Folk medicine in Düzce Province (Turkey)

Abstract

The present study was conducted to collect, record, and document local knowledge of medicinal practices in Düzce, anorthwestern Anatolian province. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive ethnobotanical study has been reported fromthis province. Information was acquired through semistructured interviews and personal conversations using a questionnaire andnumerous guided field trips with local knowledgeable people. For quantitative analyses and comparisons, recorded data such asinformant consensus factor (FIC) and use value (UV) were calculated, respectively. As a result of extensive field studies, 122 taxa weredetermined as folk medicines; 76 of were wild and 46 were cultivated. The identified medicinal plants were mainly from the familyRosaceae, followed by Compositae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Solanaceae, respectively. Among the preparations used, liquid forms suchas infusions (30.2%) or decoctions (16.4%) represented the most favored ways to administer medicinal plants. Dermatological disordershad the highest FIC score with a value of 0.75 followed by skeletomuscular (FIC = 0.7466), gastrointestinal (FIC = 0.6666), immunological(FIC = 0.6615), and respiratory (FIC = 0.6292) system disorders, among others. The most prominent medicinal plants were Urtica dioica(UV = 0.4352), Plantago major (UV = 0.3056), Rubus ulmifolius (UV = 0.2279), and Sambucus ebulus (UV = 0.2279). According tothe present study, the number of people who recognize and use the wild plants of Düzce, and those of the rest of Anatolia, is steadilydecreasing. The ethnobotanical knowledge cannot be passed to the next generation in its entirety if it is not properly recorded. Inaddition to this gradual loss of knowledge, modern information pollution and contamination via the popular media highlight the urgentneed to record this precious knowledge before it is lost.