An Ethnobotanical Study Of Medicinal Plants In Savaştepe (Balıkesir-Turkey)

Abstract

Objective: This research planned to record traditional uses and preparations of herbal medicines in Savaştepe, Balıkesir. The study was conducted between the years 2012-2016. The Savaştepe district is located on the borders of Balıkesir province. Methods: 44 villages connected to Savaştepe were visited during the research. With the help of the local people, the collected plants were diagnosed and converted into herbarium specimens. All herbarium samples are stored in the Herbarium of Istanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy (ISTE). Information about the use of plants were collected by the help of interviews with 205 people (107 men, 98 women). Results: As a result of this study, there were 163 medicinal plant taxa belonging to 53 families. Mostly used medicinal plant species families are Lamiaceae (22 taxa), Asteraceae (20 taxa), Rosaceae (16 taxa), Fabaceae (6 taxa), Brassicaceae (7 taxa), Apiaceae (4 taxa), Poaceae (4 taxa), Scrophulariaceae (4 taxa) respectively. According to the informations, the most common diseases were categozied into 12 group and their FIC values are calculated. The highest FIC value (0.852) for hemorrhoids. Having high use value represents that this taxa is commonly used in Savaştepe. The highest use value is 0.93 for Urtica dioica Conclusion: This study documented the medicinal plants used by local people of Savaştepe and also the uses, preparations and vernacular names of medicinal plant species. This study will help to concerve valuable informations of the medicinal plants of Savaştepe.