Inferences from an ethnobotanical field expedition in the selected locations of Sivas and Yozgat provinces (Turkey)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This study was aimed to ascertain the present situation of the traditional knowledge on wild plant utilization for medicinal and dietary purposes in two neighboring provinces, Sivas and Yozgat located in the eastern threshold of Anatolia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Information was collected by face-to-face interviews with 300 individuals in 20 selected sites. The demographic characteristics of the informants were evaluated and cross-relationships with the recorded data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software. In order to justify the information reliability, "informant's consensus factor" (F(IC)) was estimated and to find the local importance of taxa "use value" (UV) were estimated.

RESULTS

Altogether 166 utilizations recorded in the surveyed area were obtained from 100 taxa belonging to 38 plant families. Among these utilizations 89 were medicinal, 54 were used as foodstuff or spice, and 23 were for various other ethnobotanical (animal fodder, etc.) purposes. Those with the highest number of utilized taxa, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and Polygonaceae members were employed for various purposes. Respiratory system disorders and gastrointestinal ailments were the most frequently referred to disease categories for which plant remedies were utilized for treatment.

CONCLUSION

The area surveyed is known to have a high rate of migration from countrysides to metropolitan areas in Turkey or abroad to procure employment. Therefore, results of this ethnobotanical survey were important to find out the present situation of traditional knowledge in the area. Demographic data revealed that most of the inhabitants were remigrants from an urban area. Another encouraging point in terms of the Turkish ethnobotanical repository is that they still practice the information transmitted from their ancestors even after long dwelling in metropolitan areas.