Traditional uses of plants in human and ethnoveterinary medicine on Mt. Rujan (southeastern Serbia)

The population from 25 villages in two municipalities on Rujan Mt. in southeastern Serbia (130 informants) was surveyed about human and ethnoveterinary medicine by completing a questionnaire containing general information about respondents and specific issues related to their applications. There were 2254 reports on the use of plants in human ethnopharmacology and 793 for ethnoveterinary medicine. The Informant Consensus Factor and comparison of ethnicity and gender for the most frequently reported plant taxa in human and ethnoveterinary medicine were calculated. Multivariate correspondence analysis was performed. A total of 101 medicinal plant taxa used in human ethnopharmacology and belonging to 42 families were recorded during the ethnobotanical research, of which 29 taxa are included in European Pharmacopoeia 10.2. The most frequently mentioned families were Asteraceae (502 reports) and Lamiaceae (404 reports). Hypericum perforatum L. (197 reports) and Matricaria chamomilla L. (164 reports) were the most used plant taxa. Among 17 categories, digestive (513 URs) and skin (331 URs) diseases were the most frequently reported. The research recorded 43 plant species used in ethnoveterinary medicine from 25 families. The most frequently mentioned families were Lamiaceae (6 reports) and Rosaceae (6 reports). The most used plant taxa were Fraxinus ornus L. (108 reports) and Helleborus odorus Waldst. & Kit. (80 reports). Among the six categories, the most reported diseases were digestive (267 reports), infectious (240 reports), and skin (159 reports). The present study contributes significantly to diversifying strategies in traditional human and ethnoveterinary medicine.