Marco Leonti

Wild Gathered Food Plants in the European Mediterranean: A Comparative Analysis

The Mediterranean basin has a long and multifaceted cultural history and harbors a high biodiversity. Epidemiological studies have drawn attention to certain traditional Mediterranean diets. However, wild gathered food species, which are an important, but fast disappearing element of these diets, so far have been largely neglected in scientific studies. In this study we compare ethnobotanical data obtained from field studies conducted in Southern Italy, Southern Spain, mainland Greece, and Crete resulting in the identification of a core group of 18 culinary used wild gathered plant species. This group comprises species likePapaver rhoeas L.,Sonchus asper L.,S. oleraceus L., andSilene vulgaris L. We argue that the culinary use of wild gathered weedy greens evolved together with the neolithization process, since this offered the necessary ecological niches for them to thrive, thereby enriching and securing the diets of European agriculturalists. Especially wild gathered Asteraceae species seem to form a sort of proto-nutraceutical, which accounts for a significant input of biologically active compounds in the diet.ResumenII bacino Mediterraneo ha vissuto una lunga e multisfaccettata storia culturale e gode di una ricca biodiversita. Studi epidemiologici hanno attirato attenzione su certe diete] mediterranee. Attualmente I’ uso culinario di piante selvagge e commestibili, elemento importante di queste diete, si sta perdendo e ha ricevuto poca attenzione dai punto di vista scientifico. In questo lavoro mettiamo a paragone una serie di dati etnobotanici ottenuti da ricerche di campo nel sud dell’Italia, nel sud della Spagna, nella Grecia e a Creta risultanti nell’identificazione di un gruppo principale di 18 specie selvatiche ad uso culinario. Questo gruppo comprende specie come ilPapaver rhoeas L., ilSonchus asper L., ilS. oleraceus L. e ilSilene vulgaris L. Mettiamo in evidenza che l’evoluzione dell’uso culinario delle verdure selvatiche è avvenuto durante il processo di neolitizazzione poiché questo ha fornito le nicchie ecologiche necessarie. Attraverso il loro uso gli agricoltori europei hanno arricchito e assicurato la loro dieta. In modo particolare le specie raccolte selvatiche appartenenti alle Astaraceae sembrano formare un protointegratore rappresentando una fonte significativa di composti biologicamente attivi nella dieta.RésuméLa Cuenca Mediterránea tiene una historia cultural larga y polifacetica y alberga una biodiversidad extraordinaria. Diversos estudios epidemiologicos han atraido atencion sobre algunas dietas mediterraneas tradicionales. Sin embargo, las especies silvestres comestibles recolectadas, un elemento importante de estas dietas que va desapareciendo rápidamente, han sido hasta ahora casie olvidadas en los estudios científicos. En este artículo comparamos datos etnobotánicos obtenidos de estudios de campo realizados en el sur de Italia, de España y de la Grecia continental y en Creta, que conducen a la identificatión de un grupo central de 18 especies de plantas recolectadas, silvestres, usadas en alimentatión. Este grupo comprende especies comoPapaver rhoeas L.,Sonchus asper L., 5.oleraceus L. ySilene vulgaris L. Sostenemos que el uso culinario de verduras silvestres y de hierbas de los campos de cultivo evolucionó asociado al proceso del neolitización, que ofreció los nichos ecológicos necesarios para el desarrollo de estas especies, enriqueciendo y afianzando las dietas de los primeros agricultores europeos. Especialmente las especies silvestres recolectadas de [la familia] Asteraceae, parecen constituir un tipo de proto-nutracéutico que aporta significativamente compuestos biológicamente activos a la dieta.

Traditional medicines and globalization: current and future perspectives in ethnopharmacology

The ethnopharmacological approach toward the understanding and appraisal of traditional and herbal medicines is characterized by the inclusions of the social as well as the natural sciences. Anthropological field-observations describing the local use of nature-derived medicines are the basis for ethnopharmacological enquiries. The multidisciplinary scientific validation of indigenous drugs is of relevance to modern societies at large and helps to sustain local health care practices. Especially with respect to therapies related to aging related, chronic and infectious diseases traditional medicines offer promising alternatives to biomedicine. Bioassays applied in ethnopharmacology represent the molecular characteristics and complexities of the disease or symptoms for which an indigenous drug is used in “traditional” medicine to variable depth and extent. One-dimensional in vitro approaches rarely cope with the complexity of human diseases and ignore the concept of polypharmacological synergies. The recent focus on holistic approaches and systems biology in medicinal plant research represents the trend toward the description and the understanding of complex multi-parameter systems. Ethnopharmacopoeias are non-static cultural constructs shaped by belief and knowledge systems. Intensified globalization and economic liberalism currently accelerates the interchange between local and global pharmacopoeias via international trade, television, the World Wide Web and print media. The increased infiltration of newly generated biomedical knowledge and introduction of “foreign” medicines into local pharmacopoeias leads to syncretic developments and generates a feedback loop. While modern and post-modern cultures and knowledge systems adapt and transform the global impact, they become more relevant for ethnopharmacology. Moreover, what is traditional, alternative or complementary medicine depends on the adopted historic-cultural perspective.

Falcarinol is a covalent cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist and induces pro-allergic effects in skin.

The skin irritant polyyne falcarinol (panaxynol, carotatoxin) is found in carrots, parsley, celery, and in the medicinal plant Panax ginseng. In our ongoing search for new cannabinoid (CB) receptor ligands we have isolated falcarinol from the endemic Sardinian plant Seseli praecox. We show that falcarinol exhibits binding affinity to both human CB receptors but selectively alkylates the anandamide binding site in the CB(1) receptor (K(i)=594nM), acting as covalent inverse agonist in CB(1) receptor-transfected CHO cells. Given the inherent instability of purified falcarinol we repeatedly isolated this compound for biological characterization and one new polyyne was characterized. In human HaCaT keratinocytes falcarinol increased the expression of the pro-allergic chemokines IL-8 and CCL2/MCP-1 in a CB(1) receptor-dependent manner. Moreover, falcarinol inhibited the effects of anandamide on TNF-alpha stimulated keratinocytes. In vivo, falcarinol strongly aggravated histamine-induced oedema reactions in skin prick tests. Both effects were also obtained with the CB(1) receptor inverse agonist rimonabant, thus indicating the potential role of the CB(1) receptor in skin immunopharmacology. Our data suggest anti-allergic effects of anandamide and that falcarinol-associated dermatitis is due to antagonism of the CB(1) receptor in keratinocytes, leading to increased chemokine expression and aggravation of histamine action.

Quantitative methods in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology: considering the overall flora--hypothesis testing for over- and underused plant families with the Bayesian approach.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE We introduce and explain the advantages of the Bayesian approach and exemplify the method with an analysis of the medicinal flora of Campania, Italy. The Bayesian approach is a new method, which allows to compare medicinal floras with the overall flora of a given area and to investigate over- and underused plant families. In contrast to previously used methods (regression analysis and binomial method) it considers the inherent uncertainty around the analyzed data. MATERIALS AND METHODS The medicinal flora with 423 species was compiled based on nine studies on local medicinal plant use in Campania. The total flora comprises 2237 species belonging to 128 families. Statistical analysis was performed with the Bayesian method and the binomial method. An approximated χ(2)-test was used to analyze the relationship between use categories and higher taxonomic groups. RESULTS Among the larger plant families we find the Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, and Malvaceae, to be overused in the local medicine of Campania and the Orchidaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Poaceae, and Fabaceae to be underused compared to the overall flora. Furthermore, do specific medicinal uses tend to be correlated with taxonomic plant groups. For example, are the Monocots heavily used for urological complaints. CONCLUSIONS Testing for over- and underused taxonomic groups of a flora with the Bayesian method is easy to adopt and can readily be calculated in excel spreadsheets using the excel function Inverse beta (INV.BETA). In contrast to the binomial method the presented method is also suitable for small datasets. With larger datasets the two methods tend to converge. However, results are generally more conservative with the Bayesian method pointing out fewer families as over- or underused.

The co-evolutionary perspective of the food-medicine continuum and wild gathered and cultivated vegetables

Accumulated evidence suggests that our genes are still adapted to a pre-agriculturalist diet, which was devoid of refined sugars and dairy products and that our modern dietary behaviour is in great part responsible for several modern life style diseases. Especially the consumption of fruits, spices and vegetables, cultivated or gathered from the wild, are perceived as being healthy or endowed with a prophylactic effect and therefore many of these dietary items are regarded as both at the same time: food and medicine. I argue that green leafy vegetables began to contribute substantially to the human diet only with the beginning of agriculture, when the ecological niche of weeds began to prosper. Wild gathered vegetables added to the agriculturalists’ dietary need in form of a back-up resource in times of shortage and in form of micronutrients and allelochemicals promoting the development of the modern pharmacopoeias. Similarly to wild gathered foods are cultivated staples recently getting more attention by phytochemists and pharmacologists. Especially local cultivars and agro-ecotypes may present interesting opportunities for phytochemical and pharmacological analysis in the attempt of identifying bioactive dietary allelochemicals. Chemical and biological characterization of local crop cultivars serves for the selection of varieties with specific nutraceutical properties. Germplasm can be obtained from several local organizations, which arrange easy access to seeds and products of rare crop cultivars, foster their commercialization and secure catering through the conservation of agro-biodiversity.

Ungeremine effectively targets mammalian as well as bacterial type I and type II topoisomerases.

From the methanol extract of the bulbs of Pancratium illyricum L., three phenanthridine type alkaloids, ungeremine (1), (-)-lycorine (2) and (+)-vittatine (3) were isolated. For the evaluation of their anticancer and antibacterial potential, compounds 1-3 were tested against human (I, IIα) and bacterial (IA, IV) topoisomerases. Our data demonstrated that ungeremine impairs the activity of both, human and bacterial topoisomerases. Remarkably, ungeremine was found to largely increments the DNA cleavage promoted by bacterial topoisomerase IA, a new target in antimicrobial chemotherapy.

Best practice in research: Consensus Statement on Ethnopharmacological Field Studies – ConSEFS

BACKGROUND Ethnopharmacological research aims at gathering information on local and traditional uses of plants and other natural substances. However, the approaches used and the methods employed vary, and while such a variability is desirable in terms of scientific diversity, research must adhere to well defined quality standards and reproducible methods OBJECTIVES: With ConSEFS (the Consensus Statement on Ethnopharmacological Field Studies) we want to define best-practice in developing, conducting and reporting field studies focusing on local and traditional uses of medicinal and food plants, including studies using a historical approach. METHODS After first developing an initial draft the core group invited community-wide feedback from researchers both through a web-based consultation and a series of workshops at conferences during 2017. OUTCOMES The consultation resulted in a large number of responses. Feedback was received via a weblink on the Journal of Ethnopharmacologys website (ca. 100 responses), other oral and written responses (ca. 50) and discussions with stakeholders at four conferences. The main outcome is a checklist, covering best practice for designing, implementing and recording ethnopharmacological field studies and historical studies. CONCLUSIONS Prior to starting ethnopharmacological field research, it is essential that the authors are fully aware of the best practice in the field. For the first time in the field of ethnopharmacology a community-wide document defines guidelines for best practice on how to conduct and report such studies. It will need to be updated and further developed. While the feedback has been based on responses by many experienced researchers, there is a need to test it in practice by using it both in implementing and reporting field studies (or historical studies), and peer-review.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants by population of Valley of Juruena Region, Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso, Brazil

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE The use of medicinal plants for treatment, cure and prevention of diseases has been described by many people since time immemorial. Because of this use, commercial and scientific interests have emerged, making it necessary to realize ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal plants species, which is important for subsequent chemical and pharmacological bioprospections. AIM OF THE STUDY This study aimed at surveying, identifying, cataloging and documenting the medicinal plants species used in the Valley of Juruena, Northwestern Mato Grosso, Legal Amazon Brazil for the treatment of various human diseases, as well as assessed the species of interest for bioprospecting potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS Informants were interviewed using semi-structured form to capture information on socio-demographic and ethnopharmacological data of medicinal plants such as vernacular name, uses, geographic origin, habit, form of preparation and part used. Results were analyzed using descriptive and quantitative means: indices of use-report (Ur) and informant consensus factor (ICF), for the selection of plant species with therapeutic potential. RESULTS Three hundred and thirty two (332) plants species belonging to 90 families were reported for medicinal purposes and totaling 3973 use-reports were reported by 365 (92.9%) of the people interviewed. Asteraceae (32.2%), Fabaceae (26.7%) and Lamiaceae (24.4%) families were the most represented, with majority being species native (64.45%) to Brazil. Leaves (64.5%) were the part of the plant most used and infusion (45.7%) was the most utilized form. Gastrointestinal disorders followed by respiratory complaints topped the list of use-reports. The native or naturalized plants with the highest use reports in the order of decreasing absolute frequency per each emic-category are Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapfc (104), Mentha pulegium L. (94), Arrabidaea chica (Humb. & Bonpl.) B. Verl. (97), Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze (71), Baccharis crispa Spreng (57), Phyllanthus niruri L. (48), Gossypium barbadense L. (44), Solidago microglossa DC. (40) and Bauhinia forficata L. (20). And the most cited exotics are: Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (151), Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f., (89) and Rosmarinus officinalis L. (72). In some cases, high ICF values were found, which reflects high degree of homogeneity of consensus among informants in this region on medicinal plants. CONCLUSION The population of Valle of Juruena makes use of a wide array of medicinal plants distributed in all use categories with predominance of those use in the treatments of gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments. The therapeutic potential of some of the species of medicinal importance extensively utilized by the population of the region have been scientifically validated, and are therefore promising prototype of new drugs. However, there are some of these species whose ethnomedicinal uses are yet to be scientifically verified and thus constitute an unexplored terrain for future biological/pharmacological studies.

An imprecise probability approach for the detection of over and underused taxonomic groups with the Campania (Italy) and the Sierra Popoluca (Mexico) medicinal flora

AIM OF THE STUDY We use the IDM model to test for over- and underuse of plant taxa as source for medicine. In contrast to the Bayes approach, which only considers the uncertainty around the data of medicinal plant surveys, the IDM model also takes the uncertainty around the inventory of the flora into account, which is used for the comparison between medicinal and local floras. MATERIALS AND METHODS Statistical analysis of the medicinal flora of Campania (Italy) and of the medicinal flora used by the Sierra Popoluca (Mexico) was performed with the IDM model and the Bayes approach. For Campania 423 medicinal plants and 2237 vascular plant species and for the Sierra Popoluca 605 medicinal plants and 2317 vascular plant species were considered. RESULTS The IDM model (s=4) indicates for Campania the Lamiaceae and Rosaceae as overused, and the Caryophyllaceae, Poaceae, and Orchidaceae as underused. Among the Popoluca the Asteraceae and Piperaceae turn out to be overused, while Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Orchidaceae are underused. In comparison with the Bayes approach, the IDM approach indicates fewer families as over- or underused. CONCLUSIONS The IDM model leads to more conservative results compared to the Bayes approach. Only relatively few taxa are indicated as over- or underused. The larger the families (n(j)s) are, the more similar do the results of the two approaches turn out. In contrast to the Bayes approach, small taxa with most or all species used as medicine (e.g., n(j)=2, x(j)=2) tend not to be indicated as overused with the IDM model.

Recommended standards for conducting and reporting ethnopharmacological field studies

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE What are the minimum methodological and conceptual requirements for an ethnopharmacological field study? How can the results of ethnopharmacological field studies be reported so that researchers with different backgrounds can draw on the results and develop new research questions and projects? And how should these field data be presented to get accepted in a scientific journal such as the Journal of Ethnopharmacology? The objective of this commentary is to create a reference that covers the basic standards necessary during planning, conducting and reporting of field research. MATERIALS AND METHODS We focus on conducting and reporting ethnopharmacological field studies on medicinal plants or materia medica and associated knowledge of a specific people or region. The article highlights the most frequent problems and pitfalls, and draws on published literature, fieldwork experience, and extensive insights from peer-review of field studies. RESULTS Research needs to be ethical and legal, and follow local and national regulations. Primary ethnopharmacological field data need to be collected and presented in a transparent and comprehensible way. In short this includes: 1) Relevant and concise research questions, 2) Thorough literature study encompassing all available information on the study site from different disciplines, 3) Appropriate methods to answer the research questions, 4) Proper plant use documentation, unambiguously linked to voucher specimens, and 5) Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the collected data, the latter relying on use-reports as basic units. CONCLUSION Although not exhaustive, we provide an overview of the necessary main issues to consider for field research and data reporting including a list of minimal standards and recommendations for best practices. For methodological details and how to correctly apply specific methods, we refer to further reading of suggested textbooks and methods manuals.