An ethnoveterinary study on plants used for the treatment of livestock diseases in the province of Giresun (Turkey)

Abstract

The lack of ethnoveterinary surveys in Turkey, results in losses in the veterinary phytopharmacology field. This is the first ethnoveterinary research in which statistical calculations about plants are done by informant consensus factor (ICF) method in the Blacksea Region of Turkey. To catalog, analyze, and disseminate the knowledge of plant use in ethnoveterinary practices in the province of Giresun (Turkey). Information was gathered through open and semi-structured interviews with local people, mainly elderly shepherds and farmers, in the Giresun province. The collected data was analyzed quantitatively using two indices, informant consensus factor (ICF). A total of 65 ethnoveterinary plants belonging to 38 families are used for the treatment of animal diseases. According to the local farmers, the most often mentioned species that used in the resarch area have high ethno-veterinary potential. Most of these plants are also used for some human conditions in the study area. There are large numbers of ethno-veterinary practices EVPs in southern Turkey with undocumented cumulative knowledge of the indigenous people. Unfortunately, some evidence of their slow disappearance has been found. The traditional knowledge in the treatment of livestock diseases of the Giresun districts needs further scientific evaluations by phytochemical and antimicrobial experimentation.