BackgroundStudies of ethnobotanical usages in south-eastern Turkey are rare. To widen this field of knowledge, we conducted an ethnobotanical study in Midyat (Mardin Province), Turkey.MethodsThe field study was completed during three years (2007–2010). Our aim was to document the ethnobotanical uses of local plants and to make an ethnobotanical inventory of uncommon plants using qualitative interviews.ResultsDuring field studies, 368 voucher specimens were collected in the investigated area. Ninety-two traditionally used plant species were reported from Midyat and surrounding vicinities in Turkey. Among the 92 taxa (129 usages), 35% were used for medical purposes, 22% for food, 13% for animal fodder, 7% as ornamental plants and dyes, 6% as brooms, 4% for latex and as fragrance, 4% for herbal tea, molasses and wine preparation, 3% for agricultural purposes, and 6% for other purposes. Comparative assessment showed that Teucrium polium (0.51), Matricaria aurea (0.26), Alcea setosa (0.21), and Malva neglecta (0.21) have the highest recorded UVs, and the following taxa had UVs between 0.10–0.20: Anthemis cotula (0.12), Allium cepa (0.13), Alcea striata subsp. striata (0.14), Crupina crupinastrum (0.12), Papaver rhoeas (0.13), Salvia multicaulis (0.14), Thymbra spicata (0.11), and Vicia pannonica subsp. striata (0.15). We reported the ethnobotanical usages of 21 taxa for the first time, in addition to indicating usages previously recorded in the literature. We also recorded four endemic plant usages in the area: Alkanna trichophila var. mardinensis, Centaurea kurdica, Centaurea stapfiana, and Sideritis libanotica subsp. linearis. They have variable leaf and flower morphology that are used traditionally. They are present as well-developed populations and thus their conservation status is not compromised. Additionally, Thymbra sintenisii is a recorded species that is classified as a rare and extensively used species in the region.ConclusionsThese results contribute to the fundamental knowledge of ethnobotanical usages in Midyat. To date, ethnobotanical studies have not been carried out in this region. This investigation uncovered usages of endemic medicinal plant species and traditional knowledge of Midyat communities living in a mixed culture. The people of Midyat, Batman, and Şırnak are Turkish citizens from various ethnic backgrounds, such as Kurdish, Arabic, and Syriac. We compared our data with results from other studies conducted in Turkey, particularly in south-eastern and eastern regions, as well as with studies from bordering countries, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Iran. Nonetheless, more work needs to be conducted to extend the present knowledge for locals to contribute to and evaluate economic potential in the region.

In our study, Allium nigrum L. and Allium subhirsutum L. were investigated in terms of phenolic profile, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), and tyrosinase inhibitory potentials. The colorimetric analysis revealed that the highest levels of total phenol (45.6, 15.8 mg GAE/g extract, respectively) and total flavonoid contents (8.2, 5.7 mg QE/g extract, respectively) were found in the bulbs of both plants. About 30 compounds were determined by LC‐ESI‐MS/MS with validated method and 3‐hydroxybenzoic acid (2,188.4 μg/g extract) and p‐coumaric acid (1,700.8 μg/g extract) were major phenolic acids. (−)‐Epigallocatechin gallate (998.3 µg/g extract) and genistein (159.3 μg/g extract) which are neuroprotective compounds were the predominant flavonoids for A. nigrum and A. subhirsutum, respectively. Enzyme inhibitory activities of samples were performed by spectrophotometrically with 96‐well microplate reader. All samples showed anti‐AChE, anti‐BuChE, and anti‐tyrosinase activities and the aerial part of A. nigrum was the most potent (IC50 6.1, 3.27, 22.31 µg/ml, respectively). Practical applications Many Allium species, especially those cultivated, are consumed in different countries as food in different ways. In the literature, studies on these species have generally focused on organosulfur compounds of the species. In our present study, phenolic compounds having a wide range of biological activities were determined in different parts of the two Allium species consumed as food. We also investigated in vitro cholinesterases and tyrosinase inhibition activities of these species. A correlation was observed between phenolic compounds and enzyme inhibition activities. These results were further explored and confirmed by principal component analysis (PCA). PCA revealed that samples were discriminated from each other according to phenolic compounds and enzyme inhibitory potencies. Conclusively, this study determines that the chemical profiles and biological activities of A. nigrum and A. subhirsutum.

Kurut, which is made in villages of Eastern part of Turkey, is a sun-dried dairy product. Thin-layer drying behaviour of kurut at a temperature range of 35-60°C, with 5°C increments, and constant thickness of 0.5 cm and drying air velocity of 1.5 m s )1 was determined in a convective type dryer. The data of sample weight, dry and wet-bulb temperatures were recorded continuously during each experiment and drying curves obtained. The drying process took place in the falling rate period. Drying curves were then fitted to eleven mathematical models available in the literature to estimate a suitable model for drying of kurut. Twoterm model gave better predictions than other models and satisfactorily described the thin-layer characteristics of kurut. The effective diffusivity varied from 2.444 · 10 )9 to 3.597 · 10 )9 m 2 s )1 over the temperature range. The temperature dependence of diffusivity coefficient was described by the Arrheniustype relationship. The activation energy for moisture diffusivity was found to be 19.88 kJ mol )1 .

The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical composition, antioxidant, anticholinesterase and anti-urease activities of essential oil, hexane, acetone and methanol extracts of Sideritis pisidica Boiss. & Heldr. The essential oil and fatty acid composition were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. δ-Cadinene (19.5 %), T-cadinol (16.7 %) and β-cubebene (10.4 %) were identified as the main compounds of the essential oil whereas the most abundant compounds of fatty acids were found as linolenic (42.7 %), palmitic (31.3 %) and linoleic (13.4%) acids. The methanol extract demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity in all tests, except for metal chelating assay. The hexane extract was found to be significantly active in metal chelating (IC 50 : 22.97±1.36 µg/mL), acetylcholinesterase (62.54±0.88 %) and urease inhibitory (78.93±0.17 %) assays. These results show that the Sideritis pisidica could be used as the potential source of natural products in the food and pharmaceutical areas.

In this study, Fritillaria arsusiana (Liliaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from Hatay province in southern Anatolia, Turkey. It is related to F. amana and F. hermonis by habitus features and broadly campanulate flowers, but differs mainly by its bulb shape and size, smaller leaf and flower features, and flower colour. It has also been morphologically compared with F. wendelboi, F. pinardii, and F. latakiensis. The detailed description, diagnostic characters, original photographs, geographical distribution, habitat and phenology, etymology, conservation status, and identification key of the new and the related species are presented in this study. IUCN conservation status of F. arsusiana is suggested as Critically Endangered (CR).

Crocus yakarianus Yıldırım & O. Erol (Iridaceae) is described as a new species. Diagnostic morphological characteristics, descriptions and detailed illustrations are given on the basis of the type material. Crocus yakarianus is restricted to the province of Malatya in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is related to and compared with Crocus biflorus subsp. tauri (Maw) B. Mathew.

Bellevalia pseudolongipes (Asparagaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from Siirt province in South Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Diagnostic morphological characters, a full description and detailed illustrations are provided. It is morphologically similar to B. longipes but easily differs in both several morphological characters and chromosome number. The somatic chromosome number was determined as 2n = 12 in B. pseudolongipes.

Allium Linneaus (1753: 294) is one of the largest monocot genera with about 900 species (Govaerts et al. 2019) naturally distributed throughout the northern hemisphere (Stearn 1978, 1992, Fritsch & Keusgen 2006, Friesen et al. 2006, Fritsch & Abbasi 2008). The main centre of biodiversity occurs in Southwestern and Central Asia and the Mediterranean region, a smaller center is found in western North America (Friesen et al. 2006, Nguyen et al. 2008). The genus is characterized by bulbs enclosed in membranous, fibrous or reticulate tunics, free or basally connate tepals and often a subgynobasic style (Friesen et al. 2006). The genus Allium is a member of Amaryllidaceae subfam. Allioideae, tribe Allieae (APGIII 2009, Chase & Reveal 2009). Recent phylogenetic studies based on molecular data were combined with morphology, anatomy, and cytology resulting in new proposals for sectional and subsectional relationships (Linne von Berg et al. 1996, Dubouzet & Shinoda 1999, Friesen et al. 2000, 2006, Gurushidze et al. 2008, Nguyen et al. 2008, Li et al. 2010, Choi et al. 2012). The most recent Allium classification includes 15 subgenera and 80 sections (Friesen et al. 2006). Allium is a taxonomically quite complex and has unresolved nomenclatural problems. In the last decades, many Allium taxa were newly described for Turkey and the number of species known to occur in the country is approximately 200, classified into 15 sections, ca. one-third which being endemic (Kollmann 1984, Koyuncu 2012, Özhatay & Kandemir 2014, Ekşi et al. 2015, 2016, Duman et al. 2017, Fırat et al. 2018).