Tangled history of the European uses of Sphagnum moss and sphagnol

Drobnik, Jacek; Stebel, Adam

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2017.07.025

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Wound dressings made of Sphagnum were developed in Germany in 1882 (Drobnik and Stebel 2017 ), but German articles “were not republished or even abstracted in English until after the (First World) war began […]” (Porter 1917 ). Both J. Bauhin ( 1651 ) and J. Boecler ( 1731 ) wrote about Brachythecium rutabulum, providing examples of the use of such moss dressings predating the use of Sphagnum in Germany by 231 years, and by some 263 years in England and the USA (Porter 1917 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since Galen’s first century works listed mostly Italian medicinal plants, these books enabled local inhabitants, including pharmacists and physicians, to harvest medicinal raw materials locally (Cooper 2010 ). Historical medical applications of some species bryophytes listed in these catalogues correspond with today’s pharmacological knowledge of the herb (Asakawa 2007 ; Asakawa et al 2013 ; Drobnik and Stebel 2014 , 2015 , 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Medicinal use of Sphagnum peat was reported in folk medicine even earlier. Despite numerous biochemical studies of the multiple positive healing effects of Sphagnum, they were only finally accepted and described in the 1990s after experimental studies by the prominent British chemist, Terence J. Painter (Painter 1991 , 1998 , 2003 ; Børsheim et al 2001 ; Stalheim et al 2009 ; Drobnik and Stebel 2017 ), which facilitated the effective application of sphagnan (a Sphagnum herb component) for skin and wound infections.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Brachythecium rutabulum, A Neglected Medicinal Moss

Drobnik

Stebel

2017

Hum Ecol

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Brachythecium rutabulum, A Neglected Medicinal Moss

Drobnik

Stebel

2017

Hum Ecol

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“…to ensure stable humidity. Sphagnum is widely used as a “non‐infectious” substrate for lepidopteran pupae being known to harbor a mixture of antiseptic phenols (Drobnik & Stebel, 2017 ). Unlike most other organic substrates, it never develops an overgrowth of saprotrophic fungi which would obviously have been undesirable in the present study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of ecological determinants of fungal infections: A semi‐field experiment with folivorous moths

Gielen

Põldmaa

Tammaru

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Natural enemies shape the fate of species at both ecological and evolutionary time scales. While the effects of predators, parasitoids, and viruses on insects are well documented, much less is known about the ecological and evolutionary role of entomopathogenic fungi. In particular, it is unclear to which extent may the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of these pathogens create selective pressures on ecological traits of herbivorous insects. In the present study, we reared three lepidopteran species in semi‐natural conditions in a European hemiboreal forest habitat. We studied the probability of the insects to die from fungal infection as a function of insect species, food plant, study site, (manipulated) condition of the larvae, and the phenological phase. The prevalence of entomopathogenic fungi remained low to moderate with the value consistently below 10% across the subsets of the data while as many as 23 fungal species, primarily belonging to the families Cordycipitaceae, Aspergillaceae, and Nectriaceae, were recorded. There were no major differences among the insect species in prevalence of the infections or in the structure of associated fungal assemblages. The family Cordycipitaceae, comprising mainly obligatory entomopathogens, dominated among the pathogens of pupae but not among the pathogens of larvae. Overall, there was evidence for a relatively weak impact of the studied ecological factors on the probability to be infected by a fungal pathogen; there were no effects of food plant, study site, or phenology which would be consistent over the study species and developmental stages of the insects. Nevertheless, when the prevalence of particular fungal taxa was studied, Akanthomyces muscarius was found infecting insects fed with leaves of only one of the food plant, Betula spp. Feeding on a particular plant taxon can thus have specific fitness costs. This demonstrates that fungus‐mediated effects on insect life history traits are possible and deserve attention.

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“…Peat, having unique pectin-like substances (sphagnan), which is resistant to microbial attack so depletion of nutrients rarely occurs in peat during storage. Due to the presence of sphgnan (antimicrobial compound) in the cell wall, peat moss was historically used in wound dressing [ 94 ]. However, there are some reports of self-heating of peat during storage, leading to the production of phytotoxic compounds rendering the PM unmarketable [ 95 , 96 ].…”

Section: Characteristics Of Potting Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Agro-industrial-residues as potting media: physicochemical and biological characters and their influence on plant growth

Agarwal

Saha

Hariprasad

2021

Biomass Conv. Bioref.

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Graphical abstract Nursery cultivation is recognized globally as an intensive production system to support quality seedlings as well as to manage resources efficiently. Apart from other factors, potting media (PM) play a crucial role in determining the success of nursery cultivation. Worldwide, peat is the most commonly used substrate in PM because of its favorable physicochemical properties. However, due to ascending environmental and ecological concerns regarding the use of peat, a variety of new substrates have been used/tested by researchers/practitioners/growers as PM. Bark, coir pith, wood fiber, compost derived from various agro-residues, and vermicompost either alone or in combination are some of the commonly explored substrates and found to have the potential to replace peat to a greater extent. In lieu of availability, abundance, low cost, and no/low processing requirement, the use of agro-industrial residue (AIR) in the PM is the current trend. However, challenges associated with their adoption cannot be ignored. The present review is focused on providing collective information, scientific knowledge and detailed analysis of various AIR used in PM. The critical evidence-based review would help in developing a consistent approach for the identification, selection and characterization of a new renewable substrate. In addition, it would help in developing a rationale understanding of the practical and economic realities involved in the adoption of the same in PM. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13399-021-01998-6.

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Tangled history of the European uses of Sphagnum moss and sphagnol

Cited by 16 publications

References 28 publications

Brachythecium rutabulum, A Neglected Medicinal Moss

Brachythecium rutabulum, A Neglected Medicinal Moss

In search of ecological determinants of fungal infections: A semi‐field experiment with folivorous moths

Agro-industrial-residues as potting media: physicochemical and biological characters and their influence on plant growth

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