Medicinal plant Informant consensus factor Baluch Iran A B S T R A C T The objective of this study was to establish a regional profile of the indigenous knowledge on the treatment of various gynaecological disorders by Baluch Tribes of Iran. The ethical guidelines adopted by the International Society of Ethnobiology were strictly followed during the field survey. Data were collected during 2013-2014 based on interviews, group conversations and close consultation with local informants. Participants were selected using the snowball sampling technique. Secondary methods of data collection were also used for triangulation. A quantitative analysis including the informant consensus factor and use value was performed to evaluate the medicinal plants. A total of 33.3% Baluch women reported high affiliation with herbal remedies for gynaecological problems, while others attribute was also positive for medicinal plants. A total of eighty plant species belonging to 43 botanical families were documented. Levels of Relative frequency of citation decreased as follows: Nigella sativa (0.92), Pistacia atlantica (0.91), Anethum graveolens (0.88), Carum carvi (0.87) and Trigonella foenum-graecum (0.85). Results of the informant consensus factor showed that menstrual problems (0.87) and vaginal infection (0.74) were the most common problems of women in the studied area. The use value and informant consensus factor validated that the relative importance of plant species and shared knowledge of herbal therapies between Baluch womenfolk of this area is still rich.
Perovskia artemisioides is a perennial and aromatic
plant distributed in the Baluchestan region of Iran. In the present
work, an n-hexane extract of P. artemisioides aerial parts showed excellent capabilities to both inhibit the formation
of biofilms by different Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens
and block the cell metabolism within microbial biofilms. To correlate
the activity of the extract with the biologically active compounds
present, first an analytical approach based on LC-HRMS/MSn was carried out. The metabolite profile obtained guided the isolation
of 21 compounds, among which two sesquiterpenes (8 and 9) and one diterpene (10) were found to be new.
The antimicrobial activity of the isolated compounds was evaluated
by determining how they were able not only to reduce the growth of
different Gram-positive and Gram-negative human bacteria and phytopathogens
but also to inhibit the formation of biofilms by these bacteria and
affect the metabolism of microbial cells present within the biofilms.
With the aim of correlating the activity exhibited by the extract
with the concentration levels of the constituent compounds, a quantitative
determination was carried out by an analytical approach based on LC-ESI/QTrap/MS.
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