Phytotherapeutical plants from the Deliblato Sands (Serbia): Traditional pharmacopoeia and implications for conservation

Abstract

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-GB">This paper reports an ethnobotanical study conducted in the Special Nature Reserve ‘Deliblatska peščara’. In total, 283 wild plant species of medicinal importance were recorded, comprised in 70 families and 204 genera. Out of total number of medicinal plants registered in the area, 228 species were used by local residents, and 55 were not recognized by their pharmacological properties. The most used families were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae and the most used plants were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Achillea millefolium</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Fragaria </i>sp., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Hypericum perforatum</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Matricaria chamomilla</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Thymus serpyllum</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Urtica dioica</i>, all of which had high relative importance<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">.</i> The wild medicinal plants were mostly used for treatment of gastrointestinal (54.9%), urinary (49.8%) and dermatological ailments (46.7%); for respiratory, nervous, osteoarticular, reproductive, cardiovascular and infectious ailments (35.9%, 26.4%, 21.2%, 20.8%, 16.5%, and 16.2%, respectively); for hot and cold syndrome, as preventive agents or against endocrine disorders (15.1%, 10.0%, and 5.2%, respectively).</span>