goals of this project were to define the current situation by census of the plants, start the cultivation revitalization process, to present and promote the selected less recognizable Mediterranean fruit trees, the revival of traditional use of fruits in cuisine and experimental development of new products with added value, increase the public awareness about the role of those plants for regional identity and biological diversity, and to define potential economic effects, primarily in the tourism in whole Istria region.