Numerous wild plants have been used in the past by the local Alpine population as foods. Most of them have fallen into oblivion, and very little is known about their constituents and their biological properties.

A series of forgotten food plants have been identified based on an ethnobotanical survey in the lower Valais region. A selection of these plants is submitted to a comprehensive metabolite profiling using a combination of HPLC-UV, HPLC-MS and off-line microprobe NMR analysis. The aim of the project is to shortlist plants which could potentially be taken into cultivation and re-established as food plants with interesting gustatory properties and a phytochemical composition which might have beneficial effects on health. In the longer run, the project could lead to a new and diversified uses of the plant resources of the Alpine regions.