1. komponenta

Lecture type	Total
Lectures	30
Practicum	30
Seminar	15

* Load is given in academic hour (1 academic hour = 45 minutes)

Course content
Lectures:
1. Plants as material basis of human culture, domestication - the beginnings of plant cultivation in Neolithic and further history of plant cultivation
2. Cereals - chemical constituents, nutritive properties, domestication, diversity and cultural history
3. Pulses - chemical constituents, nutritive properties, domestication, diversity and cultural history
4. Vegetables - biology, domestication and cultural history
5. Fruits of temperate zones - biology, domestication and cultural history
6. Fruits of tropical and subtropical zones - biology, domestication and cultural history
7. Symbolism of plants in the arts
8. Caffeine plants (coffee, tea and cocoa) - biology and cultural history
9. Alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and spirits) - plants as base for alcoholic beverages, basics of production technologies and cultural history
10. Wood - overview of useful tree species in the world, usage and processing of wood, wood properties and derivates
11. Plant fibres - structure and arrangement of fibres in plant tissues, textile fibres, paper
12. Herbs and spices - overview of species, their biology, usage and cultural history
13. Poisonous and psychoactive plants - plant active substances and their actions, overview of poisonous and psychoactive plant species
14. Plant dyes - plant pigments, historical usage of plant dyes, plants in cosmetics and perfumery
15. Genetically modified plants - transgenic plants, history of genetic modification of plants, significance of transgenic plants and controversies

Seminars:
In seminars diverse actual topics in applied botany disciplines are elaborated based on scientific papers published in thematic journals.

Practicals:
1. Cereals ? diversity and structure of grain grains, determination of gluten content in different types of grains
2. Legumes ? diversity and structure of fruits and seeds; isolation and preparation of microscopic preparations of nitrogen-fixing bacteria from root nodules
3. Vegetable fats ? determination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in fats and oils from different species
4. Vegetable fibers ? position and organization of fibers in plant tissues and their isolation; papermaking
5. Vegetable dyes ? isolation of pigments from different plant species, or tissues
6. Fruits ? comparative structure of edible and economically important fruits
7. Starch ? overview of plant organs in which starch accumulates, isolation and structure of starch grains in different, edible and economically important plant species
8. Wood ? comparative anatomical structure of wood in different species
9. Aromatic and spicy herbs ? overview of aromatic and spicy species and plant parts that are used; essential oil distillation
10. Pharmaceutical and poisonous plants ? overview of species and plant parts used; introduction to species in the Botanical Garden
11. Determination of plant species from tea and spice mixtures
12. Plants as primary producers ? determination of the area covered by plants necessary for the fixation of solar energy into biomass required for the weekly diet of each individual, considering losses through food webs
13. Plants as indicators of environmental conditions ? determination of water quality based on macrophytic vegetation
14. Plants and art ? recognition of plants in works of art (painting, elements in architecture)

1. Plants and Society, Levetin, E., McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
2. Plants in Our World. Economic Botany, Simpson, B.B., Orrozaly, M.C, McGraw-Hill Education, 2013.
3. A new Oxford book of food plants, Vaughan, J.G., Geissler, C.A., Oxford University Press, 2009.
4. The cultural history of plants, Prance, G., Nesbitt, M. (eds.), Routledge, 2005.
5. Mind-Altering and Poisonous Plants of the World, Wink, M., Van Wyk, B.E., Timber Press, 2008.
6. Flora Mirabilis. How plants have shaped world knowledge, health, wealth and beauty, Herbert-Howell, C., Missouri Botanical Garden and National Geographic, 2009.
7. Vegetables, herbs and fruits, Biggs, M., McVicar, Flowerdew, B, Silverdale Books, 2003.

Izborni kolegiji - Regular - Botany