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Ethnobotanical investigation of medicinal plants used in Lingchuan county, Shanxi, China

Investigação etnobotânica de plantas medicinais usadas no condado de Lingchuan, Shanxi, China

Abstract

Medicinal plants are the primary sources of healthcare among the people of developing countries in villages and local towns. Documenting and reporting the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants may contribute to pharmaceutical research development. For this reason, we present our findings on ethnomedicinal plants from Lingchuan County, Shanxi, China, an unexplored area rich in medicinal plant resources. Information of ethnomedicinal plants were collected through questionnaire/semi-structured interviews from 180 informants, including traditional healers. Field surveys were conducted in 53 villages of Lingchuan County from 2017 to 2018. Informed consent was obtained from each participant before conducting the interview process. Quantitative analysis was performed for each recorded species, such as Relative Frequency Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV), and Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC). Diseases were categorized into twelve groups. A total 138 species of medicinal plants were recorded, belonging to 123 genera of 58 families. Asteraceae was the dominant plant family with 19 species, followed by Rosaceae and Fabaceae. Herbs were dominant among plant life-forms with 96 species, followed by shrubs and trees (15 species each). Roots were the most commonly used plant parts with 58 species, followed by whole plants and fruits (28 species each). Most plant species were reported non-toxic (84, 60%), followed by unknown toxicity (35, 25%), poisonous, and less toxic (19, 14%). Quantitative analysis revealed that Forsythia suspensa was with higher (0.33) RFC value, and Scutellaria baicalensis was recorded with a higher (0.91) UV. Treated diseases were categorized in 12 groups and evaluated by their FIC value, in which gynecological diseases have higher (0.93) FIC value followed by urinary system diseases. Most medicinal plants are used to clear away heat and relieve the surface. The present study revealed that local people of Lingchuan County confidently use ethnomedicinal plants for their healthcare needs. The higher indices value of a plant species resulted from quantitative analysis warrants further investigation, which may possess valuable phytochemical compounds that may result in new drugs for treating various human disorders.

Keywords:
ethnobotany; Lingchuan county; medicinal plants; traditional knowledge; chinese medicine

Resumo

As plantas medicinais são as principais fontes de cuidados de saúde entre as pessoas dos países em desenvolvimento, nas aldeias e cidades locais. É importante documentar e relatar o conhecimento tradicional de plantas medicinais, dado que pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa farmacêutica. Por esta razão, apresentamos neste estudo nossas descobertas sobre plantas etnomedicinais do condado de Lingchuan, Shanxi, China, uma área inexplorada e rica em recursos de plantas medicinais. As informações sobre as plantas etnomedicinais foram coletadas por meio de questionário/entrevista semiestruturada com 180 participantes, incluindo curandeiros. As pesquisas de campo foram realizadas em 53 aldeias do condado de Lingchuan, entre 2017 e 2018. O consentimento informado foi obtido de cada participante antes de conduzir o processo de entrevista. Foi realizada uma análise quantitativa de cada espécie registrada, através da Frequência Relativa de Citação (RFC), Valor de Uso (UV) e Fator de Consenso dos Informantes (FCI). As doenças foram categorizadas em doze grupos. Foram registradas 138 espécies de plantas medicinais, pertencentes a 123 gêneros de 58 famílias. Asteraceae foi a família de plantas dominante, totalizando 19 espécies, seguida pelas famílias Rosaceae e Fabaceae. As ervas foram consideradas como as principais formas de vida vegetal usadas, com 96 espécies, seguidas por arbustos e árvores (15 espécies cada). As raízes foram as partes de plantas mais utilizadas com 58 espécies, seguidas de plantas inteiras e frutos (28 espécies cada). A maioria das espécies relatadas foram estabelecidas como não tóxicas (84, 60%), seguida de plantas com toxicidade desconhecida (35, 25%), venenosas e menos tóxicas (19, 14%). A análise quantitativa revelou que a espécie Forsythia suspensa alcançou o maior (0,33) valor de RFC, e a Scutellaria baicalensis obteve o maior (0,91) valor de UV registrado. As doenças tratadas foram categorizadas em 12 grupos e avaliadas pelos seus respectivos valores de FCI, onde as doenças ginecológicas apresentaram maior (0,93) valor de FCI, seguido pelas doenças do sistema urinário. Foi concluído que a maioria das plantas medicinais são usadas para amenizar calores e alívio tópico. O presente estudo revelou que a população local do condado de Lingchuan confia no uso de plantas etnomedicinais para lidar com seus problemas de saúde. Seria válido aprofundar as investigações relativas aos índices mais altos obtidos nas análises quantitativas das espécies analisadas, visto que podem possuir compostos fitoquímicos valiosos que podem resultar em novos medicamentos para o tratamento de diversas doenças humanas.

Palavras-chave:
etnobotânica; município de Lingchuan; plantas medicinais; conhecimento tradicional; medicina chinesa

1. Introduction

The modern world with social development and economic growth faces unexpected disease challenges, where the people of developing countries are suffering a lot and looking for better and alternative disease management. Although modern synthetic drugs have solved some problems, but they are also challenging to develop due to the high cost of research in the development of new drugs and may have higher side effects (Miranda, 2021MIRANDA, J.J.M., 2021. Medicinal plants and their traditional uses in different locations. In: R.A. BHAT, K.R. HAKEEM and M.A. DERVASH, eds. Phytomedicine: a treasure of pharmacologically active products from plants. London: Elsevier, pp. 207-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824109-7.00014-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-8241...
). Therefore, the alternative utilization of medicinal plants due to their low cost may increase and be favored by scientists for drug discovery due to its higher biofunctionality and biodiversity, and its use is promoted by local peoples (Kasilo et al., 2019KASILO, O.M.J., WAMBEBE, C., NIKIEMA, J.-B. and NABYONGA-OREM, J., 2019. Towards universal health coverage: advancing the development and use of traditional medicines in Africa. BMJ Global Health, vol. 4, suppl. 9, p. e001517. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001517. PMid:31673437.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001...
). The traditionally used medicines have received widespread attention; at the same time, it has become a trend to discover new drugs from the folk and expand the resources of folk medicinal plants (Jamshidi-Kia et al., 2018JAMSHIDI-KIA, F., LORIGOOINI, Z. and AMINI-KHOEI, H., 2018. Medicinal plants: past history and future perspective. Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01...
; Urooj and Shad, 2021UROOJ, M. and SHAD, N., 2021. Pharmacognostic studies of Spermadictyon suaveolens Roxb. and their traditional ethnomedicinal utilization: A review. Journal of Medicinal Herbs, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1-6.).

Globally, there has been an increase in the demand for plant-based products. More than 85% of the populations in North and Central America, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, and Africa are dependent on traditional medicine, particularly herbal medicine, to treat their diseases. There are still approximately 100 million people in the European Union, and up to 90 percent of the population in some countries, rely on traditional, complementary, or herbal remedies. Herbal medicine is expected to grow as more plants are studied to find their usefulness in treating various diseases since there are about 500,000 plants in the world, many of which have not been thoroughly studied (Issa, 2018ISSA, R., 2018. Research article use of herbal remedies, conventional medicine, diet and exercise for weight loss: case study of university students in Jordan. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 76-88. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2018.76.88.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2018.76.88...
).

The loss of medicinal plants as a result of non-principled use poses a considerable challenge to the future of herbal medicine. The International Union for Conservation of Nature states that there are between 50,000 and 80,000 species of flowering plants used as pharmaceuticals around the world. Among these, approximately 15,000 species are at risk of extinction due to a combination of excessive harvesting, habitat destruction, and a growing human population consuming excessive plant resources. Therefore, in order to discover natural drugs, the environmental code of ethics should be considered, in which biodiversity is preserved as part of the exploitation of natural resources. Medicinal plant production should be conducted in accordance with Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for quality assurance, standardized production, and maintenance of safety. GAP refers to the systematic use of high quality, safe, non-contaminated (raw drugs) herbal remedies to resolve a range of ailments. GAP pertains to various areas, including environmental ecology, germplasm, production locations, cultivation, pesticide collection and analysis, microscopic and macroscopic validation, identification of active ingredients, and metal element testing. GAP is implemented and promoted by many countries. GAP, for instance, in China, has promoted the cultivation of traditional medicinal plants throughout the country (Jamshidi-Kia et al., 2018JAMSHIDI-KIA, F., LORIGOOINI, Z. and AMINI-KHOEI, H., 2018. Medicinal plants: past history and future perspective. Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01...
).

China is one of the countries with the richest medicinal plants in the world, with more than 12,000 kinds of medicinal plants (Chi et al., 2017CHI, X., ZHANG, Z., XU, X., ZHANG, X., ZHAO, Z., LIU, Y., WANG, Q., WANG, H., LI, Y., YANG, G., GUO, L., TANG, Z. and HUANG, L., 2017. Threatened medicinal plants in China: distributions and conservation priorities. Biological Conservation, vol. 210, pp. 89-95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.04.015.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017....
; Ji et al., 2020JI, Y., FANG, Q., LIU, S., ZHANG, B. and LONG, C., 2020. Herbal medicinal markets in China: an ethnobotanical survey. In: S.M. KHASIM, C. LONG, K. THAMMASIRI and H. LUTKEN, eds. Medicinal plants: biodiversity, sustainable utilization and conservation. Singapore: Springer, pp. 415-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1636-8_24
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-163...
). However, some medicinal plant resources have suffered in many remote areas of China as a result of various factors such as poverty and a large number of people moving to cities, as well as a lack of special records of traditional medicinal plant knowledge and the impact of the modern medical system and new medical culture (Chen et al., 2016CHEN, S.-L., YU, H., LUO, H.-M., WU, Q., LI, C.-F. and STEINMETZ, A., 2016. Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects. Chinese Medicine, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7. PMid:27478496.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-010...
). The knowledge of traditional medicinal plants may not be protected and passed on due to the continuous destruction and is rapidly disappearing. Therefore, the collection, arrangement, and inheritance of traditional folk knowledge of medicinal plants are very important (Li et al., 2019LI, L., ZHANG, B., ZHANG, Z., LI, X., WANG, G., SONG, H., FAN, C., JIANG, Y., WANG, T., ZHAO, H., CUI, W., LAI, J., CHI, X., WEI, X., WU, C., QI, Y., LIU, H., XIAO, P., LUGHADHA, E.N. and LEON, C.J., 2019. Towards a scientific rationale for traditional properties of Chinese medicinal plants: “natures” and “flavors”. Chinese Herbal Medicines, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 258-266. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2019.05.002.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chmed.2019.0...
).

Medicinal plants utilization for health purpose is a common practices in the local towns of developing countries (Ghulam et al., 2021GHULAM, M.S., MUHAMMAD, S., UROOJ, M., JABEEN, N., KHAN, F.U., NAEEM, A., ASMA, SAJID, M., SHAD, N. and HASNAIN, M., 2021. Herbal remedies used for the management of urolithiasis in Abbottabad, Northern Pakistan. Plant Science Today, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 836-847. http://dx.doi.org/10.14719/pst.2021.8.4.1244.
http://dx.doi.org/10.14719/pst.2021.8.4....
; Siddique et al., 2021SIDDIQUE, Z., SHAD, N., SHAH, G.M., NAEEM, A., YALI, L., HASNAIN, M., MAHMOOD, A., SAJID, M., IDREES, M. and KHAN, I., 2021. Exploration of ethnomedicinal plants and their practices in human and livestock healthcare in Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-00480-x. PMid:34496911.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-004...
). However, China has a vast territory and complex topography; therefore, a wide range and vast medicinal Flora and their mode of utilization may not be the same in each region. Traditional medicinal knowledge is closely related to local culture, history, economy, Flora, and natural conditions. In recent years, some researchers have conducted a certain degree of research on traditional medicinal knowledge in the northwest and southwest of China, and most of the research objects are ethnic minorities. In contrast, the central area (Shanxi) has not been well explored regarding traditional knowledge of medicinal plants (Sheng-Ji, 2011SHENG-JI, P., 2011. General introduction to three-decades development of ethnobotany and perspectives in China. Journal of Minzu University of China, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 5-9.).

The importance of research in the field of medicinal plants is felt more than ever. Some medicinal plants are the sources of adjuvant therapy in the health systems worldwide, not only to treat diseases but also to prevent them and maintain health. Despite the extensive experiences in use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine, scientific study and identification of active plant compounds and their effects can lead to the discovery of new therapeutic benefits and the production of nature-based products in the future. To achieve this purpose, extensive research is fundamentally important to control the quality of raw drugs and the formulation to justify their use in the modern medicine system; subsequently, animal studies and clinical trials are required to use the benefits of these plants (Tungmunnithum et al., 2018TUNGMUNNITHUM, D., PINTHONG, D. and HANO, C., 2018. Flavonoids from Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., a medicinal plant: uses in traditional medicine, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities. Medicines, vol. 5, no. 4, p. 127. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicines5040127. PMid:30477094.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicines50401...
).

Lingchuan County is located in the Southeast of Shanxi Province and has a long history (Zhang and Ru, 2010ZHANG, J.-T. and RU, W., 2010. Population characteristics of endangered species Taxus chinensis var. mairei and its conservation strategy in Shanxi, China. Population Ecology, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 407-416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0192-y.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-019...
). According to records, humans lived here as early as the Paleolithic era. Lingchuan County is the main producing area of Chinese medicinal materials in Shanxi Province and is rich in medicinal plant resources. More than 400 kinds of wild medicinal materials have provided a material basis for the formation of knowledge of Lingchuan traditional medicinal plants. In the process of production and life, local residents use plants in the surrounding environment to treat diseases and have accumulated a lot of knowledge and experience of medicinal plants. In addition, many villages in this area are located in remote mountainous areas, and modern medical conditions are poor, which to a large extent may not satisfy people's needs. Therefore, local barefoot doctors may convince them to collect medicinal plants and use them for basic health needs, so that traditional medical knowledge can be preserved, which has certain research values (Ru and Zhang, 1993RU, W.M. and ZHANG F., 1993. Preliminary study on the flora of the southern segment of Taihang Mountain, Shanxi. Journal of Shanxi University, vol. 16, pp. 435-439.).

Therefore, local inhabitants of Lingchuan county confidently practicing and promoting the traditional utilization of medicinal plants. Recording the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants by involving local inhabitants, including traditional healers, may contribute to the advancement of pharmaceutical research and may be helpful for applied research to screen out the proper plant species for target diseases. Thus, the main aim of this study was: (1) to record traditional ethnomedicinal plant knowledge from Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province (China), an unexplored area with lacks such documentation, (2) to compile data on traditional remedies for various ailments, including methods of medication, mode of preparation, and part(s) of the plant(s) employed, as well as their toxicity and applications, (3) To analyze ethnomedicinal data quantitatively to expose the most valued medicinal plants that could be used for further research regarding their phytochemical and pharmacological profiles. Variation in traditional knowledge of locals may influence the relative frequency citation and use-value of a plant species. Thus, the plant species with higher quantitative indices values may reflect the novel uses and warrant further clinical investigation. A preprint has previously been published (Jin et al., 2021JIN, S., ZHANG, S., SHAD, N., NAEEM, A., YANG, Y. and WU, S., 2021. An ethnobotanical and ethnomedicinal investigation of phytomedical knowledge and practice of medicinal plants in Lingchuan county. Research Square, vol. 1. In press.), the current work is far superior to the preprint version.

2. Methodology

2.1. Study area

Lingchuan County is located in Jincheng City of Shanxi province, China, with a higher altitude in the southern section of Taihang Mountain (Figure 1). Lingchuan County has 12 towns and villages under its jurisdiction, with a population of more than 250,000, and the total area of the County is 1,751 square kilometers. The average elevation is about 1058 m, is a rocky, hilly area, and is mainly divided into three different terrain areas: the rocky mountainous area in the east, the rocky, hilly area in the middle, and the Pingchuan area in the southwest. The east and south have large elevation differences and steep terrain. The relative height difference is generally between 600 and 1000 m, high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The area has a continental monsoon climate with a cool climate and abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature is 7°C~9°C, and the annual precipitation is 700~1000 mm. The County has a frost-free period of 160 days throughout the year, and the average sunshine duration is 2380~2730 h (Wang et al., 2019WANG, R., YAN, G. and FU, D., 2019. Study on strategies of rural landscape construction under the background of rural revitalization-taking Gushi Village, Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province as an example. Landscape Architecture, vol. 7, pp. 82-86.). The forest coverage rate in Lingchuan County is 51.07%, and the timber stock volume is 1.48 million cubic meters. There are natural forests and artificial forests and unique tree species such as Taxus Chinensis (Zhang and Ru, 2010ZHANG, J.-T. and RU, W., 2010. Population characteristics of endangered species Taxus chinensis var. mairei and its conservation strategy in Shanxi, China. Population Ecology, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 407-416. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-0192-y.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10144-009-019...
). The precise geographic position of visited localities are shown in supplementary Table S1.

Figure 1
Map of the study area Lingchuan county, Shanxi, China.

2.2. Ethnobotanical field survey and data collection

Ethnomedicinal information about the use of plant species to treat various disorders in the study area was documented from 53 villages. This survey was carried out from November 2017 to August 2018. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to document ethnobotanical information with informed consent (Table S2), include field visits following standard protocols (Martin, 1995MARTIN, G.J., 1995. Ethnobotany: a methods manual. New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2496-0.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-249...
). Information regarding the plant local name, used part, used method, efficacy, etc. and ethnographical information of the total informants (180) such as age, gender, experience, and educational background was recorded (Table 1, Figure 2).

Table 1
Demographic categories of local respondents.
Figure 2
Ethnomedicinal data (interviews) and plants collection.

2.3. Plant species collection, identification and preservation

Specimens of plant species used to treat various disorders were collected, dried, preserved, and mounted on herbarium sheets following standard method (Jain, 1977JAIN, S.K., 1977. A handbook of field and herbarium methods. New Delhi: Today and Tomorrow Printers and Publishers.). Subsequently, with the help of plant taxonomists at Changzhi University, the number of voucher specimen was assigned, determined and compared with the specimens in the herbarium of the school. The scientific names of medicinal plant species and their families were confirmed by the Flora of China (eFloras, 2013EFLORAS, 2013 [viewed 25 May 2022]. Flora of China [online]. Available from: http://www.efloras.org.
http://www.efloras.org...
), and Medicinal Plant Names Services (Kew Science, 2022KEW SCIENCE, 2022 [viewed 25 May 2022]. Medicinal Plant Names Services [online]. Available from: https://mpns.science.kew.org/mpns-portal.
https://mpns.science.kew.org/mpns-portal...
). The system proposed by Raunkiaer (1934)RAUNKIAER, C., 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: The Clarendon Press., and modified by Brown (1977)BROWN, C.H., 1977. Folk botanical life‐forms: their universality and growth. American Anthropologist, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 317-342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1977.79.2.02a00080.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1977.79.2.0...
, was followed to categorize the collected plant specimens into their habits and life forms. The specimens are stored in the herbarium of the Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Changzhi University, Shanxi, China.

2.4. Quantitative analysis of the ethnomedicinal information

2.4.1. Relative Frequency Citation (RFC)

The RFC was calculated without taking into account the use categories by following the formula (Tardío and Pardo-de-Santayana, 2008TARDÍO, J. and PARDO-DE-SANTAYANA, M., 2008. Cultural importance indices: a comparative analysis based on the useful wild plants of Southern Cantabria (Northern Spain). Economic Botany, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 24-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-007-9004-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-007-900...
) (Equation 1).

R F C = F C / N ( 0 < F R C < 1 ) (1)

RFC shows the importance of each species in the study area given by the FC (FC is the number of local informants who reported the uses of the species) divided by the total number of informants (N).

2.4.2. Use Value (UV) of plant species

Use value (UV) determines the relative importance of plant species uses. It was calculated using the following formula (Tardío and Pardo-de-Santayana, 2008TARDÍO, J. and PARDO-DE-SANTAYANA, M., 2008. Cultural importance indices: a comparative analysis based on the useful wild plants of Southern Cantabria (Northern Spain). Economic Botany, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 24-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-007-9004-5.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12231-007-900...
) (Equation 2).

U V = U R / N (2)

Where “UV” indicates the use-value of individual species for a given disease range from 0 to 1, “UR” is the number of uses for the particular disease of a given species by each informant, and “N” represents the number of informants who reports the given species.

2.4.3. Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC)

The diseases are categorized into various groups before the FIC values are calculated (Heinrich et al., 1998HEINRICH, M., ANKLI, A., FREI, B., WEIMANN, C. and STICHER, O., 1998. Medicinal plants in Mexico: healers’ consensus and cultural importance. Social Science & Medicine, vol. 47, no. 11, pp. 1859-1871. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(98)00181-6. PMid:9877354.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(98)...
; Trotter and Logan, 1986TROTTER, R.T. and LOGAN, M.H., 1986. Informant consensus: a new approach for identifying potentially effective medicinal plants. In: N.L. ETKIN, ed. Plants in indigenous medicine & diet: biobehavioral approaches. New York: Routledge, pp. 91-112.). The FIC were calculated using the following mathematical equation (Equation 3).

F I C = ( N u r N t ) / ( N u r 1 ) (3)

Nur indicates the total number of citations for each disease category, and Nt is the number of plant species in the same disease category. The FIC value range from 0 to 1. Higher FIC values imply that many informants utilize a large group of limited plant species to treat a specific ailment, where the lower FIC values are opposite.

2.4.4. Correlation analysis

Pearson’s correlation, SPSS (ver. 16) tested correlation analysis between the RFC and UV

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Medicinal plants survey and demographic profile of respondents

The present study reported the uses of 138 species of medicinal plants disseminated in 123 genera belonging to 53 families for the treatment of various types of diseases (Table 2). The degree of people's uses is related to the distribution of plants, so most of the plants used by local residents are plants that grow locally. A total of 180 informants were interviewed and categorized into different demographic categories (Table 1). The local informants were traditional healthcare practitioners, medicinal plant gatherers, farmers, foresters, teachers, village cadre, and housewives. It was noted that older people have a better grasp of traditional medicinal knowledge, while younger generations know less, this may be due to lifestyle changes promoting modern care system (Kadir et al., 2012KADIR, M.F., SAYEED, M.S. and MIA, M.M.K., 2012. Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal plants used by indigenous and tribal people in Rangamati, Bangladesh. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 144, no. 3, pp. 627-637. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.10.003. PMid:23064284.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.10....
). Locals also said that young people spend a long time working and studying in other places and have little demand for traditional medicinal plants. Therefore, fewer people know about traditional medicinal plants. The reason why men know more about medicinal knowledge may because they work more in the field compared to women and have more experience accumulated. Most of the residents are farmers with low education levels, mainly uneducated and elementary school. It also shows that lower educated people are dependent on traditional medicinal plants, while those with higher education levels are less dependent. Most young educated people believe in modern medical treatment (Fan et al., 2018FAN, Y., ZHAO, Y., LIU, A., HAMILTON, A., WANG, C., LI, L., YANG, Y. and YANG, L., 2018. Indigenous knowledge of dye-yielding plants among Bai communities in Dali, Northwest Yunnan, China. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-018-0274-z. PMid:30486880.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-018-027...
).

Table 2
Ethnomedicinal plants used for the management of diseases in Lingchuan county, Shanxi, China.

3.2. Dominant medicinal plant families

Amongst the plant families, Asteraceae was the dominant with 19 plant species, followed by Rosaceae (10 spp.), Fabaceae (9 spp.), Lamiaceae (8 spp.), Apiaceae (5 spp.), Aristolochiaceae and Solanaceae (4 spp. each), Amaryllidaceae, Araceae, Aristolochiaceae, Brassicaceae, Campanulaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Ranunculaceae (3 spp. each), and twelve plant families were recoded with two species each (Figure 3). The other remaining plant families were recorded with only one species each (Figure S1).

Figure 3
Dominant plant families of the study area.

The recorded dominant plant families in the study area suggest that they may have wide distribution, or their plant species are well known for medicinal uses among the local communities. However, previous literature demonstrated that Asteraceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae are well known in traditional utilization amongst the people of China (Lin et al., 2021LIN, Y., WANG, S., ZHANG, J.-Y., ZHUO, Z.-Y., LI, X., ZHAI, C., LI, X., QI, F., DING, X., CHEN, C.-Y., ZHOU, J., LI, J., LIU, Q., QIU, L.-L. and ZHANG, Y.-Q., 2021. Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Gaomi, China. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 265, p. 113228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113228. PMid:32777517.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113...
), and other parts of the Asia (Kumar et al., 2021KUMAR, M., RADHA, DEVI, H., PRAKASH, S., RATHORE, S., THAKUR, M., PURI, S., PUNDIR, A., BANGAR, S.P., CHANGAN, S., ILAKIYA, T., SAMOTA, M.K., DAMALE, R.D., SINGH, S., BERWAL, M.K., DHUMAL, S., BHOITE, A.G., SHARMA, A., SENAPATHY, M., BHUSHAN, B., MAURYA, V.K., ASHA, NATTA, S., AMAROWICZ, R. and MEKHEMAR, M., 2021. Ethnomedicinal plants used in the health care system: survey of the mid hills of Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Plants, vol. 10, no. 9, p. 1842. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants10091842. PMid:34579373.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants10091842...
; Siddique et al., 2021SIDDIQUE, Z., SHAD, N., SHAH, G.M., NAEEM, A., YALI, L., HASNAIN, M., MAHMOOD, A., SAJID, M., IDREES, M. and KHAN, I., 2021. Exploration of ethnomedicinal plants and their practices in human and livestock healthcare in Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-00480-x. PMid:34496911.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-004...
); this knowledge may be disseminated across the world over different communities and ethnic groups.

3.3. Medicinal plant life form and part(s) used

The recorded medicinal plants are categorized according to their life form (Figure 4A). Among them, herbs (96 spp.) were dominant, followed by shrubs (including subshrubs) and trees (15 spp. each), and vines with 12 species only. The domination of herbs in utilization over other life forms may not only their efficacy but may also because the density of the distribution of herbs is higher, the growth cycle is fast, and the yield is higher. They are determined by the characteristics of the collection (Jamshidi-Kia et al., 2018JAMSHIDI-KIA, F., LORIGOOINI, Z. and AMINI-KHOEI, H., 2018. Medicinal plants: past history and future perspective. Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15171/jhp.2018.01...
). Some of the medicinal plant materials collected by local inhabitants for medicinal purposes are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 4
Description of medicinal plants (A) life form (B) parts used.
Figure 5
Collection of plant materials by local inhabitants for medicinal purposes.

The recorded medicinal plants in Lingchuan County are classified according to their parts utilization (Figure 4B). Among them, the most used parts were roots, with 58 species, accounting for 42%, followed by whole plant and fruit (28 spp., 20% each), flower (20 spp., 14.4%), leaves (19 spp., 13.7%), seeds (14 spp., 10%), above ground (12 spp., 8.6%), stem (11 spp., 8%), as well latex (2 spp. 1.4%). The same plant species have different medicinal parts, and its medicinal effects vary. For example, the multiple parts of Trichosanthes kirilowii can be used for multiple purposes. Root can be used to clear away heat and detoxify, fruit as laxative, and the seeds can be used for the treatment of coughs. The same part of the plant collected at different times has different efficacy. For example, Artemisia capillaris collected in March can be used to treat liver disease, but locals reported that it is not effective at other times. People need to distinguish correctly when using medicinal plants.

Locals utilized more perennial herbs compared to any other life form of plants, and roots were widely used as medicinal materials. It may be because the roots can be collected in all seasons and are easier to preserve compared to other parts. At the same time, plants co-exist with a variety of microorganisms in the soil, and the secondary metabolites of microorganisms may have important medicinal effects compared to the aboveground parts (WHO, 2018WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION – WHO, 2018. WHO guidelines on good herbal processing practices for herbal medicines. Geneva: WHO. WHO Technical Report Series, no. 1010.). It has certain timeliness and is not easy to collect and store. Therefore, in order to obtain medicines in time, people are looking for more plant roots with medicinal value as medicine.

3.4. Mode of utilizations of folk traditional medicinal plants

Locals used different mode of utilization of different plant parts, among them decoction (77, 38%) was dominant, followed by edible (taking orally) (43, 20.68%) soaking in water (31, 15.20%), external application (17, 8.37%), kinds of plant parts with other medicine (15 7.38%), wash outside plants (11, 5.4%), sparking wine (5, 2.46%), and the other used method such as cupping with six times for different plant parts account for 3% of the total (Figure 6).

Figure 6
Mode of the utilization of medicinal plants.

The use of medicinal plants is closely related to the type of disease. For example, the common method of medicinal plants used to treat colds, coughs, and other diseases is to boil in water (decoction). Previous studies found that decoction is a common and dominant method used in ethnomedicinal recipes (Shoaib et al., 2021SHOAIB, G., SHAH, G.-M., SHAD, N., DOGAN, Y., SIDDIQUE, Z., SHAH, A.-H., FAROOQ, M., KHAN, K.-R. and NEDELCHEVA, A., 2021. Traditional practices of the ethnoveterinary plants in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Revista de Biología Tropical, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 1-11.; Siddique et al., 2021SIDDIQUE, Z., SHAD, N., SHAH, G.M., NAEEM, A., YALI, L., HASNAIN, M., MAHMOOD, A., SAJID, M., IDREES, M. and KHAN, I., 2021. Exploration of ethnomedicinal plants and their practices in human and livestock healthcare in Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-00480-x. PMid:34496911.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-004...
). Decoction may be commonly used due to the higher availability of bioactive compound resulted from heating process which speed up biological reaction (Chen et al., 2008CHEN, G., YANG, M., SONG, Y., LU, Z., ZHANG, J., HUANG, H., GUAN, S., WU, L. and GUO, D., 2008. Comparative analysis on microbial and rat metabolism of ginsenoside Rb1 by high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Biomedical Chromatography, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 779-785. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.1001. PMid:18384066.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.1001...
; Han et al., 2007HAN, J., YE, M., GUO, H., YANG, M., WANG, B. and GUO, D., 2007. Analysis of multiple constituents in a Chinese herbal preparation Shuang-Huang-Lian oral liquid by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 430-438. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2007.02.023. PMid:17391890.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2007.02...
; Zhang et al., 2005ZHANG, J.-L., CUI, M., HE, Y., YU, H. and GUO, D.-A., 2005. Chemical fingerprint and metabolic fingerprint analysis of Danshen injection by HPLC–UV and HPLC–MS methods. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 1029-1035. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2004.09.009. PMid:15620529.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2004.09...
), or because they're so easy to make with water. External application and external washing are usually practiced to treat traumatic bleeding, skin diseases, and several other diseases. Edible wild fresh medicinal plants are usually boiled in water before eating, is effective against detoxifying, and nourishing (Guarrera, 2003GUARRERA, P.M., 2003. Food medicine and minor nourishment in the folk traditions of central Italy (Marche, Abruzzo and Latium). Fitoterapia, vol. 74, no. 6, pp. 515-544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0367-326X(03)00122-9. PMid:12946715.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0367-326X(03)...
). Plant parts boiling in water can decompose some toxic substances in the plant and also dissolve some fibers, making the plant softer when eating. People may choose the most effective method of use according to the severity of the disease and other symptoms.

3.5. Disease categories treated by folk medicinal plants

According to the efficacy and applicable diseases of medicinal plants, the recorded medicinal plants in Lingchuan County are divided into 12 categories (Figure 7). I) Most plants were utilized as surface-relieving plants recorded with 70 species, generally used for the effect of clearing away heat, detoxifying, reducing heat, reducing inflammation, and reducing swelling. Common plants used to treat these diseases include Scutellaria baicalensis, Nepeta tenuifolia, and Xanthium strumarium L., etc. II) twenty-eight plant species were used as nourishing plants, which have nourishing and diseases preventing properties. They are used to improve eyesight, black hair, fix teeth, prevent heatstroke, etc. Common plants include Fallopia multiflora, Lycium barbarum, and Epimedium brevicornu, etc. III) Twenty-seven kinds of plants were utilized for the management of respiratory disease, mainly for coughs, including tuberculosis, asthma, qi inversion, and other diseases. Common treatment plants include Allium fistulosum, Nepeta tenuifolia, and Platycodon grandiflorus, etc. IV) Twenty-six plant species were utilized to treat digestive system diseases, mainly used for gastritis, appendicitis, constipation, hemorrhoids, and gastrointestinal bleeding with common plants including Plantago asiatica, Morus alba, Bupleurum chinense. V) Twenty-two kinds of plants were employed for skin diseases, generally used for burns, vitiligo, acne, and other diseases with common plants, including Sophora flavescens, Styphnolobium japonicum, Stellera chamaejasme, and so on. VI) Nineteen plants were utilized for circulatory system diseases; these plants promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. They are used for high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, etc. Common therapeutic plants include Sonchus wightianus, Carthamus tinctorius, Fallopia multiflora,, and so on. VII) Sixteen plant species were used for the treatment of nervous system diseases. They are used to treat numbness, insomnia, headaches, convulsions in children, etc. Common therapeutic plants are Prunus persica, Pinus tabuliformis, and Polygala tenuifolia Willd. etc. VIII) Fourteen plant species were used to treat orthopedic diseases, which have the effect of connecting bones and tendons. They are used to treat traumatic bleeding, animal bites, bruises, and other diseases. Common therapeutic plants include Potentilla discolor, Acorus calamus, and Rubia cordifolia, etc. IX) Twelve plant species used to treat urinary system diseases, commonly for the treatment of blood in urine, stones (diuresis), etc. Common treatment plants include Plantago asiatica, Leonurus japonicus, and Bidens pilosa, etc. X) Nine plant species used to treat gynecological diseases (lactation, breast pain, etc). Common therapeutic plants are Leonurus japonicus, Taraxacum mongolicum, Vaccaria hispanica, etc. XI) Eight plant species were used as rheumatism-removing plants; it has the effects of reducing edema, relieving pain and anesthesia. It is used to treat low back and leg pain, foot pain, joint pain, and other diseases. Common therapeutic plants include Rubia cordifolia, Sophora flavescens, and Carthamus tinctorius, etc. XII) Seven plant species used to treat infectious and functional diseases, which have insecticidal, anthelmintic, and antiviral effects. They are used to treat liver diseases, parasitic diseases, and spermatorrhea. Common therapeutic plants include Cucurbita moschata, Artemisia valandulifolia, Punica granatum, etc.

Figure 7
Major disease categories treated by a number of remedies.

3.6. Toxicity of medicinal plants

According to the toxicity level of plants, plants are divided into four types: non-toxic, unknown, small-toxic, and toxic (Figure 8). The non-toxic plants are the most, with 84 species, accounting for 61% of the total recorded plant species, followed by unknown toxicity (35 spp., 25%), poisonous plants (13 spp., 10%), and less poisonous plants (6 spp., 4%). These findings demonstrated that people care about mainly using non-toxic plants. However, for some toxic drugs, people use them for external washing to treat skin diseases or for sale, and there are strict conditions when they are taken internally (George, 2011GEORGE, P., 2011. Concerns regarding the safety and toxicity of medicinal plants-an overview. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 40-44.). It shows that people are very cautious about medication.

Figure 8
Toxicity level of recorded medicinal plants.

3.7. Quantitative analysis of folk traditional medicinal plants

3.7.1. Relative Frequency Citation (RFC)

The RFC value of the recorded plant species ranges from 0.04 to 0.33. Among, RFC range 0.00 ≥ 0.05 recorded with 12 plant species, 0.06 ≥ 0.10 with 55 plant species, 0.11 ≥ 0.15 with 51 plant species, 0.16 ≥ 0.2 with 13 plant species, and the remaining 7 plant species was recorded in the RFC range 0.22 ≥ 0.33. Among the plant species, Forsythia suspensa was recorded with the highest RFC value 0.33, followed by Nepeta tenuifolia and Codonopsis pilosula with RFC value 0.27 each, Salvia rosmarinus (RFC=0.26), followed by Scutellaria baicalensis and Taraxacum mongolicum with RFC value 0.25 each. Furthermore, Polygonatum multiflorum L. and Dianthus chinensis L. were recorded with the lowest (0.04 each) RFC value (Figure 9). The higher RFC value demonstrated that informant’s contribution was more for a particular plant species, and they have knowledge of particular plant uses. In fact, the plants with low RFC value are not medicinally less important, but the informants may not know about the uses of these plants, or the plants may not be common to an area (Siddique et al., 2021SIDDIQUE, Z., SHAD, N., SHAH, G.M., NAEEM, A., YALI, L., HASNAIN, M., MAHMOOD, A., SAJID, M., IDREES, M. and KHAN, I., 2021. Exploration of ethnomedicinal plants and their practices in human and livestock healthcare in Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-00480-x. PMid:34496911.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13002-021-004...
). In addition, it was observed during the survey that young generations were less familiar with the traditional utilization of medicinal plants, alarming threats to indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants.

Figure 9
Relative frequency citation of the recorded medicinal plants.

3.7.2. Use Values (UV)

Use value determines the importance of each species for particular diseases. The present study recorded the UV range (0.08 to 0.9 value) of the total recorded species. Among them, most plant species (69 spp.) were recorded at the range of 0.01 to <0.2, followed by the UV range of 0.2 to <0.3 with 34 plant species. Thirty-five plants species were recorded with a UV value ≥0.3 (Figure 10). The highest UV (0.91 value) was recorded for Scutellaria baicalensis, followed by Platycodon grandifloras (UV=0.83), Taraxacum mongolicum (UV= 0.82), and Codonopsis pilosula with 0.8 UV value. The lowest UV (0.08 value) was recorded for Hylotelephium erythrostictum. Plant species with higher UV demonstrated that their informants have more common knowledge of plant uses and frequently reported for the same uses. However, those diseases were included in the results that have been commonly reported (more than one) to be treated by particular/same plant species, thus influences the UV values. In contrast, UV is dynamic and can change with informant’s knowledge or an area to area (Rao et al., 2015RAO, P.K., HASAN, S.S., BHELLUM, B.L. and MANHAS, R.K., 2015. Ethnomedicinal plants of Kathua district, J&K, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 171, pp. 12-27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2015.05.028. PMid:26023030.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2015.05....
). Use values were significantly correlated to RFC (R2=0.52), demonstrating that UV can be defined 50% by RFC value (Figure 11). These findings revealed that the number of informants for given species reported 50% similar uses.

Figure 10
Use values of the recorded medicinal plants.
Figure 11
Correlation between use value and relative frequency citation.

3.8. Dominant disease categories with Fic value

The higher FIC value was recorded for the treatment of gynecological diseases (FIC =0.93) with a total of 109 citations, followed by Urinary system diseases (FIC = 0.91), respiratory diseases and Digestive system diseases (FIC = 0.90 each), Surface-relieving plant and Orthopedic diseases (FIC = 0.89), and the other disease categories were recorded <0.89 FIC value (Table 3).

Table 3
Disease categories with their FIC value.

The plants that contributed more to gynecological diseases are Nepeta tenuifolia and Taraxacum mongolicum, with 37 citations. Nepeta tenuifolia is mainly used to treat colds, coughs, hypertension, and other diseases. The fresh leaves of Nepeta tenuifolia are mixed with flour, kneaded into cakes, and deep-fried; it becomes a refreshing food that can prevent colds (Huang et al., 2017HUANG, X., LIU, Y., LIU, Y., LIU, Y., WANG, Z. and YE, D., 2017. Advances of chemical composition and pharmacological action of Catnip. Jilin Journal of Chinese Medicine, vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 817-819.). Plantago asiatica were cited 29, and Atractylodes lancea with 28 citations by informants among the total citation (123 citations) of Urinary system diseases. Plantago asiatica contains more than 60 compounds that can treat various diseases, and multiple parts can be used, such as its leaves can be eaten directly (Zou, 2016ZOU, P., 2016. Traditional Chinese medicine, food therapy, and hypertension control: a narrative review of Chinese literature. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, vol. 44, no. 8, pp. 1579-1594. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X16500889. PMid:27852126.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S0192415X16500...
). In respiratory diseases, the more contribution was by Scutellaria baicalensis with 41 citations. Shen et al. (2021)SHEN, J., LI, P., LIU, S., LIU, Q., LI, Y., SUN, Y., HE, C. and XIAO, P., 2021. Traditional uses, ten-years research progress on phytochemistry and pharmacology, and clinical studies of the genus Scutellaria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 265, p. 113198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113198. PMid:32739568.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113...
demonstrated that Scutellaria baicalensis mainly contains flavonoids, volatile oils, polysaccharides, and other compounds, with obvious anti-virus, anti-tumor, and anti-oxidation activities (Shen et al., 2021SHEN, J., LI, P., LIU, S., LIU, Q., LI, Y., SUN, Y., HE, C. and XIAO, P., 2021. Traditional uses, ten-years research progress on phytochemistry and pharmacology, and clinical studies of the genus Scutellaria. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 265, p. 113198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113198. PMid:32739568.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113...
). Another disease category is dispelling rheumatism, having a FIC value of 0.85, with frequently used plants Sophora flavescens (15 citation), and Artemisia valandulifolia (16 citations). During our investigation, local people in Lingchuan County used Sophora flavescens for skin diseases. Modern research found that Sophora flavescens has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-tumor, and antibacterial effects (Ding et al., 2004DING, P., CHEN, D., BASTOW, K.F., NYARKO, A.K., WANG, X. and LEE, K.H., 2004. Cytotoxic isoprenylated flavonoids from the roots of Sophora flavescens. Helvetica Chimica Acta, vol. 87, no. 10, pp. 2574-2580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hlca.200490230.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hlca.200490230...
; Zhang et al., 2020ZHANG, Z.-J., LI, G.-X., LIU, D., CHEN, X.-Q., LI, H.-M. and LI, R.-T., 2020. A novel pterocarpan derivative from the roots of Sophora flavescens. Natural Product Communications, vol. 15, no. 10, pp. 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1934578X20964677.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1934578X209646...
). Arctium lappa is an important plant for skin diseases management; its seeds are proceeds to deep-fry, ground, and take with water for the treatment of sore throat (Knott et al., 2008KNOTT, A., REUSCHLEIN, K., MIELKE, H., WENSORRA, U., MUMMERT, C., KOOP, U., KAUSCH, M., KOLBE, L., PETERS, N., STÄB, F., WENCK, H. and GALLINAT, S., 2008. Natural Arctium lappa fruit extract improves the clinical signs of aging skin. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 281-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-2165.2008.00407.x. PMid:19146605.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-2165.20...
). Infectious and functional diseases have a relatively large impact and require timely medical treatment. However, most of the informants did not share relevant information or may feel shy to mention such diseases; generally, they did not share treatment experience, which may lead to low consistency of medicinal plants to treat such diseases.

4. Conclusion

The present study concluded that the inhabitants of Lingchuan County confidentially using medicinal plants and are still practicing them for their healthcare needs. The overcollecting, land-use, and habitat changes of medicinal plants may drive Flora to extension due to loss of genetic diversity and unsuitable environment for harvesting; the present study found that roots were widely collected plant parts may threaten the survival of plants compared to other plant parts collection such as leaves. Indeed, awareness campaigns and scientific collection guidelines are required through a proper channel with the government support for the sustainability of the regional Flora. Future studies should consider the reported medicinal plants for phytochemical screening based on their traditional knowledge and their quantitative indices value, which may lead to better understanding and prevention of diseases in the modern healthcare system.

Acknowledgements

The authors thankfully acknowledge the free participation of the traditional healers and other local respondents who provided relevant information about the medicinal plants and made this survey possible. This study was supported by the Shanxi Key Subjects Construction (FSKSC) fund and national level college students innovation and entrepreneurship training program (201710122003).

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    06 June 2022
  • Date of issue
    2022

History

  • Received
    06 Feb 2022
  • Accepted
    11 May 2022
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