Ethnobotanical study on traditional uses of wild medicinal plants in the Prokletije region, north-east Montenegro

Danijela STEŠEVIĆ (Podgorica): In the Montenegrinian flora ca. 700 plants are identified as medicinal, and ca. 300 are being commonly used in pharmaceutical industry and traditional medicine. Nevertheless the use in different regions of the country is not well documented. We will present results of the ethno-botanical study performed in the Prokletije Mountains. During the field survey 75 local inhabitants were interviewed (age: 40–82) and 94 species were identified for treatment of various human diseases. The most frequently reported medicinal uses were for treating gastrointestinal (57.4%) and respiratory diseases (41.5%). For each medicinal species, the following elements are provided: botanical name, family, part(s) used, medicinal use and perceived property, listing in published pharmacopoeias, the relative abundance of each species and locality where the plant was collected. Chemical analyses were done according to prescriptions in Pharmacopoeia Europeana 6.0 in order to estimate the potential commercial use of these native plants. Almost 38% of the reported species (35) are officinal in Pharmacopoeia Europeana 6.0 and 13% in national pharmacopoeias (12%). In most cases the aerial parts of the plants were used.