A project has started to investigate genetic diversity in Nordic populations of Angelica (Angelica archangelica
L.)
Angelica is one of the first plants native in the Nordic region to be utilized for cultivation. The plant is mentioned already in the Icelandic Sagas; and in the ancient Norwegian Gulathing Law from the 10th century, a verdict for theft of Angelica is mentioned. In the Sami culture and among Greenlanders Angelica holds a long tradition as a utilized plant, both for food and medicine, and in the Medieval Europe Angelica was widely described as a remedy against the plague.
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Foto Magnus Göransson
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Angelica belongs to the family Apiaceae, which also houses many familiar vegetables and spices such as carrot, celeriac, dill and caraway. Today the main uses of Angelica are as taste-adder to liquor, in the perfume industry and in herbal medicine. New ways of utilization are for example "Angelica lamb" in Iceland, where lambs grazing Angelica get a distinct flavor in the meat. More potential uses are under development within the framework of the New Nordic Cuisine.
The objective of the project is to investigate whether Angelica plants were brought to the North Atlantic Islands by settlers, or if native material was utilized. To elucidate this, material previously collected in Greenland and the Faroe Islands, material being collected in Iceland, along with Norwegian and Finnish material will be analyzed by means of molecular markers. The analysis will result in a dendrogram illustrating the genetic distance between the populations.
Such knowledge is important in order to connect cultural-historical information with the genetic diversity of Nordic Angelica, both regarding marketing of Angelica-based products, as well as providing knowledge needed for effective conservation of biodiversity.
The project is supported by the Icelandic Genetic Resource Council, the Icelandic Agricultural University and NordGen.
