Comparative analysis of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Italy and Tunisia

Abstract

BackgroundItaly and Tunisia (Africa for the Romans), facing each other on the opposite sides of the Mediterranean Sea, have been historically linked since the ancient times. Over the centuries both countries were mutually dominated so the vestiges and traces of a mutual influence are still present. The aim of the present study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the medicinal species present in the respective Floras in order to explore potential analogies and differences in popular phytotherapy that have come out from those reciprocal exchanges having taken place over the centuriesMethodsThe comparative analysis based on the respective floras of both countries takes into consideration the bulk of medicinal species mutually present in Italy and Tunisia, but it focuses on the species growing in areas which are similar in climate. The medicinal uses of these species are considered in accordance with the ethnobotanical literature.ResultsA list of 153 medicinal species belonging to 60 families, present in both floras and used in traditional medicine, was drawn. A considerable convergence in therapeutic uses of many species emerged from these data.ConclusionThis comparative analysis strengthens the firm belief that ethno-botanical findings represent not only an important shared heritage, developed over the centuries, but also a considerable mass of data that should be exploited in order to provide new and useful knowledge.

A Review on Globally Used Antiurolithiatic Monoherbal Formulations Belonging to Boraginaceae, Brassicaceae, Malvaceae and Poaceae Families

“…[11] Pliny the Elder (Naturalis Historis): Leaves are diuretic. [11] Aerial parts decoction ---Italy, Tunisia [44] , Turkey [45] ; whole plant decoction ---Jordan. [40] Turkey: 125 ml of aerial parts decoction BD for 15 days.…”

“…[11] Rhizome decoction ---India, Iran, Libya, Spain, Turkey, Yemen [5,6,26] , Italy, Tunisia [44] , Pakistan [51] ; rhizome infusion ---Turkey [52] ; leaves decoction ---Bangladesh, India. [6,53] India: Roots decoction with honey BD for 21 days [54] ; Iran: Boil 15 g of dried roots in one L of water for 10 mins.…”

“…Leaves / fruit ---Bangladesh [6] ; seeds decoction ---Iran [16] , Israel [8] , Palestine [6] ; flowers decoction ---India, Jordan, Pakistan, Yemen [6,68] , Uzbekistan [69] ; corn silk decoction ---Spain, Turkey [5,70] , Italy, Tunisia [44] ; corn silk infusion ---Algeria. [7] India: 50 ml of corn silk extract OD for 30 days.…”

Contribution to Globularia phylogeny based on nuclear ribosomal spacer and two chloroplast DNA regions

“…From an economic point of view, several Globularia species are valuable herbal plants, for example G. alypum L. and G. trichosantha Fisch & C.A. Mey., used in traditional medicine of countries such as Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Turkey (18,19,20). Several recent investigations showed that some widespread European taxa also exhibit medicinal potential (21,22).…”

Induction of Apoptosis by Fatty Acid Rich Fraction of Solanum Nigrum on Cervical Cancer Cell Lines

“…in recent times the plant is reported to have anticancer activities. Anti-proliferative activity of phytochemicals from this plants (as crude extract and isolated compound form) were studied on several tumor cell lines, such as, liver (HepG2) [1,2], colon (HT29 and HCT-116) [1,2], breast (MCF) [3,4] and cervical cancer (U14) [5,6] and (HeLa) [7]. Solanine (glycoalkaloid) isolated from S. nigrum induced caspase dependent apoptosis in HepG2 cell line following mitochondrial pathway [8].…”