Herbarium Taste: Informational Food Design

What does the inside of an artichoke look like?  What nutrients does it have, and what is the best way to cook it? Valentina Raffaelli created a project to present answers to questions like these, in his design project called Herbarium Taste.

In the posters that he created, you see technical drawings of a food combined with information that provides information about the health benefits and “technical info that you can taste.”

On the artichoke poster, called Carciofo the text reads,

“Artichoke contains bitter principles as cynarin and sesquiterpene-lactones. These compounds inhibit cholesterol synthesis and have overall cholesterol reduction in the blood.  Fresh artichoke is an excellent source of vitamin folic acid. Scientific studies have proven that adequate levels of folates in the diet during early pregnancy, help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn baby.

It is one of the vegetable sources for vitamin K that has potential role bone health by promoting osteotrophic (bone formation) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet help limiting neuronal damage in the brain.  It is also rich in B-complex group of vitamins that are essential for optimum cellular metabolic functions.
Further, artichoke is rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Copper and iron are required in the production of red blood cells.”

The project was combined with a series of pop-up events where visitors could read the poster and also smell, taste, and eat the featured food.   On Raffaelli’s website, an update has been posted that the project will be made into a book, published by Corraini.

 

Image Sources and Links:

 http://herbariumtaste.com/

Valentina Raffaelli – website

 

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