Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

M. CHAUVET
for collecting, only Spain seems to maintain a commercial production of pignons, which
obtain a high price. After having had the opportunity to observe the different forms of
pignons worldwide, I discovered that most of the product we see in our supermarkets
comes from China, and originates from Pinus koraiensis. Another source are the Himalayas
and Kashmir (marketed by Pakistan) with Pinus gerardiana. I assume that
both species are considered interchangeable, because I found the Chinese product in
an Indian shop, and the Pakistani one in a Chinese supermarket, and both had been
imported by the same company.
This “small” observation is quite funny, because our authorities are nervous about
“traceability” and wish to impose strict regulations to “novel food”. In this case, we have
three different species of Pinus, and they do not even belong to the same section of the
genus Pinus. So, they could perfectly have distinct properties, worth analysing. But who
has ever noticed that?
Another example is rocket. In Italy, Diplotaxis tenuifolia has partly replaced Eruca vesicaria
as a salad. They are sometimes distinguished as ruchetta vs. rucola on the markets
of Rome. Botanists can identify them readily even in a salad bowl, because Diplotaxis
has thicker and bluish leaves, with a narrow terminal lobe, whereas Eruca has
bright green leaves with a large round terminal lobe. Diplotaxis tenuifolia is a wellknown
wild salad, but it seems that it has been cultivated in Italy only for a couple of
decades. As far as I know, no book mentions this fact. One reason for this change may
be that Eruca leaves wilt rapidly, and have a shorter shelf life than Diplotaxis.
The growing market of exotic plant products
Due to the migrations of ‘boat people’ in the 1980’s, Paris now has its Chinatown (13 th
arrondissement), with big supermarkets and a well-organised importation and distribution
system. Chinese companies tend to control most of the French market of exotic and
ethnic produce. Paris also has an Indian quarter (near Gare du Nord and passage
Brady), an African quarter (near Metro Château Rouge) and scattered Caribbean and
Réunion shops, not speaking of less exotic shops from the Mediterranean area.
A similar situation is to be found in most European countries, the ethnic groups concerned
varying according to the particular historical links of each country (Pakistanis
and Caribbeans for Great-Britain, Indonesians for the Netherlands, Turks for Germany,
etc.).
Ethnic markets have been generally ignored by authorities. As long as the products
were supposedly sold only to consumers belonging to the relevant ethnic group, the
easiest solution was to let them develop. I only noticed that importers have been requested
to add a label in French detailing the name and contents of the product. In most
cases, the information is faulty, due to the difficulty for translators to find an adequate
terminology for ethnic products. One classical example is the so-called ‘arbutus’ or Chi-
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