• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.10a
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• pp.63-63
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• 2018

Ethnobotanical knowledge on native plants is critical on the conservation and management of biological resources. We investigated traditional knowledge of ethnobotanical uses in the Mt. Gayasan National Park area. Interviews were carried out to 189 residents at 176 places, and verified species and usage information was categorized by taxonomic groups, usage, and used parts. The ethnobotanical species of the regions consisted of a total of 275 taxa in 91 families including 105 cultivars. Sunflower family (Asteraceae) is the most widely used family with 30 taxa (7 cultivars). Rose family (Rosaceae, 25 taxa with 11 cultivars), Bean family (Fabaceae, 15 taxa with 11 cultivars), Grass family (Poaceae, 15 taxa with 10 cultivars), and Lily family (Liliaceae, 14 taxa with 4 cultivars) followed. About 50 taxa belong to the Approved Species for Delivering Overseas designated by Korea Ministry of Environment, and six Korean endemic taxa have been traditionally valuable in the regions. Many cultivated species have been utilized for various purposes accompanied local and native plants. The main usage of the plants are edible (175 taxa) and medicinal (168 taxa). Leaves are most commonly used parts (105 taxa), followed by stems (93 taxa), fruits (73 taxa), roots (55 taxa), and wholes (54 taxa). The study does not only provides examples of traditional uses of native plants, but also facilitates conservation of natural resources and sustainable developments of ethnobotanical knowledge for the contemporary human society.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2019.10a
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• pp.20-20
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• 2019

Sedge family is second largest family in the Korean flora with more than 240 taxa, following Aster family (about 300 taxa). Although high species diversity, a very limited number of taxa has been utilized for ethnobotanical usages. In the study, previous researches on Cyperaceae ethnobotanical information are documented and analyzed for future research directions on the taxa. A total number of seven taxa has been used for medicinal, food, and material purposes: Carex boottiana Hook. & Arn., Cyperus amuricus Maxim., Cyperus esculentus L., Cyperus exaltatus Retz., Cyperus rotundus L., Eleocharis kuroguwai Ohwi, and Bolboschoenus maritimus (L.) Palla. Underground parts such as tubers are used with medicinal purpose, and aboveground portions such as leaves and stems provide materials for various tools and foods for people and animals. They are all native to Korea, except C. esculentus, which is introduced from Mediterranean areas for anti-erosion materials. The ethnobotanical value of C. esculentus has been well recognized from ancient times, for example, starch grains in USA (excavations at the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation) and Tiger nut milk (Horchata de chufa in Spain). Among material sources, C. exaltatus has a long history in the Korean peninsula from Three Kingdoms of Korea (57 BC~668 AD). C. rotundus is distributed widely in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America, and utilized for medicines, food, and materials. In addition, Eleocharis kuroguwai is only one taxon utilized for ethnobotanical uses among fifteen Eleocharis Korean native species. The number of species with ethnobotanical uses is small in sedge family, but the family has long been utilized accompanying long human history. Cyperus papyrus L., the source of papyrus paper (Egypt in the Nile Delta), is also a member of sedge family. Sedge family has contributed to human societies in various aspects but, the cultural, botanical, ecological values of family members have been underestimated.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.623-639
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• 2017

We investigated traditional knowledge about ethnobotanical uses around national parks in the northern areas of Province Gyeongsangbuk-do, with the focus on the Sobeaksan National Park area. Interviews were carried out to 138 residents at 42 places from 7 counties and/or cities, and verified species and usage information were categorized by taxonomic groups, usage, and used parts. The ethnobotanical species of the regions consisted of a total of 277 taxa: 244 species, 3 subspecies, 28 varieties, and 2 forma in 213 genera of 79 families. The significant native plants included one Endangered Species (Paeonia obovata Max.) and four endemic species (Salix hallaisanensis H. Lev., Aconitum pseudolaeve Nakai, Paulownia coreana Uyeki, and Cirsium setidens (Dunn) Nakai, Sasa coreana Nakai). About 17 Approved Species for Delivering Overseas designated by Korea Ministry of Environment have been also traditionally valuable in the regions. The main usage of the plants were edible (185 taxa) and medicinal (175 taxa). Leaves were most commonly used parts (109 taxa), followed by stems (73 taxa), fruits (69 taxa), roots (67 taxa), and wholes (57 taxa). The traditional usage of plants were diverse as those useful parts. Leaves, fruits and seeds were used as edible and medicinal; sprouts (young shoots) were mainly used as edible; but roots and flowers were used as medicinal. The study does not only provides examples of traditional uses of native plants, but also facilitates sustainable managements and developments of ethnobotanical knowledge for the contemporary society.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2022

Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary science at the intersection of botany and ethnology. Currently, there is a sharply increasing need for the study and conservation of traditional knowledge about plants. The loss of traditional sources, knowledge, and practices in using plants is caused by the growth of technologies in all branches of production, widespread urbanization, and globalization of the economy. This study was been conducted to collect and analyze the Koryoins (Koryo saram) traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, living in Uzbekistan, whose number 174,200 people. They are the descendants of Korean immigrants to the Russian Far East, who ended up in Central Asia as a result of the forced resettlement in 1937. In the processing of collected data, four main categories of uses were defined - Alimentary, Medicinal, Household/Handicraft, and Others. For quantitative data analysis, synthetic indices were used - RFC (Relative Frequency of Citation) and CI (Cultural Importance Index), which are commonly applied to assess the importance of plants. The respondents mentioned 72 plants belonging to 28 botanical families. A significant part of them was cultivar plants. The category that had the largest number of plants mentioned by the respondents was the Alimentary use category (51). According to quantitative indices rates, the most important plants are traditionally used for food. A comparison of ethnobotanical knowledge was made with the collected data of this study and Korean traditional knowledge.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.70-70
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• 2018

As science and technology has developed, human could be flourished especially at the aspect of agriculture and medicine. However, the traditional knowledge of them has stopped being used, which leads to extinctions of it. Korea National Arboretum had surveyed the ethnobotanical uses of Gangwon-do from 2006 to 2017. 522 taxa were defined as ethnoplants through 21469 sheets thanks to 355 respondents who composed 279 females, 73 males and three refused to answer. Analysis of ethnoplants had conducted to provide the excavation of the new plants for industries of agriculture and medication, as well as the evidence for protection of TK and benefit derived from it. Aster scaber Thunb. had been found as the most citated taxa by 0.6591 RFC figure, Pinus desiflora Seibold & Zucc. was found to have the extensive categories of use. Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem. showed the highest figure of CI value. In the index of RI, Pinus desiflora Seibold & Zucc. appeared again, as well as CV, cultural value. For evaluation of the usages of ethnoplants IAR figures are analyzed. The fiber has shown the biggest figure of IAR, despite the dyes are placed the smallest figure.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.146-156
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• 2023

Background: Endemic species are important components in the flora of most world regions. Most of these species have become threatened and exposed to extinction within the last few years. The present study aims to evaluate the ecosystem services offered by the endemic plant taxa in Egypt and the threats that affect them. Twenty-five field visits were conducted during summer 2018 to spring 2022 to several locations all over Egypt. In each location, the main habitats, national distribution, abundance, goods and threats were recorded. Results: Egypt has 41 endemic taxa belonging to 36 genera and 20 families inhabiting 10 main habitats. Rocky surfaces and sandy formations have the highest number of endemic species. The relation between the number of endemic taxa and the abundance categories indicated that 2 taxa are rare (4.9% of the total taxa), while the remaining were very rare (95%). The most represented offered good was the medicinal uses (32 taxa = 78%), while fuel plants were only represented by 2 taxa (2 taxa = 4.9%). Besides, 14 taxa (34.1% of the total studied taxa) have at least 1 environmental service. Soil fertility (7 taxa = 50%) was the most represented, followed by sand accumulations (6 taxa out of 14 taxa = 43%), while shading plant was the least (1 taxon = 7.1%) (Rosa arabica). The most represented threat is over-cutting and over-collecting (38 taxa = 92.7%), while mining and quarrying is the least represented (4 taxa = 9.8%). Conclusions: The potential and actual goods, services and threats of the endemic taxa were assessed as follows; field observation, information collected from local inhabitants and herbalists, and a literature review. The present study recommended planning a strategy about the importance, threats and conservation of endemic taxa in Egypt that would help in the protection and rescue of these plants and increase awareness about the importance of these plants.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.62-89
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• 2016

The great part of the traditional knowledge on ethnobotanical plants and their uses is gradually vanishing due to industrialization, therefore ethnobotanical studies that explore and preserve the knowledge are in urgent needed before the knowledge are lost ever. This study was conducted to record and conserve the traditional knowledge of botanical taxa in Korea from 2006 to 2014. According to the survey results, derived from 17,328 sheets of 1,771 residents at 868 places, the ethnobotanical plants in Korea consisted of a total 924 taxa; 130 families, 493 genera, 813 species, 7 subspecies, 92 varieties and 12 form. Of them, herbs were 619 taxa (67.0%) and woody plants were 305 taxa (33.0%). 707 taxa (76.5%) out of 924 taxa grow wild, 44 taxa (4.8%) were cultivated wild species, 145 taxa (15.7%) were introduced for cultivation, and 28 taxa (3.0%) were naturalized plants. The analysis of usage for 924 taxa showed that the edible use was the highest with 58.9%, followed by medicinal with 26.9%, material with 3.7% and ornamental with 2.3%, respectively. The leaf of plant was the most useful part, followed by stem and root. Quantitative analysis of the ethnobotanical plants in Korea was performed by the basic values of FC, NU and UR, and indices of CI, RFC, RI and CV. As a result, The CI place Artemisia princeps in first position, followed by Aster scaber, Kalopanax septemlobus. The RFC place A. scaber in first position, followed by A. princeps, Aralia elata. The RI place A. princeps in first position, followed by Pinus densiflora, Morus alba. The CV place A. princeps in first position, followed by P. densiflora, K. septemlobus.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.179-185
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• 2023

Bauhinia rufescens, Ocimum basilicum and Salvadora persica are well known plants used in African traditional medicine, especially in Chadian traditional medicine. They are mostly used in the treatment of infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, fever, and so on. Studies using various in vitro and in vivo bioassay techniques support the scientific rationale for most of these usages. In this review, ethnobotanical uses, chemistry of natural products, and pharmacological and clinical data for these plants are presented.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.4.1-4.5
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• 2019

The medicinal plants are extensively used for curing variegated malady in day to day life. There is an emergent demand for plant based medicines, food supplements, health products, pharmaceuticals etc. Mochrus (Bombax ceiba Linn.) is one of the valuable medicinal plants used in Unani system of medicine since relic belongs to family Bombacaceae. It is a tall tree and widely distributed through India, Africa, Australia and tropical Asia. Many parts of the plant (root, stem bark, gum, leaf, prickles, flower, fruit, seed and heartwood) are used for the treatment of a variety of ailments. It is reported to possess nafe sailanur reham (beneficial in leucorrhea), mujaffif (siccative), muqawwi reham (uterine tonic), qabiz (constipative), muallide mani (production of semen), mumsik wa mughalliz mani (increase consistency of semen), dafe fasaad khoon wa safra (purifies blood and bile) etc. It is used in asthma, diarrhoea, wound, leprosy, boils and many other skin diseases. Also possess some important pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, analgesic, antipyretic, antibacterial, diuretic, hepatoprotective, anticancer, hypoglycaemic and hypotensive etc. It is reported to contain phytoconstituents like polysaccharides, naphthoquinones, anthocyanins, lupeol and naphthol etc. This paper provides a compendium review on pharmacological, phytochemical properties and therapeutic benefits of the plant.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Wound care has become increasingly important over the years. Various synthetic products for wound care treatment have been reported to cause toxic side effects and therefore natural products are in significant demand as they have minimal side effects. The presence of bioactive compounds in medicinal mushrooms contributes to various biological activities which assist in the early inflammatory phase, keratinocyte proliferation, and its migration enhancement which are pertinent to wound rehabilitation. Lignosus rhinocerus (tiger milk mushroom) can reduce the inflammation phase in wound healing by fighting off bacterial infection and modulating pro-inflammatory cytokines expression in the early stage to avoid prolonged inflammation and tissue damage. The antibacterial, immunomodulating, and anti-inflammatory activities exhibited by most macrofungi play a key role in enhancing wound healing. Several antibacterial and antifungal compounds sourced from traditional botanicals/-products may prevent further complications and reoccurrence of injury to a wounded site. Scientific studies are actively underway to ascertain the potential use of macrofungi as a wound healing agent.