Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Anatolia: Past, Present and Future Perspectives, Trıne B Schou, Editör, NOVA Science Publishers Inc. , New-York, ss.51-162, 2020
This chapter
presents significant ethnomedicinal knowledge of plant taxa by local people of
Van Province of Eastern Anatolia. The richness of the local flora, the traditional
and pastoral farming based lifestyle of local tribes, rurality of the province
and limited opportunities of modern medical facilities resulted in a unique
traditional medicinal system in the province. Through the richness of medicinal
plant utilization, there is a limited report on documentation and inventory
analysis on plant taxa used in the traditional medicine of Van Province. Hence, this study aimed
to (I) record accumulation of the traditional medicinal plant knowledge of Van
Province comprehensively to preserve the
valuable local medicines knowledge, which has been threatened by urbanization,
(II) analyze data to determine the most efficient plant taxa according to the
ailment categories for drug discovery, (III) analyze local knowledge of plant
materials that can assist pharmaceutical studies and (IV) reveal the origin(s)
of traditional knowledge utilized in Van Province. Traditional medicinal plant determination surveys were conducted during
seven years (2013-2019) through structured face-to-face interviews with the
local healers who are well known in the province for their long practice in
folk medicine (672 informants). Demographic characteristics of the
participants, names of the local plants, plant part(s) used, preparation and
utilization methods were all evaluated and recorded properly. Additionally, to
assess the reliability of ethnomedicinal plant knowledge specified by the local
people, data analysis (informant consensus factor; ICF) was calculated.
336 plant taxa
belong to 165 genus (specifically Salvia,
Allium, Centaurea, Plantago, and Hypericum) and 55 families (principally
Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Apiaceae) were detected in the province. Data
analysis revealed that hormonal disorders (ICF: 0.9881) was the most common
ailment category in the province, followed by respiratory tract or muscle and
joint pain (ICF: 0.9867), analgesic (ICF: 0.9864), and dermatological (ICF:
0.9856) categories. According to ICF analysis, it can be suggested that plant
taxa used in Van folk medicine might serve as promising pharmaceutical agents.
For instance, Artemisia absinthium, Campanula glomerata, Diplotenia turcica, Gundelia colemerikensis, Helichrysum
plicatum, Lathyrus tuberosus, and
Onopordum turcicum might be
scientifically evaluated for their antidiabetic capacity. In respiratory tract
ailments treatment, the following herbal medicines can be evaluated: Alcea digitata, Anthemis cretica, Mentha
longifolia, Prunus divaricata, Rosa canina, Rosa pisiformis, Tanacetum
balsamitoides, and Thymus kotschyanus.
Also, for muscle and joint pain, Alcea
sp., as an analgesic, Scutelleria
sp., for dermatological disorders treatment, Alcea kurdica, Allium
sp., Artemisia vulgaris, Cephalaria microcephala, Ferula haussknechtii, Medicago sp., Onobrychis sp., Rhus coriaria,
Salvia verticillata, Plantago sp., Trifolium sp., and Cichorium
intybus can be appraised. The rich local flora combined with the isolated
traditional tribe culture in Van Province resulted in a unique plant-based traditional medicine
knowledge that was mainly based on the trial and error method and passed down
orally. The semi-nomadic lifestyle and rich local flora present in Van
Province provided an extensive utilization of
plant sources as significant folk medicines and suggest an important database
for scientific pharmacological studies.