Ethnobotanical investigation of medicinal plants used in Lingchuan county, Shanxi, China.

Medicinal plants are the primary sources of healthcare among the people of developing countries in villages and local towns. Documenting and reporting the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants may contribute to pharmaceutical research development. For this reason, we present our findings on ethnomedicinal plants from Lingchuan County, Shanxi, China, an unexplored area rich in medicinal plant resources. Information of ethnomedicinal plants were collected through questionnaire/semi-structured interviews from 180 informants, including traditional healers. Field surveys were conducted in 53 villages of Lingchuan County from 2017 to 2018. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before conducting the interview process. Quantitative analysis was performed for each recorded species, such as Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV), and Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC). Diseases were categorized into twelve groups. A total 138 species of medicinal plants were recorded, belonging to 123 genera of 58 families. Asteraceae was the dominant plant family with 19 species, followed by Rosaceae and Fabaceae. Herbs were dominant among plant life-forms with 96 species, followed by shrubs and trees (15 species each). Roots were the most commonly used plant parts with 58 species, followed by whole plants and fruits (28 species each). Most plant species were reported non-toxic (84, 60%), followed by unknown toxicity (35, 25%), poisonous, and less toxic (19, 14%). Quantitative analysis revealed that Forsythia suspensa was with higher (0.33) RFC value, and Scutellaria baicalensis was recorded with a higher (0.91) UV. Treated diseases were categorized in 12 groups and evaluated by their FIC value, in which gynecological diseases have higher (0.93) FIC value followed by urinary system diseases. Most medicinal plants are used to clear away heat and relieve the surface. The present study revealed that local people of Lingchuan County confidently use ethnomedicinal plants for their healthcare needs. The higher indices value of a plant species resulted from quantitative analysis warrants further investigation, which may possess valuable phytochemical compounds that may result in new drugs for treating various human disorders.

Ethnobotanical investigation of medicinal plants used in Lingchuan county, Shanxi, China / Investigação etnobotânica de plantas medicinais usadas no condado de Lingchuan, Shanxi, China

Medicinal plants are the primary sources of healthcare among the people of developing countries in villages and local towns. Documenting and reporting the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants may contribute to pharmaceutical research development. For this reason, we present our findings on ethnomedicinal plants from Lingchuan County, Shanxi, China, an unexplored area rich in medicinal plant resources. Information of ethnomedicinal plants were collected through questionnaire/semi-structured interviews from 180 informants, including traditional healers. Field surveys were conducted in 53 villages of Lingchuan County from 2017 to 2018. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before conducting the interview process. Quantitative analysis was performed for each recorded species, such as Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV), and Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC). Diseases were categorized into twelve groups. A total 138 species of medicinal plants were recorded, belonging to 123 genera of 58 families. Asteraceae was the dominant plant family with 19 species, followed by Rosaceae and Fabaceae. Herbs were dominant among plant life-forms with 96 species, followed by shrubs and trees (15 species each). Roots were the most commonly used plant parts with 58 species, followed by whole plants and fruits (28 species each). Most plant species were reported non-toxic (84, 60%), followed by unknown toxicity (35, 25%), poisonous, and less toxic (19, 14%). Quantitative analysis revealed that Forsythia suspensa was with higher (0.33) RFC value, and Scutellaria baicalensis was recorded with a higher (0.91) UV. Treated diseases were categorized in 12 groups and evaluated by their FIC value, in which gynecological diseases have higher (0.93) FIC value followed by urinary system diseases. Most medicinal plants are used to clear away heat and relieve the surface. The present study revealed that local people of Lingchuan County confidently use ethnomedicinal plants for their healthcare needs. The higher indices value of a plant species resulted from quantitative analysis warrants further investigation, which may possess valuable phytochemical compounds that may result in new drugs for treating various human disorders.

As plantas medicinais são as principais fontes de cuidados de saúde entre as pessoas dos países em desenvolvimento, nas aldeias e cidades locais. É importante documentar e relatar o conhecimento tradicional de plantas medicinais, dado que pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa farmacêutica. Por esta razão, apresentamos neste estudo nossas descobertas sobre plantas etnomedicinais do condado de Lingchuan, Shanxi, China, uma área inexplorada e rica em recursos de plantas medicinais. As informações sobre as plantas etnomedicinais foram coletadas por meio de questionário/entrevista semiestruturada com 180 participantes, incluindo curandeiros. As pesquisas de campo foram realizadas em 53 aldeias do condado de Lingchuan, entre 2017 e 2018. O consentimento informado foi obtido de cada participante antes de conduzir o processo de entrevista. Foi realizada uma análise quantitativa de cada espécie registrada, através da Frequência Relativa de Citação (RFC), Valor de Uso (UV) e Fator de Consenso dos Informantes (FCI). As doenças foram categorizadas em doze grupos. Foram registradas 138 espécies de plantas medicinais, pertencentes a 123 gêneros de 58 famílias. Asteraceae foi a família de plantas dominante, totalizando 19 espécies, seguida pelas famílias Rosaceae e Fabaceae. As ervas foram consideradas como as principais formas de vida vegetal usadas, com 96 espécies, seguidas por arbustos e árvores (15 espécies cada). As raízes foram as partes de plantas mais utilizadas com 58 espécies, seguidas de plantas inteiras e frutos (28 espécies cada). A maioria das espécies relatadas foram estabelecidas como não tóxicas (84, 60%), seguida de plantas com toxicidade desconhecida (35, 25%), venenosas e menos tóxicas (19, 14%). A análise quantitativa revelou que a espécie Forsythia suspensa alcançou o maior (0,33) valor de RFC, e a Scutellaria baicalensis obteve o maior (0,91) valor de UV registrado. As doenças tratadas foram categorizadas em 12 grupos e avaliadas pelos seus respectivos valores de FCI, onde as doenças ginecológicas apresentaram maior (0,93) valor de FCI, seguido pelas doenças do sistema urinário. Foi concluído que a maioria das plantas medicinais são usadas para amenizar calores e alívio tópico. O presente estudo revelou que a população local do condado de Lingchuan confia no uso de plantas etnomedicinais para lidar com seus problemas de saúde. Seria válido aprofundar as investigações relativas aos índices mais altos obtidos nas análises quantitativas das espécies analisadas, visto que podem possuir compostos fitoquímicos valiosos que podem resultar em novos medicamentos para o tratamento de diversas doenças humanas.

DNA barcoding for species identification in the Palmae family.

DNA barcoding is a promising tool for species identification at the molecular level. The barcoding system is well established for species differentiation in animals, while it is less common in plants. We evaluated 2 barcoding regions, maturase K (matK) and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL), to compare species of Palmae according to amplification success, discrimination power, and inter- and intra-specific divergence. Both regions appear to have potential to discriminate most species of Palmae, but 2 species, Phoenix dactylifera and Phoenix sylvestris, did not show variation in the nucleotides of the barcode genes. P. sylvestris is said to be the sister species of P. dactilyfera according to its morphological and genetic proximity to the cultivated date palm. Thus, the status of these 2 species needs to be re-evaluated considering more genes as barcodes. Furthermore, rbcL has a higher discrimination power (90%) than matK (66.6%) and can thus be potentially used as a standard barcode to discriminate the species of Palmae.