Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nutritional Content of Scots Pine Inner Bark in Northern Fennoscandia

Nutritional Content of Scots Pine Inner Bark and Ethnographic Context of its Use in Northern Fennoscandia

  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Nutritional Content of Scots Pine Inner Bark in Northern Fennoscandia. The overall aim of this study was to determine the nutritional benefits of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) inner bark and to position this traditional food resource within the Sami diet. We hypothesized that the nutritional and sugar content of inner bark varied annually, seasonally, with location, and even on a tree–by–tree basis. We concluded that Scots pine inner bark is an energy–rich plant food that, due to its high fibrous content, could sustain energy levels during long–term physical activity. It is also rich in minerals, primarily calcium and potassium. From historical records, we know that inner bark was harvested during early summer and we propose that this mainly depends on raised starch levels in the tree during this season. Scots pine stands and individual trees showed a large variance of soluble sugars during June, which explains the spatial patterns of bark–peeling scars in the landscape. However, nutrients and sugars alone cannot explain this spatial pattern. Rather, it is the result of many factors, such as the migratory pattern (i.e., where people were residing at the time of the inner bark harvest), the weather in a particular year (late or early summer), the availability of other food resources, and logistical reasons including processing of the inner bark.

El contenido nutricional del interior de la corteza de pino silvestre y contexto etnográfico de su uso en el norte de Fennoscandia. El objetivo general de este estudio fue determinar los beneficios nutricionales de la corteza interna del pino silvestre (Pinus sylvestris L.) y el lugar que ocupa este tradicional recurso alimenticio en la dieta del pueblo sami. Partimos de la hipótesis de que el contenido nutricional y de azúcar de la corteza interna varía cada año, e incluso de un árbol a otro, según la estación y el lugar. Nuestra conclusión es que la corteza interna del pino silvestre es un alimento vegetal que aporta una gran cantidad de energía y que podría mantener los niveles de energía durante largos períodos de actividad física debido a su alto contenido de fibra. Además, es rica en minerales, especialmente calcio y potasio. Gracias a la información que nos brindan los documentos históricos, sabemos que la corteza interna se recogía a principios del verano. Nuestra tesis es que esto se debe principalmente al hecho de que los niveles de almidón en el árbol son más elevados durante esta estación. Tanto los rodales como los árboles individuales mostraron una gran variación de azúcares solubles en junio, lo que explica los patrones espaciales relacionados con las cicatrices que se observan en la corteza de los árboles de la región. Sin embargo, los nutrientes y los azúcares no son los únicos factores que pueden explicar estos patrones espaciales. Más bien se podría decir que estos patrones espaciales son el resultado de diversos factores, como el patrón migratorio (es decir, el lugar donde vivían las personas durante la época en la que se recogía la corteza), las condiciones climáticas durante un determinado año (a comienzos o a finales del verano), la disponibilidad de otros recursos alimenticios y motivos logísticos, incluido el procesamiento de la corteza interna.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Argounova–Low, T. 2009. Black food: Subsistence, diet, and exchange in Yessei Yakut Society. Ethnohistory 56(3):479–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belitz, H.-D., W. Grosch, and P. Schieberle. 2009. Food Chemistry. 4. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg.

  • Bergman, I., L. Östlund, and O. Zackrisson. 2004. The use of plants as regular food in ancient subarctic economies: A case study based on Sami use of Scots pine inner bark. Arctic Anthropology 41(1):1–13.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brand, J. C., J. B. Snow, G. Nabhan, and S. A. Trustwell. 1990. Plasma glucose and insulin responses to traditional Pima Indian meals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 51:416–20.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brand–Miller, J. C. and S. H. A. Holt. 1998. Australian aboriginal plant foods: A consideration of their nutritional composition and health implications. Nutrition Research Reviews 11:5–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cordain, L., S. B. Eaton, J. Brand Miller, N. Mann, and K. Hill. 2002. The paradoxical nature of hunter–gatherer diets: Meat–based, yet non–atherogenic. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56(1):42–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dilbone, M., N. J. Turner, and P. von Aderkas. 2013. Lodgepole pine cambium (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var latifolia Engelm. ex S. Wats): A springtime first peoples’ food in British Columbia. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 52(2):130–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eidlitz, K. 1969. Food and emergency food in the circumpolar area. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Common and Comparing Ethnography, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldridge, A. 1982. Cambium resources of the Pacific Northwest: An ethnographic and archaeological study. Honors thesis, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, A. 1980. Some aspects of carbohydrate dynamics in Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.). Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fellman, J. 1906. Anteckningar från min vistelse i lappmarken. [Notes from my stay in Lapland]. Part 3. Finska litteratursällskapet, Helsinki.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, C. and W. Höll. 1991. Food reserves of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) 1. Seasonal changes in the carbohydrate and fat reserves of pine needles. Trees 5:187–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——— and ———. 1992. Food reserves of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) 2. Seasonal changes and radial distribution of carbohydrate and fat reserves in pine wood. Trees 6:147–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaertner, E. E. 1970. Breadstuff from fir (Abies balsamea). Economic Botany 24(1):69–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottesfeld, L. M. J. 1991. The importance of bark products in the aboriginal economies of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Economic Botany 46(2):148–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, L. I. and B. Olsen. 2006. Samernas historia fram till 1750. [The history of the Sami until 1750]. Liber, Stockholm.

  • Helmisaari, H.-S. and T. Siltala. 1989. Variation in nutrient concentrations of Pinus sylvestris stems. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 4:443–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itkonen, T. I. 1948. Suomen lappalaisten vuoteen 1945 [Finnish Sami until 1945]. WSOY, Porvo.

  • Kaipianinen, L. K. and G. I. Sofronova. 2003. The role of the transport system in the control of the source–sink relations in Pinus sylvestris. Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 50(1):125–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karonen, M., M. Hämäläinen, R. Nieminen, K. D. Klika, J. Loponen, V. V. Ovcharenko, E. Moilanen, and K. Philaja. 2004. Phenolic extractives from the bark of Pinus sylvestris L. and their effects on inflammatory mediators nitric oxide and prostaglandine E2. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52:7532–7540.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kähkönen, M. P., A. I. Hopia, H. J. Vuorela, J.–. P. Rauha, K. Pihlaja, T. S. Kujala, and M. Heinonen. 1999. Antioxidant activity of plant extracts containing phenolic compounds. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry 47:3954–3962.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Källman, S. 2006. Vilda växter som mat och medicin. [Wild plants as food and medicine], 2nd edition. Ica, Västerås, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korhonen, T. 1986. Puusta syötävää. [Food from trees]. Suomen museolahti 1:65–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kozlowski, T. T. 1992. Carbohydrate sources and sinks in woody plants. The Botanical Review 58(2):107–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhnlein, H. V. 2000. The joys and pains of sampling and analysis of traditional food of indigenous peoples. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 13:649–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kytölä, R. 1999. Kaarnikasta kalanpaistokeppiin: petsamonsaamelainen eilinen. Maa – ja Metsätalousministeriö, Kotka, Finland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lantz, T. C. and N. J. Turner. 2003. Traditional phenological knowledge of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Journal of Ethnobiology 23(2):263–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leem, K. 1975. 1767] Beskrivelse over Finnmarkens Lapper. [Descriptions of the Lapps in Finnmark. Rosenkilde og Bagger, Copenhagen].

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, C. H. A. 1970. Derivation of springtime starch increase in balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Canadian Journal of Botany 48(11):1995–1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundius, N. 1983 [1674]. Descriptio Lapponiae. In: Berättelser om samerna i 1600–talets Sverige. –Faks.–utg. av de s.k. prästrelationerna m.m. först publicerade av K. B. Wiklund 1897–1909 / med företal av Phebe Fjellström och efterskrift av Israel Ruong. Umeå, Sweden: Skytteanska samf. handlingar, nr 27.

  • Lundmark, L. 1982. Uppbörd, utarmning, utveckling: det samiska fångstsamhällets övergång till rennomadism i Lule lappmark. [Levy, exhaustion and development: the Sami transition from hunter–gatherers to reindeer nomadism in the Lule parish]. Arkiv för studier i arbetarrörelsens historia, Lund, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niklasson, M., O. Zackrisson, and L. Östlund. 1994. A dendroecological reconstruction of use by Sami of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) inner bark over the last 350 years at Sädvajaure N. Sweden. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 3:183–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oleksyn, J., R. Zykowiak, P. Karolewski, P. B. Reich, and M. G. Tjoelker. 2000. Genetics and environmental control of seasonal carbohydrate dynamics in trees of diverse Pinus sylvestris populations. Tree Physiology 20:837–847.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Östlund, L., L. Ahlberg, O. Zackrisson, I. Bergman, and S. Arno. 2009. Bark–peeling food stress and tree–spirits—The use of pine inner–bark for food in Scandinavia and North America. Journal of Ethnobiology 29(1):94–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———, I. Bergman, and O. Zackrisson. 2003. Trees for food – a 3000 year record of subarctic plant use. Antiquity 78(300):278–286.

  • ———, B. Keane, S. Arno, and R. Andersson. 2005. Culturally scarred trees in The Bob Marshall Wilderness, Montana, USA—Interpreting Native American historical forest use in a wilderness area. Natural Areas Journal 25(4):315–325.

  • Pan, H. and L. N. Lundgren. 1996. Phenolics from inner bark of Pinus sylvestris. Photochemistry 42(4):1185–1189.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parkerson, R. H. and F. W. Whitmore. 1972. A correlation of stem sugars, starch and lipid with wood formation in eastern white pine. Forest Science 18(3):178–183.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pomeroy, M. K., D. Siminovi, and F. Wightman. 1970. Seasonal biochemical changes in living bark and needles of red pine (Pinus resinosa) in relation to adaptation to freezing. Canadian Journal of Botany 48(5):953–967.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prince, P. 2001. Dating and interpreting pine cambium collection scars from two parts of the Nechako river drainage, British Columbia. Journal of Archaeological Science 28:253–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qvarnström, E. 2009. “De tycka emellertid av gammal vana att det smakar gott, och tro dessutom att det är bra för hälsan” —samiskt växtutnyttjande från 1600–talet fram till ca 1950. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden, Master thesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rautio, A.–M. In press. Sami resource utilization and site selection: Historical harvesting of inner bark in northern Sweden. Journal of Human Ecology.

  • Rheen, S. 1983. [1671] En kort relation om lapparnes lefwerne och sedher…[A brief relation on the Lapp life and custom…]. In: Berättelser om samerna i 1600–talets Sverige. –Faks.–utg. av de s.k. prästrelationerna m.m. först publicerade av K. B. Wiklund 1897–1909 / med företal av Phebe Fjellström och efterskrift av Israel Ruong. Umeå: Skytteanska samf. handlingar, nr 27.

  • Saaranpää, P. and W. Höll. 1989. Soluble carbohydrates of Pinus sylvestris L. sapwood and heartwood. Trees 3:138–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandberg, H. R. 1898. Reseberättelse, afgifven på grund af en med statsanslag beviljadt af Kejs. Senaten den 27 april 1892, företagen forstlig studieresa till Inari, Utsijoki och Enontekis lappmarker. [Forest excursions in Inari, Utsjoki and Enontekis Lappmarks]. Finska forstföreningens meddelanden 15:133–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sjögren, P. and A. J. Kirchhefer. 2012. Historical legacy of the old–growth pine forest in Dividalen, northern Scandes. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management 8(4):338–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stitt, M., R. M. C. Liley, R. Gerhardt, and H. W. Heldt. 1989. Metabolite levels in specific cells and subcellular compartments of plant leaves. Methods in Enzymology 174:518–552.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sudachkova, N. E., I. L. Milyutina, and G. P. Semenova. 2002. Influence of water deficit on contents of carbohydrates and nitrogenous compounds in Pinus sylvestris L. and Larix sibirica Ledeb. Tissues. Eurasian Journal of Forest Research 4:1–11.

  • Svanberg, I. 2012. The use of wild plants as food in pre–industrial Sweden. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):317–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———, R. Sõukand, Ł. Łuczaj, R. Kalle, O. Zyryanova, A. Dénes, N. Papp, A. Nedelcheva, D. Šeškauskaite, I. Kołodziejska–Degórska, and V. Kolosova. 2012. Uses of tree saps in northern and eastern parts of Europe. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81(4):343–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swetnam, T. W. 1984. Peeled ponderosa pine trees: A record of inner bark utilization by native Americans. Journal of Ethnobiology 4(2):177–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorne, J. H. and R. M. Rainbird. 1983. An in vivo technique for the study of phloem unloading in seed coats of developing soybean seeds. Plant Physiology 72:268–271.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N. J., Y. Ari, F. Berkes, I. Davidson–Hunt, F. Ertug, and A. M. Miller. 2009. Cultural management of living trees: An international perspective. Journal of Ethnobiology 29(2):237–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urbye, J. G. 1937. Barkemel som antiscorbium. [Bark–flour against scurvy]. Tidsskrift för den norske laegeförening 57:975–979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zackrisson, O., L. Östlund, O. Korhonen, and I. Bergman. 2000. The ancient use of Pinus sylvestris L. (Scots pine) inner bark by Sami people in northern Sweden, related to cultural and ecological factors. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 9:99–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Adam Burström, Helena Lindén, Robert Nilsson, and Matilda Olofsson for their assistance during field work. Valuable advice was given by Mir Amir Hossein Mahboubi about the enzymatic sugar analysis and by Anders Muszta about the regression analysis. We also wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript, Jenny Stenberg at SCA Forest for letting us conduct the harvest experiment on their forest land and the Finnish National Board of Antiquities for providing the historical photographs. The Oscar and Lili Lamm Foundation and the Göran Gustafsson Foundation provided funding for this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Umeå, Sweden

    Anna–Maria Rautio, Gudrun Norstedt & Lars Östlund

Authors
  1. Anna–Maria Rautio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gudrun Norstedt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lars Östlund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna–Maria Rautio.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rautio, A., Norstedt, G. & Östlund, L. Nutritional Content of Scots Pine Inner Bark in Northern Fennoscandia. Econ Bot 67, 363–377 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-013-9254-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-013-9254-3

Key Words

Search

Navigation