Ethno-Botanical Study of Appetizing Medicinal Plants Used in Musian City, West of Iran

ABSTRACT


Intorduction
Anorexia is one of the problems that can occur at any age and with any condition.Sometimes parents complain about their children's anorexia, and sometimes adults become anorexic due to digestive or nervous problems.This issue can lead to anemia, weakness, digestion problems, severe weight loss or other diseases (Morley and Silver, 1988).Anorexia is more commonly known as anorexia nervosa.In fact, this disease includes two cases of eating disorder and metabolic disease, which causes excessive weight loss and severe emaciation due to starvation (Serpell et al., 1999).In other words, anorexia nervosa is a type of eating disorder characterized by abnormally low weight, extreme fear of gaining weight, and a false perception of weight.People with anorexia nervosa make a lot of effort to control their weight, so that this effort disrupts their lives (Bruch et al., 1982).Studies have estimated that approximately 2% of American women and 0.3% of men will suffer from this disease during their lifetime (Roux et al., 2012).Anorexia or appetite disorders are commonly seen in different age groups.Anorexia can be pathological or physiological.Anorexia nervosa, which has a high prevalence among young girls, is one of the types of anorexia (Keski-Rahkonen et al., 2007).Severe weight loss, decreased libido and sexual power, sleep problems and chronic fatigue, feeling dizzy, stomach pain, constipation and abdominal bloating, body cooling or low body temperature, soft and thin hair growth all over the body, irritability and moodiness, problem in concentrating and low blood pressure, loss of appetite leads to anorexia (Keski-Rahkonen et al., 2007).Just as many people suffer from weight gain and obesity and look for medicinal herbs and herbal teas for weight loss, but there are also people who suffer from underweight and thinness and seek herbal and natural herbal teas for weight gain.Ethnobotany studies and examines how people of a particular tribe, culture or region use native plants in that region.Considering that the methods and uses of medicinal plants are different in different regions (Shahsavari, 2021).Ethnobotany is a method of scientific monitoring of the information available in the public mind.The topic of this science is related to the use of plants in the life of the people of a nation (Baharvand Ahmadi et al., 2016;Saki et al., 2023;Mangena et al., 2021;Graily afra et al., 2020).A very important part of the sources of information in an ethnobotanical study is related to the data obtained from the natural life of the people of a nation (about their attitude towards plants), which usually has a narrative structure in the mind and language of those people (Azarpendar et al., 2022).Usually, medicinal plants that are used as appetizers for weight gain are high in fiber and protein (Zargari, 1997).In traditional Iranian medicine, medicinal plants such as thyme, wormwood, bay leaf, okra, barberry, olive, lettuce, banana, valerian, rhubarb, dill, fenugreek and many other medicinal plants are used as appetizers (Zargari, 1994;Hosseinnia et al. 2020;Ebrahimi et al. 2022;Saif et al. 2021).Ethnobotany is the study of traditional and local use of plants of different regions by local people and different cultures.Its purpose is to describe the relationships between cultures and plants, focusing on how they are used.Local people and elders of each region often have a lot of knowledge about the traditional uses of plants.Therefore, in this study, we tried to make an ethnobotanical evaluation in the city of Musian, located in the city of Dehlran in the province of Ilam.

Materials and Methods
In this ethnobotanical study, indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants used as an appetizer in Musian city from May 2022 to January 2023 was conducted through face-to-face interview and using a questionnaire among 28 traditional healers in Musian (western Iran).These questionnaires included demographic and specialized information on medicinal plants.The questioners personally referred to the studied subjects and recorded the herbal beliefs of anorectic/anoretic plants in relation to receiving information.Out of 28 people studied, 4 were women and 24 were men.The education level of the people was from diploma to master's degree.The results obtained from the questionnaires were directly transferred to the relevant tables and recorded.Finally, the data were analyzed by Excel.In this study, the number of times the plant was used was calculated through the following formula.The number of times of use = the number of people who mentioned the effect of the plant ÷ the total number of people who filled out the questionnaires × 100

Results
After analyzing the ethnobotanical information of the region about appetizing plants and entering the data into Excel, the results of the study showed that there are 12 types of medicinal plants in Musian, including mountain almond, corn flower, fig, mallow, pennyroyal plant, sumac, thyme, alfalfa, flax, yarrow, Alhagi, and alyssum which are used in the ethnobotanical knowledge of this region as herbal medicine for anorexia (appetizer).Additional information about appetizing medicinal plants is given in Table 1.The results of the statistical analysis of the number of plant families are shown in figure 1. Asteraceae, Laminaceae, and Fabaceae with 2 plant species are the most plant families that are used as appetizers in the region.Also, the percentage of plant organs used in this study is shown in figure 2. Aerial organs are the most used plant organs in the region with 46%.Additional information about the plant organs used is given in figure 2.   toothache, and insomnia (Al-Snafi et al., 2019).Sumac is used as a diuretic, treatment of hemorrhoids, infections and diabetes (Alsamri et al., 2021).In traditional medicine, alfalfa and flax are used to remove abdominal fat and cholesterol (Al-Snafi et al., 2021;Saleem et al., 2020).Among the healing properties of yarrow in traditional medicine, we can mention infection, stopping bleeding, strengthening the liver, reducing menstrual pains, relieving joint pain, strengthening the stomach and removing flatulence, treating bladder and kidney stones, removing skin spots and acne (Barda et al., 2021).Itching is used in the treatment of colds, diabetes, kidney stones, infections, anti-inflammation and pain relief (Zakerian et al., 2021).
Pennyroyal is used for digestive disorders, liver, diabetes, heart, menstruation, and weight loss (Khalili et al., 2021).The change of society's approach to the use of herbal medicines goes back to the ancient place of plants among people and their traditional knowledge of plants and realizing the harmful effects of chemical medicines.Explaining the issue of using nature and the plants in it has been of interest to mankind since ancient times, and basically, the early man went through the stages of his development and evolution in nature (Zhao et al., 2019;Salmerón-Manzano et al., 2020).Ethnobotanical study of some medicinal plants of Kerman province identified the Lamiaceae family as the dominant species of the region, and their findings are in accordance with the findings of the present research (Sharifinia et al., 2021).In another study conducted by Dolatkhahi et al. (2012), Dolatkhahi et al. (2012) showed that the chicory family (Asteraceae) is the dominant species in Kazeron, which is consistent with the results of our study (Dolatkhahi et al., 2012).

Conclusions
The change of society's approach to the use of herbal medicines goes back to the ancient place of plants among people and their traditional knowledge of plants and realizing the harmful effects of chemical medicines.
Identifying and introducing the local reserves of plants of each region, the forms and traditional uses of these plants, considering the ecological diversity of Iran, can provide useful information in the field of medicinal activities and the health system of society.Ethnobotany is a powerful tool to obtain valuable information from medicinal plants used in different cultures, which provides the basis for the discovery of new drugs.
Medicinal plants of Musian region can be used as herbal medicine to treat anorexia.

Figure 1 .Figure 2 .
Figure 1.Number of plant families used as appetizers in the treatment of anorexia

Table 1 .
The medicinal plant used in the ethnobotanical knowledge of Musian city (Iran) as herbal medicine for anorexia wounds, urinary tract irritation, bladder infection, softness and smoothness of the skin, swelling of the mouth and throat, uterine tonic, laxative, diuretic, pain reliever, cough treatment, acne and insect bite treatment, skin itching treatment.It is used to treat eczema, treat gallstones, treat kidney stones, treat kidney inflammation, treat headaches, and relieve constipation, (Shi.Et al. 2023)an, for the treatment of anorexia.In traditional medicine, almonds are used to stimulate appetite and relieve toothache(Shi.Et al. 2023).According to traditional medicine, corn flower has a warm and dry nature, and in cases of enhancing vision and anti-inflammation of the free side of the eyelids and Figs are rich in nutritious minerals including iron, calcium and potassium.The amount of fiber in figs is higher than other fruits or vegetables.Fig increases body sweating.It is diuretic.If urine secretion is low, eating figs will increase it.It reduces body heat (Li et al., 2021).One of the properties of mallow is to help https://jbcpm.com/treat