Medicinal plants used in Dalaman (Muğla), Turkey

In the present paper, 95 traditional medicinal plants from Dalaman district have been reported. The 95 species belonged to 42 families and among them 64 species were wild and 31 species were cultivated plants. The informant consensus factor (Fic) and the fidelity level (FL) of the species were calculated. The category that had the highest Fic value was cold and flu (0.85) followed by stomach ailments (0.83); the category with the lowest Fic value was intestinal ailments (0.39). Allium sativum, Citrus limonum, Olea europaea var. europaea and Vitis vinifera had the highest fidelity level and Nerium oleander had the lowest. The traditional medicinal plants were mostly used for the treatment of stomach ailments (31.6%), intestinal ailments (27.4%), wounds, burns and cough (13.7%), cold, flu (12.6%), and diabetes (10.5%). The most frequently used families were Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Liliaceae and Apiaceae.


INTRODUCTION
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that nearly 4 billion people (80% of the world population) initially use herbal remedies to resolve their health related issues.Additionally, 25% of the prescription drugs sold in developed countries comprised active ingredients of herbal origin (such as vinblastine, reserpine, quinine, aspirin) (Farnsworth et al., 1985).The identification of novel areas of use for the medicinal and aromatic plants and the associated increase in demand for the natural products has in turn increased the public volume of this type of plants.The present capacity of the medicinal plant market is estimated to be nearly 60 billion dollars (Kumar, 2009) and this is poised to grow to 5 trillion dollars by the year 2050 (WHO, 2002).
The use of wild plants in medicine by the Anatolian people goes back to the ancient times.The records of plant names in prescription recipes in Hittitian medical tablets would be presented as a proof of this concept.Additionally, it was known that several drugs prepared in Anatolia were exported to other countries during the Hittite and Byzantian periods (Baytop, 1999).Turkey is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of plant diversity.To date, approximately 10.500 plant species have been identified within her borders and 30% of these are endemic (Davis, 1965(Davis, -1988;;Guner et al., 2001).
Between 50.000 and 70.000 plant species are known to be used in traditional and modern medicinal systems throughout the world (Schippmann et al., 2006).More than 500 plant species are used in Turkey in treatment of diseases (Baytop, 1984).Treatment using herbal remedies relies on the presence of a particular type of culture and tradition.The research on medicinal plants that have been used by the people was reported to be of particular significance specifically because of this reason (Gurhan and Ezer, 2004).
The use of plant species that are naturally available in the flora as food, teas, spices, dyes, insecticides, resin or gum, for medicinal purposes and treating animal diseases, using their essential oils, or using them in beverage or cosmetics industry has been a part of the traditional and cultural prosperity in Turkey as well as in other parts of the world (Faydaoğlu and Sürücüoğlu, 2011).However, this concept is sinking into oblivion in parallel to an increase in urbanization.The present study aims to identify the details regarding the past and present use of medicinal plants in and around Dalaman (Mugla).

The area of study
Dalaman is situated in between the 37°-36° N lattitudes and 28°-29° E longitudes.Dalaman is surrounded by Fethiye in the east, Koycegiz and Ortaca in the west, Denizli-Cameli in the north and the Mediterranean Sea in the south.It is the 6th largest district in Mugla with 853 km 2 surface area (http://www.dalaman.bel.tr/dalaman/cografya-iklim.html, 25 October 2012) (Figure 1).
The climate in the Dalaman district is typical of the Mediterranean (Akman, 1990).In accordance with the characteristics of the climate, the district is warm and receives precipitation in the winter whereas it is dry and hot during the summer season.The mean annual precipitation level is 1044.5 mm.The highest temperature recorded in Dalaman in 1973, which was 48.5°C was the 3rd highest in all time records in Turkey following Kahramanmaras (48.8°C) and Sirnak Cizre (48.6°C) (http://www.dalaman.bel.tr/dalaman/cografya-iklim.html, 25 October 2012).
A total number of 16 villages are present in the Dalaman district.Additionally, 9 settlements affiliated with the central municipality are present.A list of these villages and settlements in Dalaman are presented in Table 5.

Data collection
The study was conducted in 25 visits to the area during the period of 2010 to 2011.The related information and documentation was compiled and samples of the plants in public use were collected simultaneously.Research was carried out in 10 villages and 9 settlements that are listed in Table 5 in order to achieve this purpose.
Interviews were conducted with 203 people in the district with a knowhow of the subject and information was collected.The local names, areas of use and methods of use of the plants growing in the district were inquired from these interviewees.The information on the plants was thus compiled following these interviews conducted in the local market where the villagers sold their produce.
"Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands" (Davis, 1965(Davis, -1985;;Davis et al., 1988;Guner et al., 2001) was used as reference in the identification of the plant samples.The collected specimens were processed as herbarium vouchers and are currently stored in Sakarya University Herbarium.Trotter and Logan (1986) developed a method based on the "informant consensus" concept for the identification of potentially active medicinal plants.They compared the number of remedies for a particular illness through the declaration of people that were interviewed for each illness.As a conclusion, Fic is a term that relates Nur and Nt.In the Fic (Informant Consensus Factor) equation, Nur indicates the number of used reports at each category and Nt denotes the number of taxons that were used.Fic is calculated as follows (Heinrich, 2000):

Data analysis
The calculated value varies between 0 and 1.The highest value of 1 denotes that relatively few taxa are widely used as a solution and that low values ındicate that the reporters do not agree on a consensus remedy for a particular illness (Heinrich, 2000).
Fidelity level (FL) is the percentage of plant specimens that the interviewees claim to use for the same particular purpose.This value is calculated as stated for common illness and disorders: Np is the number of people who claim to use a set of plant specimens for a particular disease and N is the number of people who use plant remedies for any type of illness (Alexiades, 1996).

RESULTS
One hundred and three people were interviewed in this survey and 137 voucher specimens were collected in the research area.The plants that were used for medicinal purposes in Dalaman are shown in Table 1 in an alphabetical order of their family and botanical names along with the relevant information.As indicated by the results of the identification, 95 taxa were being used for medicinal purposes in Dalaman.Among them, 64 taxa comprised wild species and 31 taxa comprised of cultivated species.As a result of this study, medicinal uses of the 95 taxa against 116 different diseases were recorded.
Informant consensus of medicinal plant usage in Dalaman resulted in informant consensus factor (F ic ) values between 0.85 and 0.39 per illness category.The category that had the highest F ic value was cold and flu (0.85) followed by stomach ailments (0.83).The lowest value was recorded for intestinal ailments (0.39) (Table 2).Citrus limonum, Vitis vinifera, Olea europaea var.europaea and Allium sativum had the highest fidelity level (100%) and Nerium oleander (30%) had the lowest (Table 3).
All parts of various plant species were used in the traditional treatment of different diseases, however, the most frequently used parts are the leaves (Table 4).Sometimes, local people also used other ingredients, such as grape molasses, honey, oil, latex to prepare the remedies.
The traditionally accepted medicinal plants were mostly used for the treatment of stomach ailment (31.6%),most frequently used parts are the leaves (Table 4).Sometimes, local people also used other ingredients, such as grape molasses, honey, oil, latex to prepare the remedies.The traditionally accepted medicinal plants were mostly used for the treatment of stomach ailment (31.6%), intestinal ailments (27.4%), wounds, burns and cough (13.7%), cold, flu (12.6%), and diabetes (10.5%).
Further analysis of the families showed that the Lamiaceae family was represented with the highest number of species (16 species).Rosaceae and Fabaceae were represented by eight and six species, respectively.These were followed by Apiaceae and Liliaceae, each represented by five species.Asteraceae was represented by four, while Pinaceae and Solanaceae were represented by three species each.The remaining families were represented by two species each (11 families) and one species each (23 families).

DISCUSSION
This study identified a total number of 95 species; 64 of which were wild and 31 were cultivated.Ugurlu and Secmen (2008) identified 54 plant species (41 wild and 13 cultivated) in the ethnobotanical study that they have conducted in Manisa Mount Yunt, Tuzlaci and Aymaz (2001) identified 84 plant species (73 wild and 11 cultivated) in their study in Gonen (Balikesir) and Ugulu et al. (2009) identified 108 plant species (94 wild and 14 cultivated) in the study that they have conducted in İzmir.Plant species that were known as traditional remedies were generally used alone although in some cases they are mixed with or soaked in other materials.For instance the shoots of Myrtus communis were reported to be used as an analgesic remedy after they were soaked in olive oil.
The comparison of the FL and F ic values determined in the present study with those that were reported in the study, which was conducted in Izmir by Ugulu et al. (2009) highlighted the following outcomes.The plant species with the highest FL value were C. limonum, V. vinifera, O. europaea var.europaea and A. sativum, and the species with the lowest FL value was N. oleander in the present study whereas A. cepa and U. dioica scored the highest FL value and Nigella segetalis scored the lowest FL value in Ugulu et al. (2009).The evaluation of the F ic data revealed that the highest F ic values were obtained for stomach ailments followed by cold and flu in the present study, whereas cold and influenza scored the Table 3.Most commonly used medicinal plants and their major uses with their fidelity level, in the Dalaman district, Muğla, Turkey (0= the least, 100= the highest efficiency) (N=203).

Species and family
Local   Dariyeri highest F ic value in the study by Ugulu et al. (2009) followed by cough and stomach ailments.Both set of results indicated that medicative plants were mostly used in the treatment of flu, cough and stomach ailments.
Comparison of the results of the present study with those of previously conducted studies revealed several differences in the use of several plants.The following differences were observed between the present study and the study by Tuzlaci and Aymaz (2001) conducted in Gonen (Balikesir).The leaves of Mentha pulegium were reported to be decocted to be used as antiemetic and to heal sunburns in Gonen (Balikesir) whereas the leaves were reported to be used as diuretic and against stomach aches and the poultice was reported to be used against headaches in the present study.The leaves of Viscum album were reported to be decocted to be used to treat hemorrhoids whereas in the present study, the whole plant was reported to be decocted to lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels.J. oxycedrus subsp.oxycedrus was reported to be used to treat hemorrhoids in the study by Ugurlu and Secmen (2008) conducted in Manisa Mount Yunt and it was reported to be used to treat various disorders including diabetes, cough, psoriasis, eczema, variola, asthma, kidney stones, wounds, cold and cardiac deficiency, or as menstruation facilitative or analgesic in the present study.In the same study, Liquidambar orientalis was reported to be masticated to treat enuresis nocturne whereas its essential oil was reported to treat stomach aches and its resin to heal wounds in the present study.L. nobilis was reported to be used to treat hemorrhoids in the study conducted by Ugurlu and Secmen (2008) whereas the present study reports its use to treat disorders including heel spur, stomach ache, rheumatism, headache and cough or as an analgesic, laxative or anticoagulant remedy.U. dioica was reported to be used to treatrheumatism and urinary tract disorders whereas the present study additionally reports its use as blood depurative, vasodilator or laxative and to treat stomach aches.
The analysis of the data collected from the individuals that were used as informative resources in the present study indicated that elderly people were more knowledgeable on the subject than the youngsters.The local people of the area used the information on these medicative plant species as a means to pass down a particular tradition.The analysis of the results also showed that people generally preferred to utilize wild plants rather than the cultivated plants.

Table 1 .
Medicinal plants of the dalaman district.

Table 2 .
Informant consensus factor rates of the medicinal plants used around Dalaman district by diseases.

Table 4 .
Parts of medicinal plants used to treat human ailments in the Dalaman district, Muğla, Turkey.

Table 5 .
Villages and central settlements of Dalaman.