Volume 166, 26 May 2015, Pages 361–374
Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants in villages of Çatak (Van-Turkey)
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
This
paper provides significant ethnobotanical information on medicinal
plants in the villages of Çatak in the Eastern Anatolia Region.
Recording such data calls for urgency. This is the first ethnobotanical
study in which statistical calculations about plants are carried out by
means of FIC method in Eastern (Van) part of Turkey.
Aim of the study
This
study aims to identify the wild plants collected for medicinal purposes
by locals of Çatak which is located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of
Turkey, and to identify the uses and local names of these wild plants.
Materials and methods
A
field study had been carried out for a period of approximately 2 years
(2010–2012). During this period, 78 plants taxa were collected.
Demographic characteristics of participants, names of the local plants,
their utilized parts and preparation methods were investigated and
recorded. The plant taxa were collected within the scope of the study;
and herbarium materials were prepared. In addition, the relative
significance value of the taxa was determined, and informant consensus
factor (FIC) was calculated for the medicinal plants included in the
study.
Results
We have found out
in the literature review of the plants included in our study that 78
plant taxa are already used for medicinal purposes while 19 plants are
not available among the records in the literature. The most common
families are Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Euphorbiaceae,
Fabaceae, and Malvaceae. We include in our study and report for the
first time the medicinal uses of Alchemilla buseriana Rothm., Astragalus longifolius Lam., Cephalaria microcephala Boiss., Euphorbia grisophylla M.S. Khan, Fritillaria crassifolia Boiss. & Huet. subsp. kurdica (Boiss. & Noe) Rix, Fritillaria pinardii Boiss., Malabaila lasiocarpa Boiss., Nepeta betonicifolia C.A. Mey., Onobrychis altissima Grossh., Onobrychis carduchorum C.C. Townsend, Papaver bracteatum Lindl., Phlomis tuberosa L., Psephellus karduchorum (Boiss.) Wagenitz, Scutellaria orientalis L. subsp. pichleri (Stapf.) Edmondson, Stachys kurdica Boiss. & Hohen var. kurdica, Tanacetum kotschyi (Boiss.) Grierson, Tanacetum zahlbruckneri (Nâb.) Grierson, Turanecio eriospermus (DC.) Hamzaoğlu, Verbascum pyramidatum
M.Bieb. Names of local plants in Turkey vary especially due to
vernaculars. The plants that the locals of Çatak use are called with the
same or different local names in various parts of Anatolia.
Conclusion
We
found out that locals living in the research area use for therapeutic
purpose 78 plants taxa which belong to 22 families. Turkish citizens
with different ethnic backgrounds took the questionnaire. These people
use these wild plants in treatment of several diseases. Comparison of
the data obtained in this study with the experimental data obtained in
the previous laboratory studies on the wild plants which grow in Çatak
proved ethnobotanical usages to a great extent. Literature review
indicated that the therapeutic plants that grow in Çatak are used in
different parts of the world for the treatment of similar diseases.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
- Ethnobotany;
- Medicinal plants;
- Use value;
- Informant consensus factor;
- Çatak;
- Van
1. Introduction
Plants
and products of plants have always had meaning in many parts of human
life. The use of plants as medicines predates written human history.
Knowledge of plant use was widespread in ancient civilizations. Until
the middle of the 19th century, plants were the main therapeutic agents
used by humans, and even today their role in medicine is still relevant.
One can argue forever what precise percentage of the world׳s population
use local and traditional medicines. These herbal (or mineral or fungal
or occasionally animal) medical products form systems of knowledge and
practice that have been transmitted over centuries and which
continuously change (Heinrich, 2000).
In developing countries and rural societies, the use of medicinal
plants is both a valuable resource and necessity, and furthermore its
provides a real alternative for primary health care systems (Hayta et al., 2014).
Turkey
has rich flora thanks to its geographical location, geomorphologic
structure and influence of various climate types. The number of species
found in Turkish flora is 9.996 including plants with foreign origins
along with cultivated plants. Regarding endemism, the number of endemic
species in the flora is 3.035. Adding 500 endemic sub-species to this
number along with 253 varieties, we obtain a total number of 3.788
endemic taxa (Güner et al., 2012).
Based on vol. 11, the number of species and sub-species taxa in our
country is 10.754, the number of endemic species is 3.708, and the rate
of endemism is 34.48% (Davis et al., 1988; Güner et al., 2000).
719 more taxa were added to this number with recently recorded and
defined taxa collected in Turkey and published afterwards. Thus, total
number of taxa in Turkey and Eastern Aegean Islands flora reached 11.473
whereas the number of endemic taxa rose to 4.207 (Özhatay and Kültür, 2006, Özhatay et al., 2009 and Özhatay et al., 2011).
Studies in Turkey on folk medical beliefs have gradually developed since the beginning of the Republican period in 1923 (Baytop, 1999). Majority of the Turkish people living in rural areas traditionally use plants (Polat et al., 2012, Polat et al., 2015a, Khatun et al., 2012 and Kaval et al., inpress). The interest in medicinal plants have a long research history in Turkey (Sezik et al., 1997, 2004; Ertuğ, 2000, Elçi and Erik, 2006, Kültür, 2007, Kargıoğlu et al., 2008, Satıl et al., 2011, Erdogan et al., 2012, Erdogan et al., 2014, Hayta et al., 2014a and Malyer et al., 2004).
Eastern
Anatolia has a rich flora thanks to its varying climate and numerous
ecological zones. The diversity in flora provides a rich source of
medicinal plants, which has long been utilized by Anatolian cultures,
and hence accounts for the accumulation of remarkable medicinal folk
knowledge in the region (Özgökçe and Özçelik, 2004).
The East Anatolia region is one of the important floristic regions in
Turkey. In recent years a number of species have been described or
recorded (Behçet and Avlamaz, 2009, Doğan et al., 2010, Eker and Babaç, 2010, Kandemir and Türkmen, 2010, Hamzaoğlu et al., 2011, Behçet and Rüstemoğlu, 2012 and İlçim et al., 2013).
No
previous ethnobotanic studies are reported to have been conducted in
villages of Çatak. This study identifies not only the wild plants
collected for medicinal purposes by locals of Çatak District in the
Eastern Anatolia Region but also uses local names of these plants.
