Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from the Wild Flora of Dobrogea (Romania)
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Elvira GILLE, Ruxandra-Mihaela CREȚU, Camelia-Paula ȘTEFANACHE, Georgiana-Luminița GAVRIL, Manuela Elisabeta SIDOROFF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS FROM THE WILD FLORA OF DOBROGEA (ROMANIA) Piatra Neamt 2020 ISBN 978-973-0-33284-1 The National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences Bucharest/ „Stejarul” Biological Research Centre Piatra Neamt Elvira GILLE, Ruxandra-Mihaela CREȚU, Camelia-Paula ȘTEFANACHE, Georgiana-Luminița GAVRIL, Manuela Elisabeta SIDOROFF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS FROM THE WILD FLORA OF DOBROGEA (ROMANIA) Piatra Neamt 2020 This Monograph was achieved within the following research projects, financed by the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research: Increasing the research capacity and institutional performance of NIRDBS / PERFORM (Contract No. 22 PFE/17.10.2018); Nucleus Program BIODIVERS 2 (Contract No. 30N/2018), BIODIVERS 3 (Contract No. 25N/2019), Themes 401 and 103; Project TEVIS (Contract No. 192PED/2017, PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2016-1604); Project DANUBIUS–RI (“DANS”), Contract No. 10557/2018. Reviewers: Prof. univ. dr. Cătălin TĂNASE, corresponding member of the Romanian Academy; Prof. univ. dr. Ursula STĂNESCU, member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences. Piatra Neamt, 2020 Published with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, Project No. 22 PFE/17.10.2018. Copyright © Elvira Gille, Ruxandra-Mihaela Crețu, Camelia-Paula Ștefanache, Georgiana-Luminița Gavril, Manuela Elisabeta Sidoroff http://www.incdsb.ro/en/ , http://ccb-stejarul.ro/ FOREWORD The monograph, entitled Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from the Wild Flora of Dobrogea (Romania), is meant for specialists in the domain, for the students and PhD students in the fields of Biology, Pharmacy, Forestry, Agriculture or Food Industry, as well as for other persons interested to know more aspects referring to the botanical description, traditional use, chemical composition, pharmacological activity, recommendations, and possible adverse reactions when using these plants. This monograph is the first work published in Romania, exclusively dedicated to the medicinal and aromatic plant species from the wild flora of Dobrogea, including the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, being achieved via a collaboration of specialists with remarkable results in the field. The work describes over 70 medicinal and aromatic plant species illustrated by original photos included in an annex of this work. The authors of this monograph critically analyzed, synthesized and put up to date information from the specialty literature, inserting with scientific accuracy the original contributions, referring to bringing up to date the concept of the identified species diversity in the studied areal, and also new aspects that aim the chorology or the presence in certain habitats, as well as appreciations on the phenophases of the described species. The expertise of the authors is sustained by national and international recognition, as a result of publishing scientific articles in prestigious journals, by the participation in many scientific meetings and the presence in the board of some congresses or scientific societies in Romania and abroad. As the authors coordinate research projects with national and international financing, they are engaged in the finalization of these scientific researches and in the formation of young researchers ready to approach similar themes. The monograph meets the present demands by multidisciplinary and polyvalent research directions that are considered to be current and of perspective in Pharmaceutical Botany, Pharmacognosy and Biochemistry, which are very useful in human and veterinary pathology. Furthermore, by publishing this monograph, aspects less known in literature are completed, presenting specialists` present day researches from countries with tradition in the study of medicinal and aromatic plant diversity, plants from the spontaneous flora that could be transferred into cultivation by classical and modern technologies. By the complexity of the approached problems, this work meets the demands of the special PhD training of the young PhD students in the field of Pharmacy as well as those of the ecosystem services and the sustainable use of natural resources. Concluding, we recommend the including into the editorial plan and the acceptance for publication. Professor univ. dr. Cătălin TĂNASE, corresponding member of the Romanian Academy “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iasi Faculty of Biology 700505, IASI, Bld. Carol I nr. 20A The book, entitled Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from the Wild Flora of Dobrogea (Romania), conceived as a result of studies that have been performed over a period of six years by a larger group of researchers, was elaborated in the framework of some research projects aiming to assess and characterize (biologically and chemically) the most important medicinal and aromatic plant species of Dobrogea (Romania), their use in traditional medicine, and their potential capitalization in modern medicine, respectively. Along with Romanians, Dobrogea is inhabited by several ethnic groups such as Turks, Tartars, Lippovans, Russians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Italians and Aromanians, a fact that renders the region a cultural diversity also reflected in local ethnomedicine. As a result of the discussions with local people, important data on local ethnomedicine were collected, data that represented a starting point in the selection of the species to be investigated and to, further on, achieve the writing of the book. Using these medicinal and aromatic plants of the studied area, one took into account the fact that the area comprises The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve which is in a regime of a special biodiversity conservation. Out of the multitude of identified medicinal and aromatic plants, the authors made a selection of the most used ones, some of them being specific to Dobrogea, others being specific to the country and even to Europe. As such, in this work, the authors present over 70 species; each of the species has a short monograph comprising aspects as: botanical description, traditional and present use, chemical composition and known pharmacological action (due to known literature). This monograph collection has over 200 pages, with over 700 up-to-date bibliographical references, original photos taken in the investigated areas. This volume represents, as to our knowledge, the first data collection of this kind from the Dobrogea region, presented in a comprising enough monographic manner to become a reference bibliographic source for biologists and other specialists (pharmacists, doctors, chemists) interested by the subject. I must add, here, that from Valeriu Butura’s 1979 Romanian Ethnobotanical Encyclopedia (Editura Stiintifica si Enciclopedica) such a work has not been written in the last 4 decades. It is praiseworthy that the authors took their time to present an English version of the text so that it will be accessible to a great number of European specialists interested in the matter. The text is clear, although scientific, it is easily to be followed and the photos taken by Dr. Elvira Gille are not only original but also of good quality. Prof. Dr. Ursula Stănescu, Member of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences PREFACE This monograph, entitled Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from the Wild Flora of Dobrogea (Romania), is the result of the research activities performed over a period of six years within several research project implemented by The National Institute of Research and Development for Biological Sciences Bucharest/ „Stejarul” Biological Research Centre Piatra Neamt. The information included in the present work is represented by the scientific data obtained following the ethnopharmaceutical surveys conducted in Dobrogea (including the Danube Delta area) and the developed experiments within the research projects (published and unpublished data), and also following the in depth analysis of the available scientific literature. The starting point in the achievement of this work was the collection of the ethnopharmaceutical data from local population characterized by a high ethnic and cultural diversity (Dobrogea is inhabited by Romanians, Turks, Tartars, Lippovans, Russians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Italians and Aromanians), also reflected in the local ethnomedicine. The locals provided data on the medicinal and aromatic plants known in the studied area, including collection sites, and their use in specific diseases. The special conservation status of The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve was also taken into consideration when conceiving this monograph. This work presents a selection of over 70 medicinal and aromatic plant species, some of them widely used in the traditional and modern medicine, and others less known and used. Each species has a short and comprehensive monograph comprising important aspects regarding the botanical description, traditional and current uses, chemical composition, pharmacological activities, and also precautions and adverse reactions on use. This monograph collection has over 200 pages, with over 700 up-to-date bibliographical references and original photos of the selected species. Due to the comprehensive nature of this work, the authors consider it as an important tool for specialists in many research fields such as Biology, Pharmacy, Agriculture and Food Industry, and also for students. Furthermore, it presents valuable information for the sustainable capitalization of the selected species, also through the transfer of the valuable