• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.149-185
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• 2022

Objectives: The Barak Valley is well known for its rich diversity of medicinal plants. Ethnomedicinal practices are prominent among Barak Valley's major and minor ethnic groups. This systemic review focuses on traditionally used medicinal plants found in the Barak Valley as reported in different ethnobotanical surveys. Methods: We searched various databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, to find ethnomedicinal surveys conducted in the Barak Valley. The search was performed using different terms, including ethnomedicinal survey, folk medicine, indigenous knowledge, and Barak Valley. Potential articles were identified following the exclusion and inclusion criteria. Results: A total of eight ethnobotanical surveys were included in this study. We identified a total of 216 plant species belonging to 167 genera and 87 families, which are widely used by the ethnic communities who live in the rural areas of Barak Valley for the treatment of various diseases and ailments. Conclusion: Folk medicine is the result of decades of accumulated knowledge and practices by people who live in rural communities based on their needs and provides an important source of information to assist the search for new pharmaceuticals. Therefore, available information on traditional medicinal plants needs to be explored scientifically to find effective and alternative treatments for different diseases.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.481-488
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• 2017

Under circumstances of rapid disappearing of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, traditional ethnobotanical knowledge surveys are the major step in documenting useful species with a conservation priority. In the ethnobotanical research, the relevance to the survey intensity, ethnobotanical information and plant species richness is the most important research theme. We made up TEK database in south Korea using metadata which had been published by the Korea National Arboretum. We calculated species richness using species richness estimator like ACE, Chao1, Chao2, ICE, Jack 1, Jack 2, and Bootstrap. Species accumulation curves showed each province sampling efforts appeared to be wide range of variance so that Gangwon province need more sampling efforts, and Chungnam province approached a horizontal asymptote earlier. We found heterogeneous patterns in the rarefaction curves of TEK species between gender for each categories of use (medicinal, food and handicrafts). Comparing with regional floral diversities, it was predicted that more diverse species would be found in some provinces by carrying out additional survey.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.46-61
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• 2016

The ethnobotanical study was conducted to record and conserve the traditional knowledge of botanical taxa in Hallyeo-Haesang National Park area, S. Korea from 2012 to 2013. According to the survey results, derived from 1,430 sheets of 183 residents at 70 places, the ethnobotanical plants in Hallyeo-Haesang National Park area consisted of a total 247 taxa; 82 families, 197 genera, 224 species, 3 subspecies, 19 varieties and 1 form. The analysis of usage for 247 taxa showed that the edible use was the highest with 166 taxa, followed by medicinal with 138 taxa, craft with 27 taxa, material with 16 taxa and ritual with 9 taxa respectively. The leaf of plant was the most useful part, followed by stem and fruit plant. Quantitative analysis of the ethnobotanical plants in Hallyeo-Haesang National Park area was performed by the basic values of FC, NU and UR, and indices of CI, RFC, RI and CV. As a result, The CI places Artemisia princeps in the first position, followed by Pueraria lobata, Taraxacum platycarpum. The RFC place A. princeps in first position, followed by Achyranthes japonica, Aster scaber. The RI places A. princeps in the first position, followed by P. lobata, Pinus densiflora. The CV places A. princeps in the first position, followed by P. lobata, A. japonica. Farfugium japonicum had been used as specific ethnobotanical plant in this area, for arthralgia, postpartum arthrodynia, circulatory disturbance.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.217-234
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• 2015

The ethnobotanical study was conducted to record and conserve the traditional knowledge of botanical taxa in Jeju island, Korea from March to November, 2011. According to the survey results, derived from 1,774 sheets of 177 residents at 78 places, the ethnobotanical plants in Jeju island consisted of a total 356 taxa; 103 families, 260 genera, 312 species, 2 subspecies, 37 varieties and 5 form. The analysis of usage for 365 taxa showed that the medicinal use was the highest with 284 taxa, followed by edible with 145 taxa, ritual with 36 taxa, craft with 31 taxa and timber with 31 taxa respectively. The leaf of plant was the most useful part, followed by stem and whole plant. The most frequently mentioned taxon was Plantago asiatica (34 citations), followed by Artemisia princeps (32 citations) and Lonicera japonica (30 citations).

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.21.1-21.15
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• 2016

In Kenya, traditional knowledge on herbal medicine has remained a mainstream source of maintaining wellbeing for generations in many communities. However, the knowledge has been eroded in the course of time due to sociocultural dynamics virtually advanced by Christianity and formal education especially in the Kikuyu community. The study documented current ethnobotanical knowledge and threat to the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants among the Kikuyu community. A survey was carried out in Mathira, Tetu, Kieni, Othaya, Mukurweini, and Nyeri Town constituencies. Thirty practicing herbalists were purposively sampled; 5 per constituency. Data was obtained through semi - structured questionnaires and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A total of 80 ailments treated using 111 medicinal plant species distributed within 98 genera and 56 families were documented. Prevalent communicable diseases treated using herbal medicine included; gonorrhea (17.5%), malaria (15%), respiratory infections (12%), colds (10%) and amoebiasis (10%). Non-communicable diseases were; joint pains (11.1%), ulcers/hyperacidity (8.7%), high blood pressure (8.7%), intestinal worms (11.1%) and arthritis/gout (10%). Frequently harvested plant materials were; roots, barks and leaves. The study concluded that, traditional medicine practitioners in Nyeri County possessed wide knowledge of herbal medicine but this knowledge was on the verge of disappearing as it was largely a preserve of the aged generation. The study recommended massive campaign about the benefits of using herbal medicine in the study area. Further pharmacological studies are recommended on the mentioned plant species aimed at establishing their efficacy and safety as well as standardization as potential drugs.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.62-89
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• 2016

The great part of the traditional knowledge on ethnobotanical plants and their uses is gradually vanishing due to industrialization, therefore ethnobotanical studies that explore and preserve the knowledge are in urgent needed before the knowledge are lost ever. This study was conducted to record and conserve the traditional knowledge of botanical taxa in Korea from 2006 to 2014. According to the survey results, derived from 17,328 sheets of 1,771 residents at 868 places, the ethnobotanical plants in Korea consisted of a total 924 taxa; 130 families, 493 genera, 813 species, 7 subspecies, 92 varieties and 12 form. Of them, herbs were 619 taxa (67.0%) and woody plants were 305 taxa (33.0%). 707 taxa (76.5%) out of 924 taxa grow wild, 44 taxa (4.8%) were cultivated wild species, 145 taxa (15.7%) were introduced for cultivation, and 28 taxa (3.0%) were naturalized plants. The analysis of usage for 924 taxa showed that the edible use was the highest with 58.9%, followed by medicinal with 26.9%, material with 3.7% and ornamental with 2.3%, respectively. The leaf of plant was the most useful part, followed by stem and root. Quantitative analysis of the ethnobotanical plants in Korea was performed by the basic values of FC, NU and UR, and indices of CI, RFC, RI and CV. As a result, The CI place Artemisia princeps in first position, followed by Aster scaber, Kalopanax septemlobus. The RFC place A. scaber in first position, followed by A. princeps, Aralia elata. The RI place A. princeps in first position, followed by Pinus densiflora, Morus alba. The CV place A. princeps in first position, followed by P. densiflora, K. septemlobus.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.170-180
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• 2023

Discoveries and new records of plants specifically provide a basis for empirical data to enable in-depth studies of the ecology, distribution, conservation, applications, and threats to such plants. However, many unexplored regions of Bhutan exist in which several plants have yet to be described and documented. Several species reported elsewhere in the Himalayan region with similar climatic conditions are likely to occur in Bhutan as well, indicating a need to corroborate their presence. To explore this, an opportunistic survey was employed, and we provide nine new records of plant species for Bhutan. Of the nine species, three belonged to the Lauraceae family, with the rest from the Aristolochiaceae, Asparagaceae, Lamiaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Sapindaceae, and Urticaceae families. This paper adds nine additional species of plants to the flora of Bhutan. We also report here ethnobotanical applications of these species, providing insight into how communities interact with environmental resources and have the potential to integrate traditional knowledge into scientific understanding, ultimately to reinforce sustainable biocultural conservation at the local level.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.217-227
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• 2021

This study is a record of ethnomedicinal knowledge in Begumganj province focussed on medicinal plants and their local uses for primary health care. The aim was to document and preserve the ethnomedicinal knowledge used by traditional healers of Begumganj upazila, Bangladesh, to treat human diseases and evaluate the relative efficacy of the medicinal plants. The uses of medicinal plants were documented as an ethnomedicinal data sheet using direct observation, field interview, plant interview and group interview techniques from December 2012 to January 2014 in the study area. Data were collected from 98 traditional healers through a questionnaire survey and analyzed through informant consensus factor and fidelity level. This study revealed comprehensive relationship among various diseases and families, forms and parts of plants and modes of preparation. Overall, 75 plant species under 71 genera of 47 families were documented, which are used to treat 41 diseases. Data analysis revealed that 41.33%, 14.67%, 36% and 8% of the medicinal plant species were herbs, shrubs, trees, and climbers, respectively. Leaves were the most used parts, followed by stem, root, fruit, bark, latex and rhizome. The most frequently treated diseases were dysentery, rheumatism and skin diseases. This is the first ethnobotanical survey, which recorded the importance of medicinal plants in Begumganj upazila, Bangladesh. This study can contribute to preserving the indigenous knowledge on the traditional use of medicinal plants in this region and new drug development with attracting future generations towards traditional healing practice.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.95-114
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• 2019

The digitization of traditional medical knowledge in Tanzania will greatly enhance its preservation and dissemination. This is especially important given the challenges facing the current methods of preserving and managing such knowledge. This study presents the requirements engineering approaches and requirements for a web-mobile application that would successfully digitize indigenous knowledge of phytomedicine and relevant practitioners licensing and registration processes. To establish the requirements of such a digital system application, the study sought the opinion of 224 stakeholders whose suggestions were used to analyze and model the requirements for designing such a web-mobile tool. The study was carried out in Arusha, Kagera and Dar es Salaam regions of Tanzania which involved ethnobotanical researchers, herb practitioners, curators from herbaria and registrar officers from Traditional and Alternatives Health Practice Council. Structured interview, survey, observation and document review were employed to find out the basic functional and non-functional requirements for possible designing and implementation a web-mobile application that would digitize indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants. The requirements were modelled using the use case and context diagrams. Finally, the study came up with a list of items for both functional and non-functional requirements that can be used as guidelines to develop a web-mobile application that will capture and document traditional medical knowledge of medicinal plants in Tanzania and, enabling relevant authorities to regulate and manage stakeholders.