Abstract: | Plants from the Brassicaceae family, found in the wild flora of Romania, are reputed for their value for nutrition, medicine, agriculture, environmental protection, horticulture and toxicology. There are 73 spontaneous species with different uses, which contain characteristic, spicy substances and impose a limitation in their consumption. Over 30 species are of interest for phytomedicine, 17 species have seasoning value as food, 2 species are of use in veterinary medicine, only 18 species are toxic, while for industry there are no species of particular economic value although 6 species contain oil. A new category of uses has emerged, including 10 species of plants that resist the accumulation of polluting substances in the soil and that contribute to the phytoremediation of areas contaminated with polluting and sometimes very dangerous substances. Only 9 species belong to the category of melliferous plants and they have no economic importance. 11 species can be cultivated for decoration. For cosmetics, there are only 6 species, whose oils are more valuable for soap making. A small number of species are useful for biological treatments in agriculture: of these, 6 species can be used to control insects and 1 species is effective to control fungi. Excepting rape, Brassica rapa, the wild species of this family are not of melliferous importance. |
