A medical ethnobotanical study of some parts of Znepole region

A medical ethnobotanical study of some parts of Znepole region

Poster

Asen Stoyanov, Nedelcho Mitzov, Miroslava Ilieva, Magdalena Prodanova
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski ", Bulgaria

Medicinal ethnobotanical studies are powerful tools for the preservation of traditional medicinal knowledge, which can serve as basic guidelines in the design of phytochemical, pharmacognostic and phytopharmacological studies. They can also be used to construct a model of use of medicinal plants by ethnic groups which aids in the development of medicinal and other products targeted towards a said ethnic group. The goals of the study are to build an ethnobotanical model for the Municipality of Breznik in the province of Pernik and compare it to the Bulgarian model. Random, semi-structured interviews were conducted on site with the approval of our informants (n=11, in the age group of 44-78) in seven populated areas. Sixty-four uses of 51 taxa of spermatophyte plants were recorded. The most cited plants by our informants are presented along with their familial distribution. They have also been grouped by plant part used; most commonly used technological form; the ratio of use between wild and cultivated species; the ratio of use of plants of the Znepole floristic region vs the use of taxa from other regions; the ratio of use between grasses, shrubs, and trees; the distribution of the taxa used based on their conservational status; based on their use as medicinal, edible plants or both. The historical use of reported plant taxa is also discussed.
Key words: Breznik; medical ethnobotany; Znepole region