An overview of Portuguese traditional foods with quality product designations

Abuquerque, T.G.; Sanches-Silva, A.; Santos, F.; Costa, H.S.

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/1293

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Introduction. Traditional foods constitute an important part of the culture, history, identity, heritage and local economy of a region or country and they are key elements of the dietary patterns of each country [1]. These foods are commonly perceived as foods that have been consumed locally or regionally for a long time and the methods of preparation of such foods have been passed from generation to generation [2]. The Portuguese cuisine is characterized by a variety of rich, filling and fully-flavoured dishes. It is a Mediterranean cuisine, with Atlantic characteristics (high consumption of fish and seafood) and influence from different places around the world. The cuisine across Portuguese regions and islands is varied [3]. In 1992, the European Union (EU) created quality product designation systems, including Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), which protect registered traditional foods and enable producers to market distinctive high-quality regional products [4, 5]. In this study a review among Portuguese traditional foods with quality product designation has been carried out. Results. Our results show that up to now 116 traditional foods have been registered in the EU, from which 58 are PDO and 58 are PGI. With respect to TSG until now only 1 traditional food has applied for this denomination. According to the DOOR database (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door) foods are divided into classes. Conclusions. A great variability of Portuguese traditional foods has been already registered as PDO or PGI. Nevertheless, some of these foods have never been characterized with respect to the nutritional composition and bioactive compounds content. This review aims to compile and up-to-date information of the Portuguese traditional foods with quality product designations and to increase interest among food researchers, manufacturers and consumers on these foods.