Ethnopharmacological review of plants traditionally used in Darab (south of Iran)

Ethnopharmacological and ethnobotanical information have been known as effective tools for drug discovery. Iran is a location with long medicalhistory. Darab is one of the cities in Iran which canbe important in regard of ethnopharmacological aspects. Current paper documented the folk medicalinformation by Darab inhabitants. Therefore, field studies on this area were conducted from March to July 2012 and May to July 2013 under supervision of onelocal person. A questionnaire was utilized in this study and was filled by local inhabitants. In total, 58 species belonging to 27 plant families were documented inmanagement of 53 ailments. The most cited plant family was Asteraceae which was followed by Apiaceae, Lamiaceae and Papilionaceae. Herbs were applied for gynecologic and genitourinary, respiratory, central nervous system, infectious and cardiovascularailments as well as musculoskeletal and skin disorders, respectively. This study can indicate the folk knowledge of a region in south of Iran. Moreover, theeffectiveness of unexamined plants can be evaluated according to informants’ claims. Therefore, such investigations may be indeed, a useful way to search for drug discovery as well as keeping ethnopharmacological information alive.

Keywords:

Ethnopharmacology , Ethnomedicine , Iran , Medicinal plants