Ethnopharmacobotanical Findings of Medicinal Plants in the Kızılcahamam District of Ankara, Turkey

Objectives

Folk medicines in Kızılcıhamam has not been investigated in detail so far. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of folk medicine in the Kızılcahamam district.

Materials and Methods

Nine scientific field trips were organized to Kızılcahamam between April 2007 and July 2008. Data were obtained by field interviews with local people using open and semi-structured questionnaires. Results were evaluated statistically with the "use-value", "informant consensus factor" and cultural importance index.

Results

Sixty-five species (69 taxa) that belong to 58 genera of 31 families were determined to be used as folk medicines. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to record four of these species as folk medicines. Plants from Compositae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae families were used most frequently as folk medicines in Kızılcahamam. Plants in the study area are mainly used for gastrointestinal system problems, respiratory disorders, and urinary tract diseases. Residents from 41% of the villages where the scientific trips were carried out, declared that they are not using or interested in folk medicines.

Conclusion

This study highlights once again the gradual reduction of folk medicinal knowledge and the urgent need for folk medicine investigations in all parts of Turkey.

Investigations on the anti-ulcerogenic activity of Sideritis caesarea H. Duman, Aytaç & Başer

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Aerial parts of Sideritis caesarea H. Duman, Aytaç & Başer are used for complaints such as stomach-aches, and intestinal spasms as traditional medicine in Kayseri, Turkey.

AIM OF STUDY

To investigate the anti-ulcerogenic activity by using bioassay guided fractionation technique (BAGF) and to identify the compound(s) that are responsible for anti-ulcerogenic activity through ethanol-induced anti-ulcerogenic activity model in vivo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Liquid-liquid partition and then different chromatographic techniques were utilized for the BAGF of the ethanol (80%) extract of the aerial parts of Sideritis caesarea. Ethanol-induced gastric ulcer method on rats was employed for the determination of the anti-ulcerogenic activity, and the ulcer index was also calculated for anti-ulcerogenic activity detection.

RESULTS

The ethanol (80%) extract of S. caesarea showed statistically potent anti-ulcerogenic activity (95.9% ulcer inhibition, p < 0.001). Among the liquid-liquid fractions, strongest anti-ulcerogenic activity was observed with the ethyl acetate fraction (91.4% inhibition, p < 0.001) and therefore BAGF studies were proceeded with the ethyl acetate fraction. Two anti-ulcerogenic flavonoids {4'-O-methylhypolaetin-7-O-[6‴-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1→2)]-6″-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranoside and isoscutellarein-7-O-[6‴-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1→2)]-6″-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranoside} were isolated from this fraction together with a sesquiterpene glycoside [(2E,6E)-2,6,10-trimethyl-2,6,11-dodecatriene-1,10-diol-1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside] and two additional flavonoids {4'-O-methylhypolaetin-7-O-[6‴-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1→2)]-β-D-glucopyranoside and isoscutellarein-7-O-[6‴-O-acetyl-β-D-allopyranosyl-(1→2)]-β-D-glucopyranoside}.

CONCLUSIONS

Traditional use of S. caesarea in the treatment of stomach-aches was supported by this study and four flavonoids were isolated by using BAGF method and two of them were determined to have significant anti-ulcerogenic activity. Additionally, (2E,6E)-2,6,10-trimethyl-2,6,11-dodecatriene-1,10-diol-1-O-β-D-glucopyranoside was obtained from a Sideritis genus for the first time.

Comparison of Volatiles of Sideritis caesarea Specimens Collected from Different Localities in Turkey

Sideritis caesarea H. Duman, Aytaç & Başer of the Lamiaceae is an Anatolian endemic species, and is mainly used as herbal tea and folk medicine. This present study aimed to determine and compare the chemical compositions of the volatile components of S. caesarea specimens collected from different localities in Kayseri province, Turkey: Sariz town (samples A and B), Pınarbaşı-Kaynar (sample C) and Pınarbaşı-Şirvan Mountain (sample D), respectively. Initially, the essential oils of the aerial parts were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed both by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID), gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), simultaneously. Major volatile components of samples A and D were characterized as hexadecanoic acid (19.7 and 20.5%), caryophyllene oxide (6.7 and 20.2%), β-caryophyllene (6.5 and 12.6%), respectively. In sample B, hexadecanoic acid (14.6%), β-caryophyllene (11.5%) and caryophyllene oxide (8.3%) were detected as the major components. Whereas caryophyllene oxide (13.7%), hexadecanoic acid (8.5%) and spathulenol (6.1%) were the main components of the essential oil of sample C. Besides the chemical profiling, in vitro antimicrobial effects of samples were evaluated against a panel of six pathogenic microorganisms. Inhibition zones of the tested samples varied against bacteria with low to moderate activity, where no susceptibility against Candida albicans was observed.