3 research outputs found
Using Medicinal Plants in Valmalenco (Italian Alps): From Tradition to Scientific Approaches
This ethnobotanical survey was carried out in Caspoggio (Valmalenco, SO, Italy) with
the purpose of investigating the traditional uses of medicinal plants. Moreover, a bibliographic
research meant to validate or refute the uses, focusing on the potentially responsible compounds,
was performed. Fifty-nine species, attributable to 30 families (Asteraceae, Pinaceae, Malvaceae, and
Lamiaceae the most cited), were mentioned. Arnica montana, anti-inflammatory for traumas and
musculoskeletal pains; Pinus mugo, expectorant; Malva sylvestris, anti-inflammatory and soothing;
Achillea moschata, digestive. The compounds, responsible for the therapeutic activities, are often
polyphenols and terpenoids: helenanin in A. montana, -pinene, -3-carene, and limonene in P. mugo,
gossypin and malvin in M. sylvestris, luteolin and apigenin in A. moschata. Scientific evidence for
at least one of the traditional activities described was found for 50 species but only in 26 out of 196
works consulted, it is possible to make a comparison between investigated extracts and traditional
preparations. This study is thus a stimulus to new phytochemical investigations, mimicking as much
as possible the traditional preparations. This work is part of the European Interreg Italy-Switzerland
B-ICE project, aimed at creating a management model for the ongoing climate change and searching
for new sources of territory valorization as attractions for tourists