Ethnobotanical study on the medicinal plants in khosh Yeilagh rangeland, Golestan province, Iran

Background: Iran is of the species-rich areas in diversity of plants, especially medicinal plants being renowned worldwide as crucial for people’s health. Ethnobotany is the information retrieval science of unwritten experiences and is one of the valuable ways to develop the science of medicinal plants and herbal medicine. Objective : This present study aims to identify medicinal plants used widely by local people in Azad Shahr (Golestan province), collect information about diseases treated by using these plants, and boost indigenous knowledge concerning medicinal plants used by local people. Methods : An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to document indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants uses among local people in Khosh Yeilagh rangelands within 2 years (2018-2020). The data were collected by using field observation, participatory and semi-structured interviews with 41 people (11 male, 30 female). A snowball sampling technique was used to selecte the interviewees. The collected information were categorized based on local names, parts consumed, medicinal properties, consumption habits, and other uses of wild edible plants, WEPs. Result : Eighty-four plant species belonging to 27 families were identified in the study area. Most plant species in the region were respectively Lamiaceae (20 species), Compositae (12 species) and Legominaceae (6 species). The results showed that the most frequent medicinal plants were used for gastrointestinal problems (34%), cough and colds (18%), and respiratory disease (13%). Conclusion : The presence of various species of medicinal plants and vast indigenous knowledge in Khoshyilagh rangelands indicate the richness of this area. Research on these plants can pave the way for discovering new medicine in the field of treatment and for preserving these valuable reserves as well as preventing the disappearance and destruction of herbs.


Background
Indigenous knowledge of the medicinal plants consumption has gained significance because of its considerable importance in human societies, especially in urban communities in both developing and industrialized countries. The widespread use of plant-based drugs as well as the negative effects of chemical medicines due to their side effects, have led to more consideration of traditional knowledge of local people about medicinal plants. Traditional knowledge, if written, can provide information on medicinal plants and their healing properties to traditional medicine professionals, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and others. The popularity of traditional medicine to maintain health and cure diseases requires comprehensive information and understanding the properties of medicinal plants. One way to introduce and further understand medicinal plants is to use the empirical knowledge and traditions of elders in each ethnicity and region [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traditional medicine is a set of knowledge, skills, and practices based on theories, beliefs, and experiences of indigenous cultures, whether it is described, can be used in health as well as in prevention, diagnosis, recovery and treatment of physical and mental illnesses. The world is turning to traditional medicine and natural remedies [2]. Nowadays, in industrialized societies, many developed and developing countries, the use of traditional medicine and plants is very significant to maintain health due to the increase people's trust in these plants [3]. Iran is a high-ranking country in terms of vegetation richness and diversity where there are 11 climates out of 13 known global climates. According to geologists and researchers, the number of Iranian plant species is about 8,000, which is at least twice as diverse as the European continent. Research has shown that more than 2,300 species of plants have medicinal, fragrant, spice and cosmetic properties [4]. In addition to conservation, rangelands are important for recreational, environmental, genetic factors, and so on; there are special places in the production of medicinal and industrial plants.
In natural rangelands, many species are found with medicinal properties being rich in secondary metabolites. In fact, medicinal plants are of plant species whose type, number and variety vary according to the geographical location of each region [5]. Identifying various plants existing in nature, as well as studying their properties, opens up a new world for scientists and researchers in various disciplines and provides the basis for the treatment of many diseases. In many areas there are still unknown species that have been used for many years as a remedy for diseases [6]. All communities interact with their surrounding plants in different ways, but local communities are interested in using the plants because this is what sometimes guarantees their survival [7]. Indigenous knowledge, the knowledge of a group of local people about life, livelihood, is in relation to the social, natural environment through trial and error over time and is mostly oral and unwritten [8]. In the scientific literature, various terms and expressions such as "traditional knowledge", "lay beliefs" and "common sense beliefs" have been mentioned for indigenous knowledge. All these words and phrases seek to explain the knowledge that is formed in the social context and its main purpose is to solve the problems of everyday life of human societies. Regarding the fact that ethnobotany interprets the traditional knowledge as sorts of logical use of nature, gathering information of local people can play an important role in plant production. Therefore, the study, identification, preservation and maintenance of plant species, especially useful and rare medicinal species by local people is of particular importance. These studies can provide valuable achievements for finding new medicinal plants and herbal medicines [9]. Local people's indigenous knowledge, having been collected for hundreds of years, is rapidly being forgotten and disappearing. Although today scientific information about medicinal species has grown remarkably, such information is about a limited number of species. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify important medicinal plants widely used by local people of Khoshyilagh rangeland to treat diseases.

Introducing the area
Khosh Yeylagh rangeland, an area of 2705 hectares and 55 km southeast of Azadshahr city, is located in Golestan province. The geographical position is "14, '18 ° 55 to" 17, '28 ° 55 east longitude and "59, '48 ° 36 to" 20, '54 ° 36 north latitude ( Figure 1). In general, Khosh Yeylagh rangeland can be divided into two parts: plain and mountainous, which has a cool and temperate climate and the average minimum and maximum annual rainfall is 208 and 367 mm, respectively, which occurs in November to May. The wind direction is from southwest to northeast and blows mostly in autumn and winter. The altitude is between 1600 and 2700 meters above sea level and the average annual temperature varies from 10.7 to 17.9 degrees Celsius. The region is classified as cold semi-arid in climate patterns of Embereger and De Martonne Methods ( Figure 2). Ecologically, it is considered a summer pasture, the plants are most in forms of grass, shrubs, and trees with a relatively different distribution; overall, it is a plain and mountainous region. According to the surveys, the dominant plant species were in Type 1 (Poa bulbosa + Artemisia aucheri), Type 2 (Artemisia aucheri + Stachys inflata) and Type 3 (Artemisia aucheri + Bromus tomentellus). The language of the people is Turkish belonging to Ghezelbash clan. The total population of the region is 400 people (150 households). The family livelihood is provided through animal husbandry and agriculture [10].

Research Methodology
In order to investigate ethnobotany or indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants, free interviews and participatory observation were applied. Data collection was done in four stages of field operations with several field visits of the study area. First, local experts and elders were asked to complete a questionnaire and an interview concerning local lists of plant species. Accordingly, local names of the plant species were identified by collaborative observations. Secondly, with the help of natural resource staff, local experts were selected from among the residents, and then information was collected via snowball method. In the last stage, four experienced people were selected from among the interviewees being familiar with most of the medicinal species in the region. Required information for each plant was then elicited from at least 4 people. Of course, it should be noted that the qualification of these selected participants must be approved by the people of the region. In this study, the selected participants were traditional shepherds, elderly people and shepherds. In general, the information collected from medicinal plants included the local name of the plant, the vegetative form, the time of collection, the method of harvesting, the healing properties, the useful medicinal organs and other uses of the plant. An indigenous knowledge research will be successful when a friendly and cordial relationship is established with the local people. Therefore, in order to build trust, an ethnobotanical researcher must be similar in appearance, behavior and morality to the natives' in order to establish a greater sense of intimacy and friendship with the interviewees. It should be noted that the researcher's interviews continued to the extent that the repetitive answers provided the researcher with the stability and accuracy of the interview. Fourty-one people were interviewed in this study (11 males; 30 females). Thirty-five individual interviews and four group-interviews (3-6 person interviews within one to three sessions) were conducted. The age range of interviewees was from 25 to 85. In this regard, individuals were divided into 6 classes ( Figure 3).

Results
Categorizing the number of people and their level of education indicates that elderlies were more than the younger generation and these people were often illiterate (Table 1). Finally, plant samples were collected during the spring and summer seasons of 2018-19 and after initial preparations, using reliable botanical resources [11], identified by professional masters of botany and medicinal plants in Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The list of medicinal plants is shown in table 3. In general, 84 species of medicinal plants belonging to 27 plant families were identified in the study area, including Lamiaceae with 20 species, Compositae with 12 species, Legominaceae with 6 species, Brassicaceae with 5 species, Rosaceae and Apiaceae, with 4 species, had respectively the highest range of rangeland species in the study area ( Figure  4).

Figure 4: The abundance of plant genus in the study area
In addition to medicinal, some species have edible properties, like Rumex elbursensis, Lepidium latifolium, Allium ursinum, Satureja mutica, Camphorosma monspeliaca, Tragopogon collinus are often eaten as fresh vegetable with food. A group of plants such as Bunium cylindricum and Glycyrrhiza glabra are dried and powdered, and then the plant powder is used differently depending on the application. Plant species such as Thymus kotschyanus, Ziziphora clinopodioides, and Glycyrrhiza glabra are also used as herbal tea to treat colds, cough, sore throats, and as a condiment. Regarding the use of medicinal plants in this study, the most common uses were related to gastrointestinal problems (34%), cough and cold (18%) and respiratory tract disorders (13%). The lowest uses were related to antiseptic (4%) and treatment of skin inflammations (5%) ( Figure 5).  The biological forms of the most medicinal plants in the region belong to the group of Hemicryptophytes, Trophy, Geophyte, and Comfit, respectively. In terms of vegetative form, forbs (73%) ranked first followed by shrubs (14%) and, wheat with the lowest percentage. Also, regarding biological period, most of them are perennial (67%) ( Table 2).      Relieving colds, sore throats, skin injuries, sedatives, and lowering blood pressure

Flowering leaves and branches
Stachys inflata Benth.

Discussion
Iran has a long history of traditional medicine and the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of diseases. The richness of the flora in Iran and the high knowledge of Iranians in the use of medicinal plants, the existence of reputable scientific centers in the cities of Isfahan, Shiraz, Rey, and also sources and famous scientists such as Abu Ali Sina and Razi who practiced medicine with medicinal plants, have doubled the need for attention to this science [12]. Khosh Yilagh village, with a history of 400 years, has a valuable treasure of indigenous knowledge. In the present study, 84 regional plant species belonging to 27 families were identified. According to Figure (4), the most frequent plant species include Lamiaceae (20 species), Compositae (12 species) and Legominaceae (6 species), respectively. [13] in the results of their research included the collection and identification of selected traditional uses of plants in Babol, and reported that the largest consumption of medicinal plants used by local communities belonged to Lamiaceae, Compositae and Legominaceaee. The studies of [14] in Ardestan located in Isfahan province, [15] in Zabarkhan rangelands in Neishabour, [16] in Shazand, Markazi province, [17] in Behbahan, Khuzestan province, [18] in forest-rangelands of Tuskistan, Golestan province and [19] in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, also, supported this statement. According to the research of [14] 120 species belong to 41 families, [15] 70 species belong to 29 families, [16] 56 species belong to 23 families, [20] 61 plant species belong to 29 families and [21] 119 species belong to 43 families.
The results of the interview attributed the highest use of medicinal plants to gastrointestinal, antitussive and cold problems, respiratory tract, painkillers and sedatives, respectively. Also, it was found that the most widely used organs of plants included leaves, flowers, roots and flowering branches. [14] also attributed the most widely used organs of the medicinal plants being mostly used to eliminate gastrointestinal disorders. Khorasan is consistent. The use of medicinal plants in different places depends on different customs, traditions, and methods. Also, the methods and uses of these medicinal plants are different in different regions, so that women are more knowledgeable than men in cases such as how to dry and maintain plants and to make use of them. It should be noted that, not only are most of them used for medicinal reasons but also for other ones. For instance, barberry (Berberis integerrima) is used in cooking, making syrups, and jams. It is also used as an anti-inflammatory, lowering blood pressure and lowering blood lipids, which is consistent with the results of [16]. According to locals, Juniperus commonis is chewed and pounded with water to improve the stomach operation, acts as an anti-flatulence, diuretic, disinfectant, and treats rheumatism. Echium amoenum is used as an antitussive, sedative and analgesic. In local community, thyme (Thymus Kotschyanus) acts as a remedy for flatulence, inflammation of the airways, and diseases of the intestines and stomach; it is, also, used as a flavoring agent in foods, buttermilk, and other dairy products. Phlomis cansellata is used to relieve dandruff and head lice. Decoction of Achillea millefolium acts as an anti-nausea and helps treat diabetes, supported by [15], [22] and [23].

Conclusion
According to the findings of this study, indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants is very extensive. The results of this study indicate the diverse use of medicinal plants in the summer village. People experience contributes largely to collecting information. Medicinal plants with a long history are recently seen as a kind of biological innovation in medicine and can be a good alternative to chemical medicines. One of the main reasons for this is that herbal compared to chemical medicines have fewer side effects.