Botany

Botany refers to the science concerned with plant life. Throughout the centuries, scientists from various cultures have studied and described plants. This culminated in taxonomy, the hierarchical classification of plants (and animals), a sub-science of (bio)systematics, which also focuses on explaining the diversity of life forms.

It is useful to know what relationships exist between plants, and to understand connections, also from a culinary perspective. For example, the Piperaceae have in common that they contain piperine, a pungent substance that we also know as chili oil, and the citrus containpeppers (Zanthoxylum) the sharp substance sanshol.