Traditional medicinal plant knowledge among Albanians, Macedonians and Gorani in the Sharr Mountains (Republic of Macedonia)

Folk food and medicinal botanical knowledge among the last remaining Yörüks of the Balkans

“…As expected, the largest proportion was used for treating gastrointestinal and upper respiratory tract disorders, and this is consistent with data obtained from previous studies relating to everyday minor ailments [6,15,17,18,[20][21][22]36].…”

“…Some wild plants are semi-domesticated (SD, W/ SD; 7%), and from the listed taxa, significantly fewer are cultivated plants (C; 31%). Cultivated plants are much less prevalent than wild plants compared to similar studies undertaken for the plain regions [22], but this is also true of some other isolated communities located in the nearby mountains [17,18,20,21]. One possible reason for this is the preservation of the nomadic mode of life -simplicity, pragmatism, and the ability to conserve important key elements (including the plants used) despite changes, both natural and social, to their immediate environment.…”

“…Sempervivum has not been reported in studies of Macedonians and Gorani in the Shar Mountains (northwestern Macedonia); the plant also occurs on hilly or mountainous terrains [17,18], mountain villages of Preshkopia, eastern Albania [20], western Macedonia [21], and on Mount Korab [46]. These areas and communities are geographically close and similar in terms of environment and degree of isolation.…”

“…Most of the previous studies were mainly aimed at medicinal and edible plants and traditional handicrafts [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] and shed new light on existing ethnological and anthropological data. Some studies investigated small ethnic groups living in more or less isolated communities and provided new and very important data about the characteristics, storage, and transfer of the region's traditional knowledge [6,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. These not only addressed the specific features of the region, but also contributed to the understanding of complex historical and social processes that by far exceed the limitations of the mechanical documentation of botanical data.…”

Medicinal plants used in the Uzunköprü district of Edirne, Turkey

“…Also, while according to our findings Hypericum perforatum is used for skin stains, scars, cold, stomachache, ulcer, sunburns and sunspots, it is used for kidney pains and hemorrhoids according to Rexhepi et al [38]; for stomach pain, respiratory disorders, skin infections, sunburn or thermal burn, antitussive, antihemorrhoidal, anticholesterolemic, eczema according to Mustafa et al [39]; for ulcers, anti-inflammatory (in Bulgaria), cicatrizing agent, against Herpes simplex cholagogue (in Italy) according to Leporatti and Ivancheva [40]; for asthma, stomachache, skin diseases, earache, and toothache according to Akalın and Alpınar [42]; for kidney stones, sedative, wounds, stomachache and rheumatism according to Ecevit Genç and Özhatay [43]; for kidney stones, urinary diseases, diabetes, antihypertensive, cold, stomachache, enteritis, eczema, antifungal, cardiac diseases, arteriosclerosis, antihemorrhagic, asthma, insomnia, uroclepsia (for babies), gall bladder ailments, facial paralysis, gastritis, chest diseases, internal hemorrhage, bronchitis, anti-inflammatory, tuberculosis, pharyngitis, wounds, burns, cuts, herpes labialis, lip chap, and ulcers according to Kültür [13]; for prostate ailments, kidney ailments, cystitis, wound (for human and animals), diarrhea, aphthae according to Tuzlacı and Alpaslan [44]; for urinary diseases, stomach diseases, gastric ulcer, gingivitis, otitis, hemorrhoids, cardiac diseases, wounds and rheumatism according to Kültür and Sami [45]; for diabetes, wounds and kidney ailments according to Tuzlacı et al [46]; and for diabetes and stomachache according to Bulut [47]. Furthermore, although the local names of plants are considerably similar, there are some differences.…”