Abstract
Context: Human beings have long utilized plants for medicinal purposes. Investigation of these plants has led to the discovery of several modern drugs.
Objective: This paper documents and evaluates traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used by the local people of Mihalgazi district of Eskişehir, Turkey.
Materials and methods: Six villages of the study area were visited between February 2014 and April 2015 to collect the data. One hundred and eighty-nine informants were interviewed by the survey method and face to face semi-structured interviews. Taxonomic identification, the most commonly used plant parts, preparation and administration methods were evaluated. Ethnomedicinal data were analyzed quantitatively with relative importance (RI) and the informant consensus factor (FIC).
Results: This paper reported a total of 52 medicinal plants (37 wild, 15 cultivated) belonging to 34 families. Some uses of 22 plants were not found in the literature and are reported for the first time in this study. Furthermore, one of the plants, Calamagrostis arundinacea (L.) Roth (Poaceae), was reported for the first time as being used within the scope of traditional therapies.
Discussion and conclusion: This study recorded traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used in Mihalgazi, Turkey. This paper provides a basis for further investigations to discover efficient pharmaceuticals.
Introduction
Turkey is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of plant diversity and cultural heritage. Flora of Turkey has a total of about 12 000 taxa; this number is equal to the flora of the whole European continent (Erik & Tarıkahya Citation2004). For this reason, it is considered that studies carried out in Turkey could display valuable ethnobotanical data. Ethnobotanical studies have provided scientific assessment of traditional knowledge which is obtained by trial and error and transferred from generation to generation (Kendir & Güvenç Citation2010). In addition, these studies have looked at the plants as source of drugs. Ephedrine, aescin, digitoxin, quinine and galantamine are just a few examples for drugs discovered through ethnobotanical studies (Cragg & Newman Citation2001).
The goal of this study was to document and assess quantitatively traditional medicinal plants used by local people of Mihalgazi district, Eskişehir, Turkey.
Methods
Study area
The study area was Mihalgazi district with its six villages situated in the north of Eskişehir, Turkey (). The district is situated at an altitude of about 220 m and spreading over an area of 131 km2. The region is home to microclimate because of being surrounded by Köroğlu Mountains on the north and Sündiken Mountains on the south. The Sakarya River which is the third longest river in Turkey runs through the district. The predominant vegetation is jungles, maki and pseudomaki. Limited flat terrain is utilized as settlement and cultivated area. According to the data obtain from Turkish Statistical Institute in 2014, the total population of Mihalgazi is 4412. The average age of inhabitants is 45. Besides native people, immigrants from Balkan states inhabit in the region. Agriculture and livestock keeping is the primary livelihood of the local people. A wide range of agricultural products are cultivated in the region despite the microclimate.
Figure 1. Location and topographic map of the study area; numbers of record places: (1) Mihalgazi centre, (2) Sakarılıca (3) Bozaniç, (4) Alpagut, (5) Karaoğlan, (6) Demirciler.
Collecting data
The survey was carried out between February 2014 and April 2015. Mihalgazi city centre and five villages were visited to collect data. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted. We asked them detailed questions about medicinal plants used in the area, local names, their usages, used parts, methods of preparation and utilization, administration dosage and duration of the treatments. Furthermore, a survey on plants used by local people was conducted in five schools. Students were asked to fill in the questionnaire with their parents. After the forms were evaluated, some of the families were visited and detailed information was obtained. A total of 189 informants were interviewed. The reported plants by indigenious people were photographed, collected, pressed and carried to the Herbarium of Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, Eskişehir (ESSE). We identified the collected specimens using ‘Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands’ (Davis 1965–Citation1985; Davis et al. Citation1988; Güner et al. Citation2000).
Quantitative analysis
Analysis of the collected data was performed using relative importance (RI) and informant consensus factor (FIC). The diseases treated with medicinal plants were grouped into 13 categories based on the classification used by the International Classification of Diseases used by the World Health Organization. The RI were calculated for each medicinal species based on the normalized number of pharmacological properties attributed to it and the normalized number of body systems (BS) it affects. The RI is a measure of plants versatility. It was calculated (Juarez-Vázquez et al. Citation2013) according to the following formula:
NCS is the number of body systems, which is obtained dividing NCSS, the number of BS treated by a given species, by NSCSV, the total number of body systems treated by the most versatile species. NP is the number of pharmacological properties, which is obtained by dividing NPS, the number of properties attributed to a species, by NPSV, the total number of properties attributed to the most versatile species. The result can have a maximum value of 2, indicating the most versatile species.
FIC (Trotter & Logan Citation1986) was calculated according to the following formula: FIC = Nur − Nt/Nur −1, where Nur refers to the number of use citations in each category and Nt to the number of the species used. The FIC gives a product ranging from 0 to 1. A high value (close to 1) indicates that taxa are used by a large proportion of the informants, while a low value indicates that plants are chosen randomly or informants do not exchange information about their use (Heinrich Citation2000).
Results
Medicinal plants
This paper recorded 52 medicinal plants belonging to 34 families used in traditional remedies in Mihalgazi district (). Thirty-seven taxa of them were obtained from wild habitats, whereas 15 taxa were cultivated. The demographic data of the informants is shown in . Two of the plants we reported on are endemic to Turkey. One of them, Crataegus tanacetifolia (Lam.) Pers. (Rosaceae), is used for sore throat, atherosclerosis, hypertension, urinary tract infection, carminative, to lose weight and breath shortness. The other endemic plant Thymus leucostomus Hauskkn. et. Velen. var. argillaceus Jalas (Lamiaceae) is used for gastric diseases, stomachache, breath shortness and as an anti-inflammatory agent.
Table 1. Medicinal plants used by local people of Mihalgazi district.
Table 2. Demographic profile of informants.
Some uses of 22 plants are not found in the literature and are reported for the first time. New found uses are shown as underlined in . Furthermore, Calamagrostis arundinacea used as an anti-inflammatory agent in this study was reported for the first time as being used within the scope of traditional therapies. Poultice of the species root applied on inflamed wound for 1or 2 h once a day until recovery.
Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae), Petroselinum crispum (Miller) A.W. Hill. (Apiaceae), Tilia rubra DC. subsp. caucasica (Rupr.) V. Engler (Tiliaceae), Rosa canina L. (Rosaceae) and Cydonia oblonga Miller (Rosaceae) referred to the medicinal plants with most use reports. These most commonly used plants are given in with their number of use citations and number of diseases treated. Most of the plants were multipurpose medicinal plants, while 14 taxa were used for the treatment of one ailment.
Figure 2. The most commonly used plants in traditional remedies.
Taxonomic identification
Most of the medicinal plants were spermatophyte. The only pteridophyte is Equisetum ramosissimum Desf. (Equisetaceae). Gymnosperms are represented by 2 taxa, while angiosperms by 49 taxa. Among them 44 taxa were dicotyledones and 5 taxa were monocotyledones (). The Rosaceae family contributed the highest number of medicinal plants (6) used by local people, followed by Asteraceae (4), Lamiaceae (3) and Poaceae (3).
Figure 3. Taxonomic identification of medicinal plants reported in this study.
Plant parts used, mode of preparation and administration
Plant parts used for the treatment of diseases were leaves, above ground part, fruits, flowers, seeds, roots, whole plant, branches, cone, bulb, latex, stem bark, rootstock, fruit pericarp and stalk. The most frequently used part of the plant was leaves, followed by fruits, aboveground, flower, seeds, and root ().
Figure 4. Plant parts used in herbal remedies.
The most commonly used preparation method was decoction in which the plant material was boiled in water for 5–10 min (). In some formulations honey, olive oil, milk, vinegar and yoghurt were used as excipients. Internal (oral) application was the most commonly used administration method in traditional prescriptions (). Internal application was used generally for the treatment of internal diseases, while external application was used for skin diseases and infection, stings, joint diseases and haemorrhoid.
Figure 5. Frequency of preparation methods.
Table 3. Use frequency of administration methods.
Combination of plants were also used in traditional prescribes by local people. Four mixtures with medicinal plants were recorded (). Most of the combinations were used for the treatment of respiratory system ailments. Medicinal plants are combined possibly because people believe that the mixture might potentiate the pharmacological effects of plants (Juarez-Vázquez et al. Citation2013).
Table 4. Combinations of plants used for medicinal purposes.
Data analysis
According to the calculation of RI values four plants were found to be highly versatile; U. dioica (2), Petroselinum crispum (1.94), Rosa canina (1.56) and Malva nicaeensis All. (Malvaceae) (1.44). We found that the highest number of plant taxa were used for the treatment of diseases of the digestive system (23 taxa) followed by diseases of the circulatory system (19 taxa), diseases of the respiratory system (15 taxa) and certain infectious and parasitic diseases (13 taxa). However, when the FIC was taken into consideration, the highest value belonged to diseases of the respiratory system (0.91). Diseases of pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium (0.90), injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (0.87), neoplasms (0.85), diseases of the digestive system (0.84) and diseases of the genitourinary system (0.84) also exhibited high values which indicate a well-defined selection criterion among the informants (). When we compared with other studies which were conducted in Turkey (Ugulu et al. Citation2009; Sargın et al. Citation2013; Günbatan et al. Citation2016) diseases of the respiratory system are one of the categories that exhibited the highest FIC values for all of them.
Table 5. Informant consensus factor (FIC).
Discussion
This study is the first systematic ethnobotanical investigation done in Mihalgazi to determine the traditional use of medicinal plants. Fifty-two medicinal plants belonging to 34 families were recorded as medicinal plants used in Mihalgazi district. Thirty-seven taxa of them were wild, whereas 15 taxa were cultivated. Compared with the studies conducted in the vicinity of our research area, the study from Bozüyük shared 19 common taxa (Güler et al. Citation2015), the study from central Anatolia shared 18 common taxa (Sezik et al. Citation2001), the study from inner-west Anatolia (Kargıoğlu et al. Citation2008) and the study from Konya (Keskin & Bağcı Citation2011) shared 12 common taxa with our study. Among the medicinal plants recorded from the region, 30 taxa were used for same medicinal purposes in the ethnobotanical studies from Turkey and other countries.
The most frequently used parts of the plants were leaves, followed by fruits, above ground, flower, seeds and root. Leaves were also reported as the most commonly used parts of the medicinal plants in previous studies conducted in different parts of the world (Ugulu et al. Citation2009; Araya et al. Citation2015; Güler et al. Citation2015). More than one plant part was utilized for medicinal purposes by 22 taxa. Different parts of plants were used to treat distinct diseases. The Rosaceae family was represented by the highest number of medicinal plants (6), followed by Asteraceae (4), Lamiaceae (3) and Poaceae (3). According to the studies carried out around Eskişehir, it was observed that there is an agreement among the most common represented families such as Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae (Ugulu et al. Citation2009; Çakılcıoğlu et al. Citation2010; Polat & Satıl Citation2012).
Crataegus tanacetifolia and Thymus leucostomus var. argillaceus are the endemic plants reported on this study. According to the Red Data Book of Turkish Plants (Ekim et al. Citation2000), Thymus leucostomus var. argillaceus is grouped under ‘Vulnerable’ category and Crataegus tanacetifolia is under ‘least concern’. Consequently, collectors need to be careful not to eradicate the plants from nature.
Some uses of 22 plants were not found in the literature and reported for the first time in this study. Various laboratory studies point out to the effectiveness of 12 plants among them. Eruca sativa Miller (Brassicaceae) was used to treat diabetes, ulcer, kidney diseases and high cholesterol. Antidiabetic, antiulcer, renal protective and hypocholesterolemic activity of E.sativa were demonstrated (El-Missiry & El Gindy Citation2000; El-gengaihi et al. Citation2004; Alam et al. Citation2007; Khan & Khan Citation2014). Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Rich (Cucurbitaceae) and Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) were reported to be used against cancer. The potential cell-mediated effects of cucurbitacin E isolated from E. elaterium on cancer cell lines was documented (Attard et al. Citation2005). P. granatum was also demonstrated to have anticancer activity (Lansky & Newman Citation2007). Viscum album L. subsp. austriacum (Wiesb.) Vollman (Loranthaceae) was used to treat urinary tract infection. Viscum album was demonstrated to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coliwhich has been established as the predominant pathogen in urinary tract infection (Oguntoye et al. Citation2008). Olea europea L. var. europea (Oleaceae) was recorded to be used for joint dislocations. The extracts of olive fruit was shown to have anti-nociceptive effects in rats (Sahranavard et al. Citation2014). Phillyrea latifolia L. (Oleaceae) was used against cancer. Anthocyanins obtained from P. latifolia were acted as anticancer agents in animal models (Longo et al. Citation2008). Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. var. villosus Regel (Poaceae) was used traditionally for pain on knees and rheumatism. Cynodon dactylon was reported to have a potential analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity (Garg & Khosa Citation2008; Garg & Paliwal Citation2011). Crataegus tanacetifolia was used to treat atherosclerosis, hypertension and urinary tract infection. Crataegus tanacetifolia was shown to have antibacterial, antihypertensive activity and beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system (Çelebi Koçyıldız et al. Citation2006; Güven et al. Citation2006; Benli et al. Citation2008). Cydonia oblonga was reported to use against anaemia. The plant was shown to treat anaemia (Aslam & Hussain Citation2013). Vitex agnus-castus L. (Verbenaceae) was used against joint pain. Analgesic activity of its fruits was proved (Ramezani et al. Citation2010). These studies provide evidence for new recorded traditional usage of the plants. On the other hand, we could not establish any study of remained 24 new uses. Further investigations are warranted to evaluate potential activities of the plants.
Petroselinum crispum was the most cited plant for the treatment of diseases of genitourinary system and certain infectious and parasitic diseases. It was demonstrated that the species showed antibacterial efficacy against tested bacteria (Al-Haadi et al. Citation2013; Roy et al. Citation2015). Also, the species, containing large amounts of the apigenin, possessed anti-inflammatory activity (Al-Howiriny et al. Citation2003). These pharmacological properties might be responsible for the common usage of the plant.
Urtica dioica was the most commonly used plant for the treatment of diseases of the digestive system such as gastric pain, gastric diseases, intestine diseases, stomachache. In the study carried out by Burkova et al. (Citation2011), besides possessing antiulcer activity, the extract of U. dioica excessed acid secretion and diminished the acidity of stomach juice in experimental peptic ulcer caused by pylorus ligation. Urtica dioica was the most commonly used plant also for the treatment of neoplasms. The anti-proliferative (Konrad et al. Citation2000) and immunostimulant activities (Harput et al. Citation2005) of the species were proved. These findings were in correspondence with the traditional use of the plant by people of the region. The most commonly used plant for diseases of the respiratory system was Tilia rubra subsp. caucasica. The flowers of the species are a well-known drug which has expectorant and emollient effects (Tanker et al. Citation2014). The most commonly used plant for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue was Platanus orientalis L. (Platanaceae). Allium cepa L. (Amaryllidaceae) was the most cited plant for pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium. Hypericum perforatum L. (Hypericaceae) was primarily used for injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes. Calendula arvensis M. Bieb. (Asteraceae) was the most commonly used plant for skin diseases. The use of which for healing effects against dermatological diseases were also reported in the study from Manisa, Turkey (Sargın et al. Citation2013).
Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae) which is used for cardiovascular diseases and atherosclerosis was the most cited plant for the treatment of diseases of the circulatory system. According to 406 cases of clinical observation and a cross test, coronary heart disease (CHD) was treated with saponin of the species (Wang et al. Citation1990). The hypolipidemic activity in rabbits of the plant was also demonstrated (Altug et al. Citation2009). Olea europea var. europea was the most commonly used plant for the treatment of diabetes which was grouped under endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases. The taxon was reported to be used also in other studies from Turkey for the same purpose (Tuzlacı & Tolon Citation2000; Polat & Satıl Citation2012). The antidiabetic effect of the plant was proved (Eidi et al. Citation2009). This finding is in support with the traditional uses of the taxa.
Twenty-three plants were used for the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, 19 against diseases of the circulatory system (19 taxa), 13 against diseases of the respiratory system. Diseases of the circulatory system are major causes of deaths in Turkey. This study may serve as a basis to find new remedies for these illnesses.
Conclusions
We documented medicinal plants used by local people of Mihalgazi district of Eskişehir province in Turkey. Fifty-two medicinal plants belonging to 34 families were reported with the relevant informants including local name, parts used, ailments treated, preparation, mode of administration, duration of the treatment, record place and RI values. FIC values of ailment categories were also indicated.
The most commonly used plants for each ailment categories, endemic plants and taxa reported for the first time for some purposes were stated. Studies associated with the traditional uses of plants reported on this paper were indicated when they exist. In this respect, it was seen that some of the uses of plants were in correspondence with the pharmacological effects which were proved. Current state could be an indicator of effectiveness of other plants reported. Consequently, further investigations on these plants are required and significant.
Funding information
This work was financially supported by Scientific Research Projects Unit of Anadolu University (Project no: 1402S037).
Acknowledgements
We thank all the participants from Mihalgazi district for sharing their valuable information and experiences.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.
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