Quantitative Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used for Gastrointestinal Diseases in Bojnord, Iran
Mohabat Nadaf
1
(Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran)
Majid Halimi Khalil Abad
2
(Department of Chemistry, Kosar University of Bojnord Iran, P.O.BOX 94156-15458)
Reza Omidipour
3
(Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran)
Mohamad Ehsan Tghavizadeh Yazdi
4
(Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran)
الکلمات المفتاحية: Essential oils, Herbal medicine, Therapeutic potential, Relative Frequency Citation (RFC),
ملخص المقالة :
This study was aimed to ethnobotanical survey on important medicinal plants that are used for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders which are available in medicinal markets of Bojnord, Iran. The indigenous knowledge was collected through interviews (30 men and 4 women) of medicinal plants sellers for a period of 5 years from 2017 to 2022. Data were analyzed using ethnobotanical quantitative indices for Frequency of Citations (FC), Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Use Report (UR), Cultural Importance Index (CII), Number of Uses (NU), Relative Importance Index (RII), Fidelity Level (FL), and Family Importance Value (FIV). In total, 90 plant species belonging to 35 plant families were reported for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders. The most FIV index was identified for Asteraceae (12 species with FIV = 35) followed by Apiaceae (10 species with FIV = 29). The most utilized plant parts were fruit (29%) followed by shoot (20%) and seed (18%). Based on the results, FC index ranged from 1 to 26. Some species such as Bunium persicum, Anethum graveolens, Descurainia sophia had minimum and Melissa officinalis had maximum citation. The NU index varied between 1 to 10 in which the highest used number was calculated for Trachyspermum copticum. In addition, the RFC ranged between 0.03 to 0.77, indicating the high native knowledge of people about medicinal plants and their usages. Result of this study indicated that although people in Bojnord County have access to modern medicinal preparations, a considerable population still use medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes. Regarding the rich traditional knowledge of these people, the represented data can potentially be a precious reference containing useful information for subsequent phytochemical, biological, and pharmacological investigations. The results clearly indicate that high number of used medicinal plants in the herbal markets of Bojnord is related to the diverse topographic-climatic of this region.
