Folk medicinal plant mixtures: Establishing a protocol for further studies

Ethnopharmacological relevance Most ethnobotanical research bases its analyses on individual taxa catalogues and their uses, rather than on mixtures. However, mixtures constitute an important chapter of our different lines of research and they represent a large volume of information. The relevance of these data in folk medicine could be explained as a response to the cure of multicausal etiology diseases or by a possible polyvalent effect of the mixture as opposed to the effect of each taxon alone. Aims of the study The main goals are: i) to perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of these mixtures; ii) to carry out a comparison among the mixtures in two Catalan territories and their floristic composition; iii) to assess the worth of families association; and, iv) to evaluate whether the plants claimed to be used in mixtures have contraindications or possible negative interactions according to phytopharmaceutical literature. The ultimate goal is to test a protocol that can be implemented in similar studies. Materials and methods We have used data on medicinal plant mixtures obtained from two extensive ethnobotanical field studies carried out in two Catalan districts, Alt Empordà and Ripollès. The quantitative analyses by means of descriptive statistics were carried out with Excel. New contributions like the implementation of the Shannon index to quantify the diversity of families in plant combinations, the creation of a new index to calculate the taxon importance in mixtures, or the use of a social network analysis to study the connection between botanical families have been employed in this work. Results In total, a set of 484 mixtures from Alt Empordà and Ripollès (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula) have been analysed: 462 for human use and 22 for veterinary. Thymus vulgaris and Rosmarinus officinalis are among the most commonly used species in mixtures. The aerial part of the plant is the most used, and the anticatarrhal usage is the most frequent in both territories. A wide diversity of families has been observed in mixtures and reflects a strong bond between the number of taxa and the number of families in each mixture, being almost equal to one. The Shannon diversity index applied to mixtures has the maximum value at 0.86. No exclusive plants are used in mixtures, as reflected on the index of taxon usefulness in mixtures (ITUM), proposed in the present work. The association of families is strong between Lamiaceae (12.12%) and Asteraceae with Lamiaceae (11.69%). Finally, the informant consensus factor (0.85) reflects the strong consistency of data reported by the interviewees. Conclusions The present analysis has confirmed that it is possible to study the data of plants in mixtures as thoroughly as when they are considered in isolation in an ethnofloristic catalogue, and maybe this kind of ethnobotanical investigation could be a first step for future pharmacological studies that may result in a relevant complement to the current phytotherapy market

Catalan ethnoflora: a meta-analytic approach to life forms and geographic territories

Background Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework. Methods Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia were collected, analyzed, and compared, with the focus on plant life forms and geographic divisions. Results A total of 824 taxa constitute the Catalan ethnoflora, and 316 of them are shared by the six physiographic zones recognized in Catalonia. When three major geographic areas are considered (Pyrenean, inland, and littoral), 394 taxa have been reported in only one out of the three areas. Concerning life forms, phanerophytes and chamaephytes together, i.e., those taxa present all through the year, are the most cited (37.12%). Conclusions This first study constitutes a new approach to ethnobotanical data analysis. The results show the particular importance of plants with a large distribution area and plants with available biomass throughout the year. Apart from this, other kind of plants, e.g., those present in only one territory, are of interest for its originality and sometimes for the local significance

Medicinal and food plants in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology: Folk functional foods in Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula)

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/12071

Usos populars de les plantes i gestió del paisatge: alguns resultats d'una recerca etnobotànica a l'Alt Empordà.

Des dels temps més reculats, les societats humanes han fet una utilització i una gestió de la natura per a treure'n profit en aspectes diversos de la vida, entre els quals l'alimentari i el medicinal han jugat papers preponderants, però no han pas estat, ni de bon tros, els únics. En aquest treball exposarem els resultats d'enquestes etnobotàniques realitzades en els darrers anys a gairebé dos centenars d'informants de la comarca, tot comentant particularment les qüestions més relacionades amb les plantes que configuren el paisatge i llurs usos populars més vinculats amb la llar i la vida rurals

The role of botanical families in medicinal ethnobotany: a phylogenetic perspective

Studies suggesting that medicinal plants are not chosen at random are becoming more common. The goal of this work is to shed light on the role of botanical families in ethnobotany, depicting in a molecular phylogenetic frame the relationships between families and medicinal uses of vascular plants in several Catalan-speaking territories. The simple quantitative analyses for ailments categories and the construction of families and disorders matrix were carried out in this study. A Bayesian approach was used to estimate the over- and underused families in the medicinal flora. Phylogenetically informed analyses were carried out to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of families in a given category of use, i.e., hot nodes. The ethnobotanicity index, at a specific level, was calculated and also adapted to the family level. Two diversity indices to measure the richness of reported taxa within each family were calculated. A total of 47,630 use reports were analysed. These uses are grouped in 120 botanical families. The ethnobotanicity index for this area is 14.44% and the ethnobotanicity index at the family level is 68.21%. The most-reported families are Lamiaceae and Asteraceae and the most reported troubles are disorders of the digestive and nutritional system. Based on the meta-analytic results, indicating hot nodes of useful plants at the phylogenetic level, specific ethnopharmacological research may be suggested, including a phytochemical approach of particularly interesting taxa

Glops de saviesa popular

Tallers d'aprenent atge mostren l'int erès per la ratafia, un licor elaborat per maceració d'ent re mitja dotzena i un cent enar de plant es i amb virtuts medicinal

The Power of Wild Plants in Feeding Humanity: A Meta-Analytic Ethnobotanical Approach in the Catalan Linguistic Area

Wild food plants (WFP) have always been present in our kitchen, although they have not always been given the same importance as crops. In the Catalan linguistic area (CLA), covered in this paper, WFP were of great importance as a subsistence food not only during the years of the Spanish civil war (1936-1939) and World War II (1939-1945), but also long before these periods and in the years thereafter. The CLA has been well studied at the level of traditional knowledge on plant biodiversity, and much of this information is collected in a database by the EtnoBioFiC research group. The aim of this work is to carry out a meta-analysis of the WFP dataset of the CLA (only regarding edible uses, drinks excluded) and to identify the most quoted plants, and the information associated with them. With data from 1659 informants, we recorded 10,078 use reports of 291 taxa (278 of which at specific or subspecific levels and 13 only determined at generic level) belonging to 67 families. The most reported taxa, also with highest cultural importance indexes, are Thymus vulgaris, Foeniculum vulgare subsp. piperitum, Laurus nobilis, Rubus ulmifolius and Mentha spicata. The ethnobotanicity index for food plants is 6.62% and the informant consensus factor, also for food uses, is a very high 0.97, supporting the robustness of the information. The results provided and discussed in this work concern a significant part of the edible resources in the territory considered, which is, often and mainly, underestimated and underutilised. Its consideration could be an opportunity to promote closer and more sustainable agriculture. From the state-of-the-art of this question, it is possible to propose old, in some cases forgotten foods that could be newly introduced onto the market, first, but not only, at a local level, which could be interesting for new crop development in the frame of a valorisation of territorial identity. Keywords: Catalan countries; Catalan linguistic area; edible plants; ethnobotany; traditional knowledge; wild food plant

Wild food plants and minor crops in the Ripollès district (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula): potentialities for developing a local production, consumption and exchange program

Background: Wild food plants (WFP) have always been consumed by humans, first as the main basis of their food and, since the origins of agriculture, as ingredients of normal diets or as an alternative during situations of scarcity. In contemporary industrialized societies their use is for the most part being abandoned, but they may still play an important role. With the purpose of advancing in the ethnobotanical knowledge of one region of the Catalan Pyrenees, the present study reports the findings of a research project conducted in the Ripollès district (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula), concerning ethnobotanical knowledge and use of wild and semi-wild vascular plants as foods, along with minor crops. Methods: From August 2004 to July 2014, we performed 104 interviews (93 of which yielded data on food plants) with 163 informants, using the method of semi-structured ethnobotanical interview. We identified the plants quoted and kept herbarium vouchers. Results: We detected 967 use reports for 80 wild or naturalized taxa, which are or have been consumed in the Ripollès district, the most cited being Taraxacum dissectum, Cynara cardunculus and Origanum vulgare. Certain frequently reported species such as Molopospermum peloponnesiacum and Taraxacum dissectum have only been rarely cited previously or indicated as food plant in very restricted geographical areas. Most cited families included Asteraceae and Lamiaceae, followed by Rosaceae and Apiaceae. Preferred consumed plant parts included leaves, followed by aerial parts, along with fruits and infructescences, while most wild food plants are eaten raw or used as condiments. Demographic factors such as age and locality of informants seem to be more relevant to wild food plant knowledge than gender. Middle-aged people and inhabitants from the Higher Freser River Valley seem to have a greater knowledge of WFP, both in relation to the number of species elicited, as well as the diversity of uses and preparations. To a lesser degree, women seem to have a slightly higher WFP knowledge than men. The consumption of these resources is still fairly alive amongst the populace, yet changes affecting younger generations-in most cases abandonment-have been reported by various participants. Conclusion: The information provided by this kind of research permits the detection of those traditional species that could constitute the basis for the future development and management of wild edible plant resources along with minor crops. It also helps to determine the factors affecting their use, as well as the distinct target groups that such programmes could be addressed to

Etnobotànica del Pirineu català. Estat actual i propostes de futur

L'etnobotànica és una disciplina situada en la interfície entre les ciències naturals i les ciències humanes que s'ocupa de les relacions entre les persones i les plantes al llarg del temps i la seva projecció en l'avenir.Als Països Catalans, dues tesis doctorals dels anys 1990 (una de les quals, de tema pirinenc) van ser pioneres i des de llavors es treballa en aquest camp, de manera que el territori és força ben conegut des d'aquest punt de vista en el marc europeu i, dins de Catalunya, justament el Pirineu és un dels territoris més ben prospectats. El nostre grup de recerca en etnobotànica (www.etnobiofic.cat), de la Universitat de Barcelona i l'Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB), s'ocupa d'estudis etnoflorístics (catàlegs de noms i altres sabers sobre els vegetals) en el domini lingüístic català, especialment a Catalunya i les Illes Balears. A més, hem emprès investigacions d'altra mena, com etnobotànica històrica, usos de plantes per a finalitats concretes, metaanàlisis i comparacions entre les diferents àrees de llengua catalana o entre elles i altres zones, i relacions entre etnobotànica i filogènia. En aquesta comunicació presentem, a part d'una breu introducció a la matèria, qüestions de mètode i resultats del seu conreu en terres catalanes, centrant-nos en el Pirineu d'àmbit cultural i lingüístic català, és a dir de Catalunya (Catalunya del Nord inclosa) i Andorra. Això permetrà treure conclusions sobre l'estat actual de la qüestió en la part catalana de la serralada. També farà possible constatar quins territoris són més ben coneguts i quins mereixen especial atenció per a emplenar buits en la recerca dels coneixements tradicionals relatius a la biodiversitat vegetal en l'àmbit pirinenc. Farem igualment al·lusió a investigacions en altres zones culturals pirinenques per valorar la idoneïtat de fer-ne i difondre'n un estudi global i comparatiu. Paraules clau: coneixement tradicional, etnobotànica, Pirineus catalans, recursos naturals