Walking around the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy): An Ethnobotanical Investigation

Abstract

The Trentino-South Tyrol region is a special statute region of northeastern Italy. This territory is of particular interest for its morphology, flourishing vegetation, and history, having been a meeting area among different civilizations. Hence, Trentino is characterized by an ethnic plurality and a rich ethnobotanical knowledge, even if the available information is fragmentary, widely dispersed, and often guarded in oral popular culture. To fill this gap, in the present work 200 subjects were interviewed using an ethnobotanical survey. The resulting 817 citations referred to 64 native species, used either for human or animal health or for domestic purposes. As a second step, for each plant exploited for medicinal purposes, local importance was evaluated by calculating their relative frequency of citation. Moreover, the main traditional preparations were discussed. Among them, the most cited and exploited ones are Achillea millefolium, Arnica montana, Hypericum perforatum, Malva sylvestris, Pinus mugo, and Satureja montana, for which a deeper analysis has been performed. Lastly, the ethnobotanical knowledge of the plants growing in this territory will add a piece to the mosaic of traditional medicine in Italy and may lay the foundation for a nature-aided drug discovery process.

Understanding old herbal secrets: The renaissance of traditional medicinal plants beyond the twenty classic species?

“…The great majority of interviewees highlighted the renaissance of traditional medicinal plants after a decline in the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., I1-5, I7 -I4). This supports results of previous studies in the region (Grabherr et al, 2009;Petelka et al, 2020;Petelka et al, 2022;Cavalloro et al, 2022). Most interviewees emphasise the great treasure of traditional medicinal plants and underline their potential to enhance regional sustainability, protect biodiversity and to face current global challenges such as ecosystem degradation, environmental and health crises or cultural desintegration (Anyinam, 1995;Alves and Rosa, 2007).…”

“…communis, Matricaria chamomilla, Betula pendula Roth.). The most often mentioned species are in line with those mentioned in similar studies in South Tyrol (Petelka et al, 2022) or in the neighbouring Province of Trento (Cavalloro et al, 2022) and, for example, in the Transylvanian or Balkan region (Živković et al, 2020;Quave and Pieroni 2014;So ukand and Pieroni, 2016). According to the interviewees, South Tyrol is witnessing the mainstreamed popularization of certain medicinal plants ("the glorious 20"; e.g., I1, I9) and its marketing.…”

Temporal Changes in the Use of Wild Medicinal Plants in Trentino–South Tyrol, Northern Italy

“…Our results are only partially in line with the findings of two recent studies conducted in the two autonomous provinces. In 2020 and 2021, Cavalloro et al [ 37 ] interviewed 200 people across Trentino about their herbal ethnomedicinal knowledge. Two of the top five used plants mentioned in that study [ 37 ] ( Pinus mugo and Malva sylvestris ) were also reported by our participants in Val di Sole, while the other mentioned species were common ethnomedicinal remedies ( Achillea millefolium , Arnica montana , Hypericum perforatum , Larix decidua , Sambucus nigra , Gentiana lutea ).…”

“…Despite the growing interest, the Trentino–South Tyrol region has been little studied from an ethnobotanical perspective compared to other Italian regions (see Cavalloro et al [ 37 ] for an overview). Indeed, we found only four publications on the local ecological knowledge of medicinal plants in this region.…”

“…Two studies listing the medicinal plants used by local populations were conducted over 25 years ago, in Val di Sole, Trentino [ 38 ], and the Puster Valley, South Tyrol [ 39 ]. Two more recent studies conducted, in several parishes of Trentino [ 37 ] in South Tyrol based on published material [ 36 ] have warned about the ongoing plant-related LEK erosion. Additionally, the concept of Cultural Keystone Species with regard to traditionally used medicinal plants was studied by Petelka et al [ 40 ] and interviews were conducted in South Tyrol by Scherrer et al [ 41 ] to gain insight into, and reflections on, the cultural value of traditional medicinal plants and their interplay within the local landscape, nature conservation and their role in environmental education and knowledge transfer across generations.…”