title: Use of medicinal plants in the South-Eastern area of the Partenio Regional Park (Campania, Southern Italy).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study documents the pharmaceutical importance of plant resources in the South-Eastern area of the Partenio Regional Park (PRP), inland Campania, Avellino province. This is reflected in the great diversity of plants used for medicinal purposes as well as in their wide range of medicinal applications.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to collect information on medicinal plants used in the investigated area and to maximize the collection of local knowledge, informants were randomly contacted in the streets, squares and fields. Data were collected through both open and semi-structured interviews with native people between April 2012 and April 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study recorded 87 plant species belonging to 76 genera and 35 families used as medicine for treating various diseases, both human and veterinary. Herbs represent the majority (56 species), followed by trees (18) and shrubs (13). Among the recorded plants, leaves were the most frequently used and topic use is the most common remedy. Cough is the most treated human disease followed by wounds healing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The investigated area is endowed with a strong tradition of herbal medicine usage for primary healthcare (PHC). The preservation of this knowledge is due to the continued use of plants for PHC by the local community. This is due to the fact that in the study area still exists an oral tradition that allows the persistence of such information. Recovering ancient knowledge is very important for preserving ethno-biodiversity and to discover new entities for a further evaluation of their biological activity.
authors.affiliation: University of Naples Federico II, Department of Biology, Via Foria 223, 80139 Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: bruno.menale@unina.it.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Menale
authors.affiliation: University of Naples Federico II, Botanical Garden of Naples, Via Foria 223, 80139 Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: muoio@unina.it.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muoio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007558:Italy; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D014730:Veterinary Medicine / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations
keywords: Ethnobotanical study; Medicinal plants; Partenio Regional Park; Plant traditional uses