Swiss ethnoveterinary knowledge on medicinal plants – a within-country comparison of Italian speaking regions with north-western German speaking regions

Abstract

BackgroundEthnoveterinary knowledge in Europe may play an important role as a basis for sustainable treatment options for livestock. Aims of our study were (a) to compare the ethnoveterinary practices of two culturally and sociodemographically different regions of Switzerland, (b) to compare results with earlier ethnoveterinary studies conducted in Switzerland and in adjacent Italian regions and, (c) to evaluate possible reasons for regional differences in European ethnoveterinary medicine.Methods25 interviews were conducted in 2014 in all Italian speaking regions (ItR) of Switzerland, and 31 interviews were held in five north-western German speaking Cantons (GeC). Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect detailed information regarding plant species, mode of preparation, dosage, route of administration, category of use, origin of knowledge, frequency of use, and satisfaction with outcomes of the treatments.ResultsA total of 162 homemade remedies in ItR and 219 in GeC were reported, out of which 125 and 145, respectively, were reported to contain only one plant species (homemade single species herbal remedy report, HSHR). 44 ItR and 43 GeC plant species were reported to treat livestock, of which only a half were used in both regions. For each HSHR, we classified the treatment intention of all use reports (UR), leading to a total of 205 and 219 UR in ItR and GeC respectively. While cattle were the most often treated livestock species in both study regions, in ItR 40% of UR were administered to small ruminants. Main indications in both regions were gastrointestinal diseases and skin afflictions, but in ItR a high number of URs were reported as antiparasitics. URs were mainly handed down from the past generation, but in GeC the source of knowledge for 20% of URs were from courses. Regarding the used plant species, ItR showed a higher concordance with Swiss than Italian studies, but with some differences to all regions. A total of 22 (14 ItR; 8 GeC) plant species in this study have not been reported before in ethnoveterinary studies of Swiss and Italian alpine regions.ConclusionsItR and GeC, show differences and similarities with respect to their own ethnoveterinary practices and earlier Swiss and Italian ethnoveterinary studies. Linguistic, geographical, as well as social and farm-structural conditions influence the regional ethnoveterinary knowledge. However, political borders seem to be more important than language or geographical barriers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13002-016-0106-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A multicomponent herbal feed additive improves somatic cell counts in dairy cows ‐ a two stage, multicentre, placebo‐controlled long‐term on‐farm trial

“…Most herbs of the mixture are well known from European ethnoveterinary research (Mayer et al, , ; Stucki et al, ; Vogl et al, ). They have been described as orally administered for preventive purposes, such as “general strengthening” (Disler et al, ; Mayer et al, ; Stucki et al, ) or as “healthy feed” (Vogl et al, ), or for therapeutic reasons, in particular for gastrointestinal or metabolic disorders (Disler et al, ; Mayer et al, , ; Stucki et al, ).…”

Arzneipflanzen im Berner Pferdestall: Erfahrungswissen von Pferdehaltern

“…In Anlehnung an die Erfassungsmethodik vorhergehender Studien [6,7,8,9,10] wurden Pferdebesitzer aus dem Kundenstamm der Pferdepraxis Animal Support AG Ersigen (Kanton Bern) über das geplante Projekt informiert und gebeten, hierbei vorhandenes Erfahrungswissen einfließen zu lassen. In Form von spontanen Rückmeldungen wurden 7 Interviewpartner im Alter von 24-65 Jahren von pferdehaltenden Betrieben des Kantons Bern für das Projekt gefunden.…”

“…1). Selbstgemachte alkoholische Extrakte wurden im Gegensatz zu vorhergehenden Studien [5,6,7,8,9,10] von den Berner Pferdehaltern nicht genannt. Zum Einsatz kamen jedoch auch kommerziell erhältliche Fertigprodukte.…”

“…Weiterhin wurden die Präparate bei entzündeten Augen, bei Durchfällen und Sarkoiden angewendet. Im Vergleich zu vorhergehenden Studien [6,7,8,9,10] mit überwiegend nutztierhaltenden Betrieben fällt der erheblich höhere Anteil von Rezepturen auf, die für die Behandlung von Atemwegserkrankungen eingesetzt wurden, was vermutlich auf die höhere Bedeutung dieser Erkrankungskomplexe bei Pferden zurückzuführen ist. Wie auch M. Kern [16] in der Dissertation «Der Einsatz pflanzlicher Arzneien in der Kleintier- und Pferdemedizin in Oberösterreich» beschrieben hat, wurden die Arzneipflanzen häufig zur Therapie chronischer Beschwerden eingesetzt.…”

“…Neben der umfangreichen Dokumentation zum humanmedizinischen Heilpflanzengebrauch [5] wird das traditionelle Erfahrungswissen über Arzneipflanzenanwendungen beim Nutztier in der Schweiz seit 2011 systematisch erfasst [6,7,8,9,10]. Eine explizite Erfassung dieses Erfahrungswissens bei Pferdehaltern der Schweiz fehlte jedoch bisher.…”