Utilization of Pteridophyta species in Cyathea Park, Bali, as traditional medicine agents: A field study and meta-synthesis review

Abstract

Pteridophytes have been studied and preserved in botanical gardens. However, only a few have discovered and documented the medicinal properties of Pteridophyta species. This study aims to promote the utilization of Pteridophyta species in Taman Cyathea, Bali, as traditional medicine agents by conducting a comprehensive literature review with a novelty of 15 years (2008-2022) on the ethnopharmacology and species diversity of the plant division. This research was conducted by directly exploring Pteridophyta species collected in Taman Cyathea, Bali, and a meta-synthesis was carried out related to the potential use of these species as traditional medicinal agents. The STARLITE principle was used for the article search, and ENTREQ was used for transparency in reporting meta-synthetic results. The study was conducted by searching the databases with keywords set according to the inclusion criteria. Findings in the field showed that there were as many as nine species of Pteridophyta identified as having benefits as traditional medicine agents, including Cyathea contaminans (Wall ex Hook) Copel., Asplenium nidus L., Asplenium sp., Selaginella sp., Diplazium esculentum, Angiopteris evecta (G.Forst.) Hoffm, Cyathea sp., Nephrolepis hirsutula (Forst) C. Presl and Dicksonia blumei (Kunze) Moore. The results of the meta-synthesis obtained 49 articles that met the study criteria; leaves, shoots, roots, stems, and hairs were used for various purposes, including restorative materials, planting media, crafts, game materials, and food ingredients. Pteridophyta species treat fever, cough, anticonvulsant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antidiuretic, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, insecticide, larvicide, diabetes, and antiretroviral diseases, among others, so their potential use as traditional medicine agents and candidates for standardized herbs or phytopharmaceuticals have promising prospects in the future. However, its pharmacological, phytochemical, and toxicity properties must be investigated further.