Popular uses of wild plant species for medicinal purposes in the Nebrodi Regional Park (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy)

The area of the Nebrodi Regional Park (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy) has been quantitatively investigated in an ethnobotanical study for the first time. A total of 90 wild species are used for medicinal purposes and the uses of 5 species have not previously been reported in ethnobotanical studies in Italy (e.g., the use of Arisarum vulgare O. Targ. Tozz. for the treatment of rheumatic pains, the use of Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke for the treatment of liver diseases). The aim of this paper was to understand to what extent current knowledge on the medicinal use of plants is still an element of the culture within the rural populations of the Nebrodi Park. Materials and methods Semi-structured interviews were carried out in the local communities within the Nebrodi Regional Park with local people retained experts in rural traditions. A total of 226 people over the age of 60 were interviewed. Local plant uses were evaluated using ethnobotanical indices (e.g., cultural importance index, index of ethnobotanical diversity, informant consensus factor) and then compared with uses in other localities in Sicily, Italy and the Mediterranean area. Results Local communities use a total number of 90 wild species belonging to 44 plant families as medicinal remedies. The majority of the species are used as treatments against gastrointestinal system. The cultural importance index showed that Malva sylvestris (1.31) and Clinopodium nepeta (0.86) are the most important species to the Nebrodi area in terms of medicinal use. The use of Brassica rupestris Raf. for therapeutic purposes is limited to Sicily and it is an innovative finding of this study. Conclusions The research shows an ongoing process of cultural erosion in an advanced stage, but quantitative indices still highlight only for those species was a natural remedy deemed highly effective.