Chronica - Acta Horticulturae

A group of participants in the Perge antique city. Participants found an opportunity to see well preserved historical remains and some wild aromatic
plants in the antique city.
Turkey” presented by Prof. Dr. K.H. Can Başer.
While Professor Craker talked about American
consumption of culinary herbs during the past
several decades, Professor Başer explained the
richness and diversity of Turkish flora and most
traded culinary herbs in Turkey, also in view of
their original usage. On the second day of the
scientific program, Prof. Dr. Chlodwig Franz,
also an invited speaker, introduced the
audience into the “Use of Herbs and Herbal
Products in Veterinary Medicine and Animal
Nutrition”. He expressed roles of functional
plant products in veterinary medicine and livestock
production. Later, Prof. Dr. Eli Putievsky
presented “Culinary Herbs in Israel from the
Wild to the Market”. He gave numerous examples
on the collection and preservation of wild
herbs from the Israeli flora as well as the identification
of biodiversity for plant breeding. Prof.
Akos Máthé, the fifth invited speaker, addressed
and surveyed the quality assurance
aspects of medicinal and aromatic plants. In his
presentation entitled “Quo vadis? Quality
Opening speech of Prof. Dr. Mustafa
Akaydin, Rector of Akdeniz University.
Assurance System of Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants?” he called attention to the large number
and seemingly unharmonized international
and national activities in formulating guidelines
for both collection/production and manufacturing
of medicinal plants.
Participants of the Conference walked through very rich natural flora and remains of the
antique city of Termessos Natural Park. Indeed, they climbed up almost 1000 meters and
enjoyed excellent scenery at the top of the hill.
The Conference was very fruitful since many
scientists, students, sector representatives and
growers from various nations found an opportunity
to meet in such a good ambience. This
meeting also provided an excellent opportunity
to share information between world leading
scientists and young scientists as well as students.
Also, Turkish media and stakeholders
realized the importance and potential usage of
MAPs worlwide. Indeed, some national and
local newspapers issued publications about the
conference and reported about several presentations.
Some commercial exhibitors put essential
oils, fresh culinary herbs and organic fertilizers
on display.
The half day excursion organized to complement
the scientific program has also proved to
be a highlight. Participants enjoyed the visit to
Termessos National Park and Perge - Aspendos
historical sites, in the province of Antalya.
Termessos is a well known ancient city in the
Taurus Mountains that is home to a large number
of plant and animal species with many of
them being protected, in the form of a National
Park, where conference participants had the
opportunity to discover many wild herbs and
other plant species.
All in all, the First International MAP Conference
on Culinary Herbs has proved to be a
good initiative and congratulations are due to
both conveners and their organizing team. The
next conference is likely to take place either in
France or the Korean Republic in three years
time.
Kenan Turgut and Akos Máthé
CONTACT
Prof. Dr. Kenan Turgut, Faculty of Agriculture,
Akdeniz University, 007058 Antalya, Turkey,
Phone: +90 242 310 24 14, Fax: +90 242 227
45 64, email: kturgut@akdeniz.edu.tr
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