Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants from West Azerbaijan, Northwestern Iran

Results And Discussion

Demographic characteristics of study participants

Demographic characteristics of the respondents were determined and recorded through face to-face interviews. 55.8% of participants of surveyed people who had knowledge of plants were male and the rest were female. We interviewed 120 persons who are over the age of 25. All females who use these plants are house- wives whereas 41.5% of males are farmers, and 29.2% of them are unemployed while others have various occupations. Demographical characteristics of interviewees according to the results, we obtained in the research, are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Demographic characteristics of the individuals
Demographical characteristics	Number	Percentage
Age
25–34	8	6.7
35–49	54	45.0
50 above	58	48.3
Sex
Male	67	55.8
Female	53	44.2
Educational level
Illiterate	12	10.0
Primary school	50	41.7
Secondary school	25	20.8
High school	19	15.8
University	14	11.7

A total of 82 plant taxa belonging to 31 families are reported which have been used for the cure of various ailments. An evaluation of the data from the Table 2: enlightens the fact that among the families Asteraceae (15 taxa), Lamiaceae (11 taxa) and Fabaceae (6 taxa) are the most dominant families, followed by Boraginaceae (6 taxa) (Fig. 2).‎ Khoy ecologically is included in the Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region. Nearly 69 percent of plants distributed here are found in the flora of Iran. Ethnobotanical information of Sardasht people (southern part of West Azerbaijan province) has revealed that families mostly used here are approximately the same as recorded in our study presented here. The report by Azizi and Keshavarzi (2015) shows the most used plant families in that part are Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Fabaceae each represented by 7, 6, 6 and 6 plant taxa. In a study from the Urmia city, West Azerbaijan province medicinal plants used for gastrointestinal ailments have been investigated. In all 138 plant species belonging to 52 families have been identified, dominant ones being Asteraceae (11 species) followed by Lamiaceae, and Rosaceae each with 5 and 3 species respectively (Bahmani et al., 2014). These families have also been reported in previous investigations undertaken in different regions of Iran such as; Kohghiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad (Mosaddegh et al., 2012), south of Kerman (Sadat et al., 2017) and Saravan region, Baluchistan (Sadegi et al., 2014). The reason why Asteraceae and Lamiaceae are mostly used in Iran and West Azerbaijan province is that they include hundreds of species with diverse medicinal application for different ailments. In addition to these, two other plant families as the most cited families in ethno-pharmacological studies in Iran during 2004–2016 are Apiaceae and Fabaceae; especially in the northern regions of Iran, Azerbaijan provinces (Sadegi et al., 2018).

‎

Table 2

Medicinal plants used in Khoy city for treatment of different ailments
Nomber	Family	Plant species Voucher	Vernacular name	Persian name	Plant parts used	Preparations	Medicinal uses	Other applications	UV (use value)
1	Alliaceae	Allium cepa L.* TUH-100	Soğan	Piaz	Bulbs	Infusion‎, Raw	fungal infection, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, diuretic, rheumatism	Edible, food	0.35
2		Allium sativum L.* TUH-101	Sarımsak	Sir	Bulbs	Powder, Raw	Antihypertensive, ringworm, antiesthetic, diabetes, cancer	Edible, Pickle, spice	0.37
3		Allium scorodoprasum L. subsp. rotundum (L.) TUH-102	Sirmuk	Sirmuk	Bulbs, Leaves	Infusion‎	Antihypertensive, high cholesterol	food	0.08
4	Anacardiaceae	Rhus coriaria L. TUH-103	Sumak	Sumak	Fruits	Infusion‎	Antihypertensive, diabetes, wound healing	spice	0.17
5	Apiaceae	Falcaria vulgaris Bernh. TUH-104	Gazayaghı	Ghazayaghı	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Stomach disease, appetizer	nourishment, Additive in food	0.25
6		Ferula orientalis L. TUH-105	Chashir	-	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Hemorrhoids, stomach disease	animal food	0.07
7		Anethum gravoelence * TUH-106	Shivid	Shebet, Shivid	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	High cholesterol, gastrointestinal diseases, carminative	Edible as a vegetable	0.11
8		Coriandrum sativum* TUH-107	Jashnish	Geshniz	Seeds	Powder. Infusion‎	Stomached, diarrhea, carminative, increasing milk production, appetizer	Edible, spice	0.3
9	Asteraceae	Achillea tenuifolia. TUH-108	Ingibir	Boomadaran	Leaves	Decoction‎	Wound healing, constipation	-	0.19
10		Achillea wilhelmsii. TUH-109	Boymadaran	Boomadaran	Flowers	Decoction‎, Infusion‎	Blood coagulation, constipation, diabetes, hemorrhoids, hypertension,	-	0.15
11		Arctium minus (Hill.) Bernh TUH-110	Pitrakh, Gangal	Baba adam	Aerial parts, Leaves	Decoction‎	Cold and flu, hemorrhoids, rheumatism, wound healing	-	0.07
12	Asteraceae	Artemisia absinthium L. TUH-111	Yoshan	Afsantin	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Raw	Coughing, headache, stomachache, wound healing	-	0.05
13		Echinops pungens. TUH-112	Tippuz	Shekartighal, Ghgandrunak	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Respiratory diseases, expectorant, cancer	-	0.09
14		Gundelia tournefortii. TUH-113	Kenger	Kangar	Roots, Latex	Infusion‎	Diabetes, diarrhea	Food	0.32
15		Helianthus annuus L. * TUH-114	Shalgam	Sibzamini torshi	Fruits, Leaves, Seeds	Raw	Respiratory tract diseases and flu, bronchitis	Edible, Pickle	0.1
16		Helichrysum arenarium (L.) Moench. TUH-115	Sari gul	Gole bimarg	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Colds and flu, gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes, hypercholesterole	-	0.14
17		Matricaria chamomilla L. TUH-116	Babanah	Babooneh	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Gastrointestinal diseases, headache, respiratory tract diseases, flu, cancer, antiinflammation	-	0.41
18		Onopordum acanthium L. TUH-117	Gush gonmaz	Kare zanbaba	Flowers	Decoction‎	Hemorrhoids	-	0.08
19		Senecio vulgaris L. TUH-118	Kanarya out	Pirgiah, zolfe pir	Flowers, Seeds	Infusion‎	Bronchitis, diuretic	-	0.04
20		Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. TUH-119	Maryam tikani	Kharmaryam, Maritighal	Stylus, Seeds	Raw, Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Rheumatism, appetizer, diuretic	-	0.11
21		Trogopogon graminifolius. TUH-120	Yelmih	Sheng	Aerial parts	Decoction‎, Raw	Gastrointestinal diseases, rheumatism, appetizer	-	0.27
22		Xanthium spinosum L. TUH-121	Aji tikan	Togh, mastak	Seeds	Decoction‎	Kidney pain, gastrointestinal diseases	-	0.17
23		Xanthium strumarium L. TUH-122	pitrakh	Zardan	Fruits	Decoction‎	Hemorrhoids, asthma	-	0.11
24	Boraginaceae	Anchusa azurea Mill. var. azurea. TUH-123	Gowaban	Gavzaban	Leaves	Infusion‎	Sedative, flu, stomach, wound healing, antiinflammatory		0.33
25	Boraginaceae	Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) TUH-124	Gush appayi	Kise keshish	Aerial parts	Raw	Impotence, appetizer	Edible	0.18
26		Descurainia sophia L. TUH-125	Shovaran	Khakshir	Seeds	Syrup, Decoction‎	Diarrhea and abdominal pain, sore throat	Edible, Air Disinfectants	0.25
27		Lepidium draba L. TUH-126	Dit otu	Ozmak	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Cold and fever	-	0.08
28		Nasturtium officinale W. T. Aiton. TUH-127	Bulagh otu	Alaf cheshmeh, taretizak	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Gastrointestinal diseases, diuretic, diabetes disease, digestive, appetizer	-	0.36
29		Raphanus raphanistrum L.* TUH-128	turp	Torob	Leaves, Roots	Raw	Appetizer, liver protecting, muscular pains	-	0.1
30	Brassicaceae	Sinapis arvensis L. TUH-129	Khardal, turpak	Khardal	Seeds	Decoction‎	Bronchitis, pneumonitis	Spice, Disinfectants	0.09
31		Thlaspi perfoliatum L. TUH-130	Goddume	Ghoddume	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Raw	Painkiller		0.1
32	Capparidaceae	Capparis spinosa L. TUH-131	Dagh garpouzu	Kabar, Lagaji	Fruits, Flowers	Raw, Decoction‎	Joint pain such as back pain and leg	Edible, Pickle	0.36
33	Caryophyllaceae	Stellaria media (L.) Vill. TUH-132	Jinjilim	Gandomak, Daneye ghanari	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Raw	Hypercholesterolemia	-	0.07
34	chenopodiaceae	Beta vulgaris L.* TUH-133	Bine	Choghondar	Leaves	Infusion‎, Raw	Wound healing	Sugar production	0.19
35		Chenopodium album. TUH-134	Yaghliga	Salmak	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Helminth, antiinflammation, toothache	food	0.15
36	Cucurbitaceae	Cucurbita moschata *. TUH-135	Bal kabağı	Kadoo	Fruits	Raw, Decoction‎, Infusion‎	Diuretic, carminative	-	0.29
37		Cucurbita pepo*. TUH-136	Kado	Kadoo pooste kaghazi	Seeds	Oil, Raw	Hyperplasia, skin diseases, wound healing	-	0.12
38	Elaegnaceae	Elaeagnus angustifolia L.*. TUH-137	Ide	Senjed	Fruits	Raw, Powder	Osteoporosis, stomachache	Edible/livestock forage	0.27
39	Euphorbiaceae	Euphorbia macroclada Boiss. TUH-138	Sütlyan	Farfion, shirsag	Latex	Infusion‎	Curing warts	-	0.11
40		Ricinus communis L.* TUH-139	Gharchah	Karchak	Leaves	Poultice	Rheumatism	-	0.15
41	Fabaceae	Alhagi pseudalhagi (M. Bieb.). TUH-140	Dava tikani	Kharshotor	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Kidney stones	-	0.15
42		Astragalus gummifer. TUH-141	Gavan	Gavan	Leaves, Latex	Decoction‎	Heart diseases, cough, hemorrhoids, diabetes disease	Hair Amplifier (Katira)	0.09
43		Glycyrrhiza glabra L. TUH-142	Shirin bayan	Shirin bayan	Roots, Aerial parts	Decoction‎, Infusion‎	Treat colds, stomach pain, bone fractures, sedative, stomach and kidney disorders	-	0.16
44		Medicago sativa L.* TUH-143	Yonja	Yonje	Leaves	Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Strengthening children, weight gain	Edible	0.2
45		Melilotus officinalis. TUH-144	Sari yonja	Yonje-ye zard	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Powder	Sedative, kidney stones, astringent, diuretic, burns healing	-	0.16
46		Trifolium pratense L. TUH-145	Ush gulakh, Dolbarjin	Shabdar	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Diarrhea, stomach	Livestock, forage	0.18
47	Fumariaceae	Fumaria parviflora Lam. TUH-146	Shatereh	Shatereh	Fruits, Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Abdominal pain	Edible	0.23
48	Iridaceae	Iris germanica L. TUH-147	Nevruz çiçeği	Zanbagh	Roots	Crushed	Toothache		0.05
49	Juglandaceae	Juglans regia L.* TUH-148	Javiz	Gerdoo	Seeds, Aearial parts	Decoction‎, Powder	Diabetes and blanch teeth	Edible, hair color and dyeing yarn	0.43
50	Lamiaceae	Eremostachys laciniata. TUH-149	Chelle daghi	Chelle daghi	Aerial parts, Leaves, Roots	Poultice, Powder	Rheumatism, joint pains, wound healing		0.07
51		Leonorus cardica L. TUH-150	ot	Dime shir	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Amenorrhea, digestive, cardiac diseases		0.05
52		Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. TUH-151	Yarpuz	Pooneh	Leaves	Decoction‎, Powder	Cold and flu, antispasmodic, constipation, cold and fever, gastrointestinal diseases	Edible	0.54
53		Mentha spicata L. subsp. Spicata*. TUH-152	Nane	Naana	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Cold and flu, vomit, digestive, Diarrhea, Gastrointestinal diseases	Edible, Flavors	0.42
54		Ocimum basilicum L.* TUH-153	Reyhan	Reyhan	Aerial parts	Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Stomach, appetizer	Edible as a vegetable	0.44
55		Salvia tomentosa Mill. TUH-154	Maryam gulu	Maryam goli	Leaves	Infusion‎, Decoction‎	Flu, bronchitis, diarrhea, asthma, rheumatism, toothache, gastrointestinal diseases.	-	0.08
56		Satureja hortensis L.* TUH-155	Marza	Marze	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Antihypertensive, cardiac disorder, gastric and digestive disorders	Edible as a vegetable, food	0.31
57		Stachys inflate. TUH-156	Poolaki, Maryam nokhodu	Poolaki	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Cold, hypertension	-	0.27
58		Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl. TUH-157	Tuhliga	Chaye koohi	Aerial parts,	Infusion‎	Cold, infection	-	0.31
59		Teucrium polium L. TUH-158	Kalpooreh	Kalpooreh	Flowers	Infusion‎, Smoke	Ear infection, diarrhea in infants, Vaginal Infection	-	0.22
60		Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. TUH-159	Kahlik otu	Avishan	Aerial parts, Leaves	Decoction‎	Cold, gastritis, antiinflammatory, cancer,, diabetes, hypertension	-	0.58
61	Malvaceae	Alcea kurdica (Schlecht) Alef. TUH-160	Khatmi	Khatmi	Flo, Roots	Decoction‎	Pneumonia, cold and flu	-	0.3
62		Ficus carica L.* TUH-161	Anjir	Anjir	Fruits, Latex,	Raw	Constipation, laxative, warts	-	0.34
63		Malva neglecta L. TUH-162	Aman komanji	Panirak	Flowers, Leaves	Infusion‎	Gastrointestinal diseases, bronchitis, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia.	-	0.32
64	Papaveraceae	Papaver rhoeas L. TUH-163	Shaghayegh	Shaghayegh	Aerial parts	Decoction‎	Antitussive, sedative	-	0.19
65	Plantaginaceae	Plantago lanceolata L. TUH-164	bagh yarpağı	Barhang	Leaves	Infusion‎	Antipyretic, wound healing	-	0.15
66		Plantago major L. TUH-165	Bizowsha	Barhang	Seeds	Syrup, Decoction‎	Abdominal pains, hemorrhoids, constipation,	-	0.28
67	Poaceae	Hordeum vulgare L.* TUH-166	Arpa	Jo	Aerial parts, Seeds	Infusion‎, Powder	Intestinal regulatory, diarrhea, appetizer	-	0.14
68		Zea mays L.* TUH-167	Maka	Zorrat	Fruits, Stylus	Decoction‎	Infection of urinary system, heart tonic, kidney stones	-	0.19
69	Polygonaceae	Rheum ribes L. TUH-168	Ushgun	Rivas	Aerial parts, Leaves	Infusion‎	Diabetes disease	-	0.24
70		Rumex crispus L. TUH-169	Avalih	Torshak	Leaves	Infusion‎	Diabetes disease	-	0.15
71	Portulaceae	Portulaca oleracea L. TUH-170	Parpine	Khorfe	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Diabetes, diuretic	-	0.18
72	Ranunculaceae	Consolida orientalis. TUH-171	Akin out, Bughda otu	Zaban dar ghafa	Seeds	Crushed	Wound healing	-	0.06
73	Rosaceae	Rosa canina L. TUH-172	İtburnu	Nastaran	Flowers, Fruits	Infusion‎	Antitussive, cold, diabetes disease	-	0.38
74		Cydonia oblonga Mill.* TUH-173	Heyva	Beh	Seeds, Fruits, Leaves	Raw, Decoction‎, Infusion‎	Cold and flu, bronchitis, asthma, diuretic, gastrointestinal diseases.	-	0.2
75		Rosa damascena* TUH-174	Ghizil gul	Gole mohammadi	Flowers	Oil, Raw, Infusion‎	Burns and wounds healing, sedative, stomach and reflux, Laxative	Perfume in Funerals	0.41
76	Salicaceae	Salix alba L. TUH-175	Suwidi	Bid	Aerial ‎parts, Leaves	Decoction‎	Vaginal itching, athlete's foot	Landscape	0.09
77	Scrophulariaceae	Verbascum spp. TUH-176	Sıghırkuyrughu	Khargooshak, Gole mahoor	Aerial parts	Infusion‎	Hemorrhoids, urinary tract infection	-	0.1
78	Solanaceae	Datura stramonium L. TUH-177	Tatoore, bat bat	Tatoore	Aerial parts, Seeds	Infusion‎	Eye problems, asthma, narcotic, nerve sedative, rheumatism pain	-	0.07
79		Hyoscyamus niger L. TUH-178	Pat pat	Bangdaneh, bazrolbanj	Seeds	Poultice	Ear diseases, sinusitis, addiction disuse	-	0.05
80	Urticaceae	Urtica dioica L. TUH-179	Dalama	Gazaneh	Leaves	Decoction‎, Raw	Cardiovascular disease, cough, diabetes, MS	Food	0.24
81	Zygophyllaceae	Peganum harmala L. TUH-180	Uzarrih	Esphand	Fruits	Raw, Smoke	Fever, disinfectants	Air freshener	0.41
82		Tribulus terrestris L. TUH-181	Damirtikani	Kharkhasak	Fruits	Decoction‎	Kidney stones	-	0.08

Plant parts used

Different medicinal plant parts used for curing diverse aliments included aerial parts, seed, ‎leaves, tuber, root, stem, gum, flower, fruit, and the whole plant. Most frequently used parts are ‎aerial parts (32%), followed by leaves (20%), Seeds (13%), and Fruits (12%) (Figure. 3). The preferred ‎parts of some medicinal plants may have high concentration of bioactive compounds, leading to ‎efficient responses in curing the concerned aliment. It has been documented that families like, ‎Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Fabaceae usually as such these parts are preferred by local people in ‎different regions of Iran11, 14, 23. Second reason why aerial parts and leaves are preferred is that they ‎are easier to harvest as compared to underground parts. Moreover, aerial parts are accessible in most ‎of year than flowers, seeds or fruits, which are accessible only in the reproductive stages of plants, ‎limiting harvesting time to a short period. Another reason is associated with harvesting time of the ‎plants, since in Khoy region people mainly harvest the medicinal plants in late spring, when herbs ‎are in their vegetative stage so that there would be no flower or seed to be harvested.‎

Preparation methods and mode of application

Most of the native people make medicines by using simple preparation of plant parts. The most common preparation method which is reported by indigenous people in Khoy were decoction, infusion and powder which are prepared by the patients themselves. Water is the dominated supporting agent with herbal therapy. Infusions were the most used method in preparation of plants. It is applied by soaking plant part in hot water for the time specified as a day. Decoctions were the second common method that includes boiling a specific part of plant in water until it reaches its half the initial volume. Among preparation methods, those which lead to an orally consumable products are preferred ‎ (Mood, 2008; Brandao et al., 2012; Sadeghi et al., 2014). It was observed that native people of this region used endogenous plants after drying. This method is preferred because they can store these dried medicinal plants in a house room and use it for all year round, when they need. In West Azerbaijan, the custom of preparing distillates at home is a widespread tradition named "Araghgiri" that produce aromatic water with homemade instruments named "Neygazan". For example, distillate obtained from Mentha, used to treat abdominal pains and also used as carminative often. The most of the people in Khoy and neighboring area use aromatic water of Rosa damascena as "Golab" to treat stomachache, as sedative burns treatment and Natural Brightening Cleanser. In addition, it is used as flavor. For example, in 'Doogh' and 'Fereni' as traditional drink and food respectively and the essential oil of Rosa damascena is used in Perfumery. Golab has an important role especially in funeral of Azerian people. They use it for Wash graves and cooking "Halva" which is a traditional pastry for mourning ceremony. Different approaches used for medicinal preparations of plants are presented in Table 2. ‎The consumption of plants in Infusion form is the most frequently used way (40 Species), followed by ‎ Decoction‎ (39 Species), Raw (20 Species), and Powder (8 Species) (Fig. 4).

Sadat-Hosseini et al.¹¹ have carried out ethno-botanical studies in the south of Kerman Province. They have collected data from the native people. Majority of the are used as decoction followed by liniment, and infusion. As in our findings, most of the herbal preparations are consumed orally, whereas in a few cases Top mode is used. The oral mode of application is the most preferred form of herbal preparations among different ethical groups of Iran. However, according to Vijayakumar et al. most plant preparations are used in the form of paste (32%), followed by powder (22%), decoction and juice (20%). Similarly, oral use too is the most frequently applied mode, followed by topical use. A perusal of the studies published reveals big differences between various cultures, in terms of mode of herbal preparations and application ways, but most are applied orally.

Data analysis (ICF and UV calculations)

The use of medicinal plants as conventional and modern drugs shows that they are acceptable. There may be some plants which are currently not used for medicinal purposes but may actually have medicinal effects (Kaya, 2006). In order to classify major health problems of interviewees, ailments are categorized in to different ‎group. The reported ailments were grouped into 11 categories based on the information gathered from the interviewee. Native people of Khoy use plants for medical purposes mostly for treatment of Gastro-intestinal diseases (e.g. gastric pains, stomach disorders, as carminative, constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids and laxatives and cases), cold, flu and fever (60 citations‎), Diabetes (32 citations‎), Skin diseases (28 citations), Nervous system, sedative (20 citations‎), Cardiovascular disease (16 citations‎), Diuretic (14 citations‎), Infections (13 citations‎), Rheumatic pain (12 citations‎), Respiratory/throat diseases and Cancer (6 citations) (Fig. 5).

Helichrysum arenarium (L.), Lepidium draba L., Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds., Thymus kotschyanus Boiss., Alcea kurdica, etc were reported to be among the plant remedies concerned for treating cold, flu and fever which had the highest ICF score (0.61). Diabetes was recorded to have the second highest ICF value (0.52), followed by Infections with a little interval recorded by its all images like the third group (ICF was 0.51). Respiratory and throat diseases were ranked as the fourth ailment with ICF value of 0.49. the fifth uses of ICF values (0.45) was recorded for skin diseases. The last citations of ranking of this research were reported for plants used to treat cardiovascular disease, Nervous system problems, Gastro-intestinal diseases, Diuretic and rheumatic pain with ICF value of 0.40, 0.36, 0.32, 0.31, 0.27 respectively. Cancer had the least ICF values (0.23). There is not any reliable similar study of this region with calculated ICF but this one (Table 3).

Table 3

Different ICPC-2 based categories of diseases, their related ICF values and popular plants in the related categories
No.	Use category ‎	Use Report	All use citations (%)	ICF
1	Cold, flu, fever	60	19.87	0.61
2	Diabetes	32	9.44	0.52
3	Infections	13	4.3	0.51
4	Respiratory and throat diseases	6	1.99	0.49
5	Skin diseases	28	9.27	0.45
6	Cardiovascular disease	16	5.3	0.40
7	Nervous system, sedative	20	6.62	0.36
8	Gastro-intestinal diseases	95	31.46	0.32
9	Diuretic	14	4.64	0.31
10	Rheumatic pain	12	3.97	0.27
11	Cancer	6	1.99	0.23

ICF values, obtained for the reported categories, demonstrate the degree of knowledge that is shared regarding the use of medicinal herbs for treatment of the ailment (Al Quran, 2009). The highest value of ICF is an important parameter in an ethnobotanical study and there are several studies. In the present study, it was found that the ICF values range between 0.61 and 0.23. In some studies, ICF value was similar to our research for different ailments. F or example Hayta et al (2014) grouped ailments in 10 categories. they observed the highest ICF value for skin diseases (0.60) followed by respiratory and throat diseases (0.52). In another study in eastern Anatolia Mukemre et al. (2015) examined the diseases in 10 categories. In these categories, the highest ICF value was reported to be 0.62 while the lowest ICF value was reported to be 0.21. but in the studies conducted in various areas of the Iberian Peninsula, 0.85 and 0.91 for a Portuguese and a Catalan region were the highest ICF value, respectively (Bonet and Valles, 2003; Camejo-Rodrigues et al., 2003). The gastrointestinal problems are the first use category in studies of different regions (Miraldi et al., 2001; Ghorbani, 2005; Ghorbani et al., 2011).

The most used categories of plants to treat an ailment, presented in this study, are the ones to treat Gastro-intestinal diseases (31.46%, 64 species) and Cold (19.87, 24 species).

Use value is an important tool to select valuable medicinal plants of any region which further may be used for detailed pharmacological evaluation s for preparation of plant based medicines. Use values for each medicinal plant species was calculated in this research and described in Table 2. Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. exhibited maximum use value (0.58) among wild plants reported by informants followed by the Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. (0.54), Peganum harmala L. (0.41), Matricaria chamomilla L. (0.41), Capparis spinosa L. (0.36) and Nasturtium officinale W. T. Aiton. (0.36). These plants are used at large scale in the study area. Among reported cultivated plants, Ocimum basilicum L had maximum use value (0.44) followed by Juglans regia L. (0.43), Mentha spicata L. subsp. Spicata (0.42), Rosa damascena (0.41) and Allium sativum L. (0.37). (Fig. 6). Having information of use value of a plants might be useful for determining the use reliability and pharmacological features of the related plants (Çakılcıoglu and Turkoglu, 2010). The current use of medicinal plants in conventional and modern drugs shows that they are actively used (Kaya, 2006).

Medicinal plants, reported in this study, were used for treatment diseases including cold, flu, fever, bronchitis, diabetes, eczema, respiratory, asthma, cardiac disorders, infections, liver disorders, constipation, diarrhea, rheumatism, bone problems, blood ailments like hypertension, high cholesterol, etc. Medicinal plants were also used as sedative, narcotic, intoxicant, antispasmodic, carminative, antiseptic, tonic, laxative, and diuretic agents. According to the results of this study, Azerian people of this region tend to use indigenous medicinal herbs.

Kahlik otu is the Azerian name of different species of Thymus (family Lamiaceae) and is frequently reported from different parts of Iran, especially in Khoy. Rosa damascena is a shrub that is cultivated especially in margins of gardens and is Widely used for wound care, Sedative, stomachache and constipation by native people. In addition, native people believe that the use of Gundelia tournefortii can decrease cholesterol, which is approved by Hajiadeh et al (2016). They expressed that Gundelia tournefortii could be an appropriate adjunctive medicinal plant to help reducing the major risk factors of CAD like cholesterol, LDL-c and BMI.

In addition, local people of Khoy use an expensive truffle, named "Donbalan" widely to use as antiinflammation, antioxidant and tonic. They believe that truffles, found in this region, are important source of protein and they use it for their health. White truffles, Terfezia boudieri Chatin. are found in Khoy and neighbouring area. It is one of seasonal temporary jobs to collect this kind of truffles for farmers which earn a proper income in some years. It's used to treat gastric cancer, hepatitis A, B, C, arthritis, bronchitis, asthma, stomach ulcers, blood pressure and cholesterol.

local Plant names

In different languages, local plant names differ because of local dialects. Because of vicinity of study area with Turkey, there could be similarities in plant local names. For example, the local names of Allium cepa (Sogan) in Izmir (Ugulu et al., 2009), Allium sativum (Sarimsak), Elaeagnus angustifolia (Ide), Rhus coriaria (Sumak) in Alasehir (Sargin et al., 2013), Allium cepa (Sogan), Allium sativum (Sarimsak), Gundelia turnefortii (KKangar), Ocimum basilicum (Reyhan) and Hordeum vulgare (Arpa) and in Espiy of Turkey (Polat et al, 2015) are the same with local names used in this region.

Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology are new emerging fields of research in Iran which are getting more attention from scientific community (Ghorbani et al., 2006). West Azerbaijan has rich flora, so medicinal plants are very important subjects in health care. Since a great number of medicinal plants are used by the population of this region, it seems that using these plant are somehow general preferences. It is very important to evaluate medicinal plants used in Khoy for following reasons: (1) Probable toxicity of some plants. Toxic plants or plant parts are not always recognized by market sellers. For instance, Datura stramoniumcould be toxic. (2) Besides, it’s important to use effective dose of medicinal plants and Correct utilization methods of them.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants from West Azerbaijan, Northwestern Iran

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction

Methodology

Data analysis

Results And Discussion

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Conclusion

References