Plant foods biodiversity in national food composition databases – The Italian case

OBJECTIVE: To assess the biodiversity richness of plant foods of the Italian Food Composition Database (IFCDB) at the species and below the species level and its evolution over time. DESIGN AND SETTING: The biodiversity richness of plant foods in the IFCDB was assessed by counting the number of species and by identifying and categorising biodiverse plant foods, i.e. foods described below the species level (subspecies, variety and cultivar) as well as wild and neglected and underutilised species. This assessment was also performed with the FAO Biodiversity Indicator. PARTICIPANTS: This study analysed the current IFCDB that contains 900 records of food items, with 80 % of data derived from analytical determinations. RESULTS: The 2019 IFCDB's edition includes 114 plant species; among thirty two of them, one or more biodiverse foods were identified for a total of eighty-six records, corresponding to 21 % of the plant foods recorded. This marks a substantial increase from the 2000's edition, which included 112 plant species and forty-eight biodiverse foods, corresponding to 16 % of the plant foods recorded. CONCLUSIONS: The IFCDB demonstrates progress in integrating plant food biodiversity, crucial for promoting sustainable diets and, consequently, sustainable food systems. Enhanced access to food composition data of biodiverse plant foods is required for the development and labelling of biodiverse processed plant foods and to increase the biodiversity richness of menus in community catering. This study may stimulate efforts in assessing and enhancing biodiversity richness of food composition tables in other countries.