fundamental source of income but comes at an expense to the environment. Most plants traded at the market are harvested from wild resources resulting in noticeable levels of species depletion. Adulteration, trade using vernacular names and morphological similarities of plants or the lack thereof, makes identifying samples on a taxonomic level challenging. In this study, DNA barcoding was implemented to rapidly identify the plants, more specifically bulbous plants, traded at the Faraday market. Sixty samples were collected and sequenced for the core barcoding regions (rbcLa and matK). BLAST results were ambiguous for rbcLa whereas matK results were more specific, permitting samples to be identified to species level. Overall, 85% of the samples were identified to species level. Two additional approaches, the tree-based and character-based methods were followed to validate matK samples to species level. Results from this study reveal a noticeable increase in the number of species traded with the majority of sought-after species of Least Concern. However, 10% of the species are Declining or Near Threatened in the wild posing a serious conservation issue. Prolonged unsustainable trade of these plants could lead to more Critically Endangered species in the future. An important outcome of the project is a new collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs to address these problems. Results and the consequences of illegal trade will be discussed. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2017.01.091 Towards an understanding of Middle Stone Age wood uses 58 000 years ago in KwaZulu-Natal: Charcoal analysis from two Sibudu occupation layers, BYA2i and SPCA S.J. Lennox Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa E-mail addresses: sandralennoxj@gmail.com, 692971@students.wits.ac.za Archaeological charcoal specimens from two Sibudu stratigraphic layers were identified and the spatial patterns resulting from the distributions of the woody taxa were analysed for behavioural information about wood selection and use in the Middle Stone Age of KwaZulu-Natal. The layers, Brown under Yellow Ash 2(i) (BYA2(i)) and Spotty Camel (SPCA), contain post-Howiesons Poort assem- blages that are approximately 58 ka old, though the BYA2(i) is older than the SPCA layer. The wood bundles in each hearth consist of fuel, including tinder and a selection of woody plants that today are known to have medicinal bark, leaves and wood. Woods suitable for making firesticks for starting fires by means of friction are also present. Wood from Spirostachys africana (tambotie) occurs in one hearth in each layer. This wood is avoided in cooking fires as it is poisonous; thus the wood may have been selected deliberately and burnt for insecticidal smoke or other medicinal purposes. Tarchonanthus parvicapitulatus (syn. T. camphoratus) (small headed camphor bush) charcoal occurs in SPCA and the camphor-like aromatic plant also has medicinal and insecticidal uses. Wood use is different between hearths and between the two occupations. Woody taxa identified demonstrate changes in vegetation and wood use through time. At 58 ka, the vegetation mosaic was different from today’s coastal forest and savanna near Sibudu and conditions were colder and drier than today. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2017.01.092 Towards improving nutritional food security through phytochemical enhancement in micro-greens B. Loedolff Institute for Plant Biotechnology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa E-mail address: bianke@sun.ac.za Approximately 868 million people suffer from nutritional defi- ciencies in both developed and developing countries. Despite efforts to ensure food security by focusing on (i) the availability of arable agricultural land and (ii) the development of environment-resilient crops, access to nutritious food remains an irrefutable priority. Non-communicable diseases (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular-, respiratory- and malnutrition-related diseases) are estimated to account for 38 million fatalities per year and recently received global attention regarding the development of nutritional food security strategies. Phytochemicals (plant derived-compounds) are the main source of nutritional- and health-beneficial compounds, required daily in the human diet. These compounds have been shown to function as powerful antioxidants (scavenging free radicals that cause oxidative damage to cells), a biological function sought after in malnutrition-related diseases. Although plants accumulate phyto- chemicals ubiquitously, micro-greens (immature plants with 2-4 true leaves) are considered nutritionally superior as they hyper-accumulate, up to 1000x more, phytochemicals than mature plants. Moreover, phytochemical accumulation in plants has also been shown to accumu- late as part of a global stress response mechanism and can therefore be further enhanced when environmental stress factors (light, tempera- ture and water) are applied. Focusing on the unique relationship between agriculture, food security and nutrition, our goal is to develop farming strategies for the production of fast-growing, nutrient-rich micro-greens using environmental manipulations. Our current target includes leafy greens from the Brassica family (wild rocket and mustard) and we have thus far successfully enhanced the phytochem- ical profile of these micro-greens using high light. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2017.01.093 Wood and bark anatomy of Andriana (Heteromorpheae, Apiaceae) with phylogenetic and ecological implications C. Long a , A. Oskolski a,b a Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa b Komarov Botanical Institute, Prof. Popov Str. 2, 197376 St. Petersburg, Russia E-mail address: c.paige.long@gmail.com (C. Long) * Awarded prize for best poster Andriana B.-E.van Wyk comprises three shrubby species restricted to the high elevation scrubs in the mountains of northern Madagascar. This genus is placed in the Malagasy clade of the tribe Heteromorpheae. We examined the stem structure of two of the three species, Andriana marojejyensis (Humbert) B.-E.van Wyk and A. tsaratananensis (Humbert) B.-E.van Wyk, to clarify the relationships of this clade to other Heteromorpheae on the basis of their wood and bark traits. Two Andriana species show certain resemblance to southern African genera of this tribe (Heteromorpha Cham. & Schltdl., Anginon Raf., Glia Sond., and Polemannia Eckl. & Zeyh.) in their wood anatomy, but they are distinct from the latter by the absence of helical thickenings on vessel walls. Thus the presence of helical thickenings may not be a synapomorphic trait for the Heteromorpheae, as previously suggested. Unlike other members of this tribe, the species of Andriana show no Abstracts 345