VIII Jornades d’Etnobotànica en Llengua Catalana

Noticia publicada en la web institutcional del Instituto Botánico de Barcelona el 10 de junio de 2016 -- Disponibles PDFs en español y catalán y capturas de pantalla de la noticia en la web.Peer reviewe

Filling the gaps: ethnobotanical study of the Garrigues district, an arid zone in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula)

[Background]: This study has focused on the Garrigues district, one of the most arid regions in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), which, in general terms, has remained unexplored from the ethnobotanical point of view. This area, of 22,243 inhabitants, comprises 33 municipalities distributed across 1123.12 km2. The natural vegetation is dominated by holm oak forests and maquis called ‘garriga’, the latter giving its name to the district. During the last few decades, this landscape has been transformed by agricultural activities, nowadays in recession. The main aim of this work was to collect and analyse the ethnoflora of this area in order to fill a gap in the ethnobotanical knowledge in Catalonia.[Methods]: The followed methodology was based on semi-structured interviews. The obtained data have been qualitatively and quantitatively analysed and compared with other available ones.[Results]: Data were gathered from 68 interviews involving 101 informants, whose ages range from 24 to 94, the mean being 73.07. The number of taxa reported in this study was 420, belonging to 99 botanical families. The interviewed informants referred 4715 use reports (UR) of 346 useful taxa, 1741 (36.93) of them corresponding to medicinal uses, 1705 (36.16%) to food uses, and 1269 (26.91%) to other uses. This study has inventoried, apart from individual plant uses, 260 plant mixtures, of which 98 are medicinal and 162 food. In the present study, 849 vernacular names with 116 phonetic variants have been collected, as well, for 410 taxa. The informant consensus factor (FIC) obtained for our interviewees is 0.93, and the ethnobotanicity index is 23.47% for the studied area. Apart from plants belonging to the typical Catalan, Iberian or European ethnofloras, the present work contributes information on some plants from semiarid or arid regions, such as Artemisia herba-alba and Plantago albicans, much rarer in the ethnobotany of the quoted areas.[Conclusions]: The results of this study reveal the persistence of ethnobotanical knowledge in the prospected area and the importance of filling the existing gaps in the ethnofloristic sampling of the Catalan territories. The almost complete dataset, now including some arid territories, will allow us to carry out a global analysis and to provide an accurate overview.This research was supported by projects 2017SGR001116 from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government), PRO2017-S02VALLES and PRO2020-S02VALLES from the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC, Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities) and CSO2014-59704-P and CGL2017-84297-R from the Spanish Government. AG received a predoctoral grant of the Universitat de Barcelona (APIF 2015-2018).Peer reviewe

Plants and mental disorders: the case of Catalan linguistic area

Introduction: Mental disorders are among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. Despite the disease burden they cause, including significant direct and indirect impacts on individual’s health and major social and economic consequences in all countries of the world, it is still one of the most neglected areas of public health. In such a context, the medicinal plants traditionally used to pale these pathologies are presented as a promising tool for future drug development for the management of mental health disorders. The aim of the present study is to analyze the information about plant species used to treat mental disorders in the Catalan linguistic area (CLA) and compare these traditional uses with pharmacological literature in order to evaluate the most quoted taxa and their uses and to provide a basis for further research. Methods: Data have been recovered from the “Etnobotànica dels Països Catalans” webpage (https://etnobotanica.iec.cat/) and the meta-analytic work carried out in the present study covers 27 prospections performed in different territories between 1990 and 2019. Descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotany were carried out and some ethnobotanical indices were calculated. Results and Discussion: The number of use reports analysed to treat mental disorders in CLA is 2,544 spread over 183 taxa belonging to 64 families, being the most cited the Malvaceae (29.36% of use reports), Lamiaceae (16.71%), Caprifoliaceae (7.94%), Rutaceae (7.47%) and Papaveraceae (6.01%). The most used taxa to treat or alleviate the mental disorders have been Tilia platyphyllos Scop. (24.53%), Valeriana officinalis L. (7.47%), Salvia officinalis L. (5.07%), Sambucus nigra L. (4.28%), and Ruta chalepensis L. (3.89%). The flowers or inflorescences (47.68%), followed by aerial part (23.49%), have been the most used plant parts, and tisane the most commonly used pharmaceutical form (78.03%). The most reported use is as sedative with 40.92%, followed by anticephalalgic (21. 19%) and tranquilizer (20.01%). The informant consensus factor (FIC) was 0.93, and 3.72% was the ethnobotanicity index (EI) value. The information is coincidental with at least one of the comprehensive pharmacological literature sources checked for 73.68% of ethnobotanical uses

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

16 p., gráf., tablasBackground 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.This research was supported by projects 2005ACOM00024, 2009ACOM00013, 2009SGR00439 and 2014SGR00514 from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan government), project AP07/07 from the Institut Ramon Muntaner, and project CSO2014-59704-P from the Spanish government.Peer reviewe

Filling the gaps: ethnobotanical study of the Garrigues district, an arid zone in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula)

This study has focused on the Garrigues district, one of the most arid regions in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), which, in general terms, has remained unexplored from the ethnobotanical point of view. This area, of 22,243 inhabitants, comprises 33 municipalities distributed across 1123.12 km2. The natural vegetation is dominated by holm oak forests and maquis called 'garriga', the latter giving its name to the district. During the last few decades, this landscape has been transformed by agricultural activities, nowadays in recession. The main aim of this work was to collect and analyse the ethnoflora of this area in order to fill a gap in the ethnobotanical knowledge in Catalonia

Traditional knowledge in semi-rural close to industrial areas: ethnobotanical studies in western Gironès (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula)

Background The western Gironès is a district located in NE Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). This area comprising 186.55 km2 and 10,659 inhabitants is composed of 5 municipalities encompassing 29 villages, located in the hydrographic basins of the Ter and Llémena rivers. Methods Following the methodology based on the semi-structured interviews, we carried out 40 interviews with 57 informants, 31 were women and the remaining 26 were men, with an average age of 78.6 years. Results In the present study, data from 316 taxa (301 angiosperms, 8 gymnosperms, and 7 pteridophytes) belonging to 89 botanical families were collected. The interviewed informants referred 3776 UR of 298 taxa, 1933 (51.19%) of them corresponding to the food category, 949 (25.13%) to the medicinal ones, and 894 (23.68%) to other uses. In addition, 581 vernacular names for 306 species, subspecies, and varieties have also been collected. Conclusions These results reveal the validity of traditional knowledge in the studied area, which can be seriously threatened by the loss of its rural condition and its proximity to industrialized areas

Estudis etnobotànics a la comarca del Ripollès (Pirineu, Catalunya, península Ibèrica)

Este trabajo presenta una síntesis de la prospección etnobotánica llevada a cabo en la comarca del Ripollès entre los años 2004 y 2013. Mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas con 163 informantes nacidos entre 1915 y 1988, hemos obtenido información sobre nombres y usos populares de 457 táxones (incluyendo especies, subespecies y variedades), 15 de los cuales solamente han sido determinados hasta el nivel de género. Sobre estas plantas, los informantes han referido 7192 reportes de uso. En este artículo incluimos comentarios generales sobre diversos usos (medicinales, alimentarios y de otro tipo) y presentamos, en dos apéndices, el catálogo completo de la etnoflora comarcal

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

Beyond food and medicine, but necessary for life, too: other folk plant uses in several territories of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands

53 p., mapa, tablas, gráfico -- La licencia Creative Commons de los datos que se han utilizado en este artículo es: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/[Background] Ethnobotanical academic research, particularly in European industrialised countries, has been, and is, mostly focused on folk uses of food and medicinal plants. Nevertheless, other uses, as may well be supposed, account for a significant portion of these folk uses. In the Catalan linguistic domain, a considerable amount of ethnobotanical work has been produced, but to date almost nothing has been published on these other plant uses.[Methods] We basically used the method of semistructured interviews to collect data on names, knowledge and use of plants in the above-mentioned fields from 759 informants in three Catalonian (Alt Empordà, Montseny and Ripollès) and two Balearic (Formentera and Mallorca) areas. We identified the plants quoted by the informants and prepared herbarium vouchers. We analysed and compared the results obtained.[Results] Information has been collected on 401 genera, 552 species, 81 subspecies and four varieties, belonging to 122 families, totalling 4137 use reports for popular non-food and non-medicinal uses (classified in 14 modalities), and designated with 1303 folk Catalan names. The informant consensus factor is 0.87, accounting for a consistent and robust dataset.[Conclusion] Contrarily to what could be thought a priori, and irrespective of the fact that some uses are declining or changing, non-medicinal and non-food folk plant uses strongly persist in the territories considered, are highly considered by their practitioners, and may even imply some economic revenues.This research has been partially funded by the municipal council of Figueres (IX Beca de recerca “Ciutat de Figueres”), the Catalan government (projects 2009SGR439, 2009ACOM00012, 2009ACOM00013 and 2014SGR514) and the Spanish government (project CSO2014-59704-P). We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer reviewe

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