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Medical ethnobotany

Guest Editors:
Adeyemi O. Aremu, PhD, North-West University, South Africa
Binsheng Luo, PhD, Lushan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Sakina Mussarat, PhD, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Pakistan
 

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies called for submissions to our collection on Medical ethnobotany. We welcomed studies that identify, document, and study the ways communities and people use medicinal plants, research into their chemical compounds, including their safety and efficacy, and research into the cultural and ecological context of plants as medicine. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies launched this collection to highlight the significance of medical ethnobotany within the field of complementary medicine, and to underline the importance of conserving and respecting indigenous knowledge.

New Content ItemThis Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 15: Life on Land.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Adeyemi O. Aremu: North-West University, South Africa

Adeyemi O. Aremu is a researcher at the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Centre, North-West University, South Africa, and the President of the South Africa Association of Botanists. Adeyemi’s research group focuses on the holistic value-chain on African floras. This entails the documentation of their indigenous knowledge, bioactivity testing, phytochemical characterization, safety evaluation, conservation, and economic potential.
 

Binsheng Luo: Lushan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Binsheng Luo is a researcher at Lushan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. His main research interests focus on ethnobotany, plant metabolomics, protection and exploitation of traditional botanical knowledge. Dr Luo currently leads research on collection and ethnobotanical study of wild plant genetic resources in Jiangxi Province, China, traditional plant use in the Hakka communities of China, germination, cultivation, and domestication of Chinese Gaultheria species.
 

Sakina Mussarat: Kohat University of Science and Technology, Pakistan

Sakina Mussarat is a researcher at Kohat University of Science and Technology, Pakistan, specialized in medicinal plants and their pharmacology. Dr Mussarat investigates the efficacy of medicinal plants through in vitro and in vivo experiments, and by isolating their active phytoconstituents. Her research interests include ethnobotany, ethnoveterinary practices, phytochemistry, nanoparticles from medicinal plants, toxicology, climate change and stress physiology.

About the Collection

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our collection on Medical ethnobotany.

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies has launched this collection in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 15 “Life on Land” and aims to highlight the significance of medical ethnobotany within the field of complementary medicine, and to underline the importance of conserving and respecting indigenous knowledge. We welcome studies that identify, document, and study the ways communities and people use medicinal plants, research into their chemical compounds, including their safety and efficacy, and research into the cultural and ecological context of plants as medicine.

Giving light to the complex, and long-standing relationship between humans and plants, the multidisciplinary field of medical ethnobotany has played a significant role in laying the foundation for our understanding of medicine. Beyond the development of medicine, medical ethnobotany has contributed to the preservation of biodiversity, and increased awareness of our relationship to the environment. However, a significant amount of traditional knowledge of plant medicine is yet to be documented and researched, or is underused. By delving into the diverse ways of how communities are harnessing the power of plants, we open up new possibilities for using medicinal plants for the advancement of medicine.

Image credit: Davizro / Getty Images / iStock

  1. Cucurbita pepo cv Dayangua (CPD) is an edible plant with diverse pharmacological properties. The current research on CPD has primarily focused on initial investigations of its chemical composition and pharmacolog...

    Authors: Huan Zhang, Yazhou Zhou, Zhiyuan Pan, Bikun Wang, Lei Yang, Nan Zhang, Baiyi Chen, Xiaona Wang, Zhiguang Jian, Likun Wang, Hui Ling, Xiaoming Qin, Zhelin Zhang, Teng Liu, Aiping Zheng, Yafang Tan…
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2024 24:243
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. This collection on medical ethnobotany focuses on contributions that explore the invaluable potential associated with the ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants, their phytochemical profiling, safety, and eff...

    Authors: Adeyemi O. Aremu, Binsheng Luo and Sakina Mussarat
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2024 24:216
    Content type: Editorial Published on:

  3. Diabetes is a leading health disorder and is responsible for high mortality rates across the globe. Multiple treatment protocols are being applied to overcome this morbidity and mortality including plant-based...

    Authors: Amina Nazar, Muhammad Adnan, Syed Majid Shah, Ahmed Bari, Riaz Ullah, Akash Tariq and Nisar Ahmad
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2024 24:173
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. This ethnobotanical study in Dunyapur, District Lodhran, Pakistan, focuses on traditional medicinal knowledge, exploring 41 plants across 28 families. The research involves 496 informants from diverse backgrou...

    Authors: Tauseef Anwar, Huma Qureshi, Sumbal Shahzadi, Ejaz Hussain Siddiqi, Hayssam M. Ali, Mohamed M. A. Abdelhamid and Muhammad Nazim
    Citation: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 2024 24:86
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Medical ethnobotany" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.