A study of ethnopharmacological knowledge in Mobarakeh township

Today, it is possible to use native culture to deal with diseases and improve quality of life. Not much study has been conducted in the field of indigenous pharmacology in the city. This research was conducted to investigate sources of used herbal medicines, local name, part used, relative frequency, and value of use of each species as well as the effect of urbanization criteria, literacy level, gender on the culture of using herbal medicines in Mobarakeh township‎.

Using the questionnaire method and sampling of more than one percent of the families of Mobarakeh township (23550), the indicators of frequency of citation of use (FC), use value (UV) ‎and the family use value (FUV) of the used medicinal plants was evaluated.

This research showed that 62 species of plants in the traditional medicine of the implementation area (with at least 3 citations of common use mentioned by the interviewees) could be collected. Mint (Mentha spicata) and Borage (Echium amaenum) had the highest reports of consumption. Flixweed (Descurainia sophia), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and borage (Echium amaenum) had the highest use value (UV) among the medicinal plants of the region. Boraginaceae, Apiaceae, Brassicaceae and Labiatae families had the heist values of FUV among the plant families used in the region, in the order given.

During the identification of the city's flora, 85% of the plant species used were obtained from wild or cultivated plants in the region. Traditional suppliers played an important role in the prescription and supply of herbal medicines, and due to the inadequate information of residents about the side effects and harms of these medicines, it seems absolutely necessary to increase the level of awareness and monitoring of herbal medicine stores.