20 : The Plants Used in Folk Medicine in Czech Republic
Abstracts
In Europe, herbals have a long tradition. For centuries, new plant species and knowledge of these species were adduced to them, and they incorporated significant botanical and traditional knowledge of the folk medicine, transferred over generations. However, whereas the southern European states, the Mediterranean states in particular, were significantly influenced by Arabia medical prescriptions, the central European countries, and the Bohemian countries in particular, were not very influenced and kept the traditions of the plant treatment used by the Slavic nations in the Czech. Information in the public therefore improved, and they were enriched by new research. Thus, they became an important source of knowledge of medicinal plants in practical use in folk medicine.This paper compares approximately 22 species of fungi belonging to 13 families, 1 species of lichen, and 283 species of plants belonging to 81 families used as popular medicine. Among the plants, the most numerously represented are 10 families comprising 277 species ín total and which comprise 54.8% of all species of plants which have been utilized in folk medicine in the Czech Republic. Most of the species belonging to the families Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae with 37, 27, and 22 species, respectively.
Key words: Ethnobotany, Medicinal plants, Czech Republic, Traditional medicine
1. Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507, 161 06 Praha 6 –Ruzyne, Czech Republic,
* Corresponding author: E-mail: pavela@vurv.cz
Introduction
Ethno-botany and ethno-pharmacology have been differently acknowledged, mainly as tools for drug research (Schultes, 1962). In the treatment of diseases, it is essential to follow two main trends to maintain the knowledge of medicinal plants and their practical utilization.
The first trend is the oral transfer of knowledge of plants on their harvesting, storing and utilization or other drugs of the folk medicine. This oral tradition was of primary importance and gave evidence of the development of a culture. Oral sayings are very important at the present, especially in the “less developed” nations, and have been used for the search for new effective medicinal and nutritional supplements.
Written statements represent the second trend of knowledge. They enjoy a longtime tradition in Europe and they are starting to take the place of the last oral remnants, which are traditionally spread among elderly people of the countryside.
In the period of the past 2,000 years, numerous state structures and systems have changed and, in connection with this development, there has been a movement of the borders of the historical states together with a melting of their culture and traditions. A great turning-point for mankind was the discovery of America and its later colonization, along with the whole of Asia, Africa and Australia. Later, together with the development of these non-European colonies, the import of constantly new materials began to expand. Such trading included import of exotic spices, fruits, vegetables, and decorative or healing plants. These trade events influenced the development of European culture, and they also influenced the research of new information about healing plants, which later developed and was enriched. The new knowledge was transferred orally at first; later it was published in books - in the so-called herbaria.
In Europe, herbaria have a long tradition. For centuries, new plant species and knowledge of these species were attached to them, and they incorporated significant botanical and traditional knowledge of the folk medicine, transferred over generations. However, whereas the southern European states, the Mediterranean states in particular, were significantly influenced by Arabia medical prescriptions, the central European countries, and the Bohemian countries in particular, were not very influenced and kept the traditions of the plant treatment used by the Slavic nations in the Czech herbaria. Information in the public herbaria therefore improved, and they were enriched by new research. Thus, they became an important source of knowledge of medicinal plants in practical use in folk medicine.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country, lying in the central part of Europe in the middle of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The country’s borders make up neighborhood with Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia.
The major European watershed passes through the territory of the Czech Republic to separate the basins of the North, Baltic and Black Seas. Principal rivers are the Labe (370 km) and the Vltava (433 km) in Bohemia, the Morava (246 km) and the Dyje (306 km) in Moravia, and the Odra (135 km) and the Opava (131 km) in Silesia and northern Moravia.
The Czech Republic can be found on the borderline of two mountain systems. The western and central parts of the country are occupied by the hilly uplands Česká vysočina and by the low mountain ranges. The Západní Karpaty mountains (Beskydy) penetrate into the eastern part of the country. The climate of the Czech Republic is affected by the interaction of oceanic and continental effects. Western winds prevail and intensive cyclone type activities frequently change air masses and bring rather heavy precipitation. The maritime effect is mainly felt in Bohemia, continental climate effects have a bigger impact on Moravia and Silesia. Altitude and relief influence the climate to a large extent. 52 817 km2 of the country’s whole territory (66.97%) can be found at an altitude below 500 m, 25,222 km2 (31.68%) between 500 to 1,000 m, and only 827 km2 above 1,000 m. The fauna and flora found in the country also testify to the mutual penetration of principal directions in which fauna and flora have propagated in Europe.
History of herbal document in central Europe
The first remaining written herbal document from central Europe comes from the 12th century and was written by Abbot Hildegarde de Pingue. This woman wrote several books, of which the most important in the field of ethno-pharmacology is the work called Physica, written in Latin, having 383 chapters and depicting all of the knowledge collected up to then about medicinal plants of the folk medicine, enriched by her own surveillance. This book was an educational source of information for the healing by the first Czech natural healer. That was Zdislava of Lemberk, of the mid-13th century, who was the first documented natural I healer and who built a hospital for the poor in the surroundings of her residence and became systematically involved in medicinal plants and pharmacopoeia. There were many books on medicinal plants which originated between the 13th and 15th century, and none of these books originated from the Slavic traditions (Futák, 1946a).
The first herbarium to be written in Czech was the work of the Litomyšl doctor Jan Černý, called “Kniha lékafská, ktaráž slovë Herbár aneb Zelináf”. The book was published in Nuremberg in 1517. The 16th century was very important for the further development of the cultivation and utilization of medicinal plants. During this period, Petr Ondfej Matthioli, became substantially involved in the development and spread of medicinal plants. Matthioli’s Herbaria, first published in Venice in 1544, was entered into the history of Czech culture of the humanist period in an unorthodox way. In 1554, Matthiolli settled in Prague and became the personal physician of the emperor Maxmilián II. His work was translated into Czech by Tadeáš Hájek of Hájek, and the public herbarium which he edited was published in 1562 (Matthioli and Hájek of Hájek, 1982). Since that time, the Herbarium has been published almost unchanged in several reprints, the last of which was issued in 2005.
In 1592, Adam Zálužanský of Zálužany’s work called “Tři knihy bylinářskych metod” was published. However, these three books were all in Latin and they didn’t catch much of the public’5 attention. For the first time, jn 1793, another 200 years later, Juraj Fándly wrote his first “Národní herbář Slovenska”, which quickly came into use by Czech people. In the 19th century, many works were published, the most important of which were the “Rostlinopísný atlas”, published in 1890 and also in 1898 (Kneipp, 1898), and the monograph “Léčivé rostliny - Herbaria”, published in 1898 (Dlouhý, 1898).
In the 20th century, decades of various herbaria, some of which were only translations of foreign literature, were published (especially in the latter half of the century). However, some authors revised and summarized some herbaria accessible at that time in a good manner: they produced several works which summed up other works of some Czech authors (Hojka, 1925; Futák, 1946; Petrbok & Ušák, 1958; Mackù & Krejča, 1964; Příhoda, 1973) or they published their own longtime experience (Janča & Zentrich, 1994). Rare herbaria were published by some natural healers who used the entire, at that time, accessible literature about medicinal plants of the folk medicine in the Czech lands, in addition publishing their own longtime experience. So far, the largest work of this kind was “Herbář léčivých rostlin”, by Janča & Zentrich, who were well known natural healers at that time. However, even a large work of this kind was incomplete because the knowledge of other plant species was depicted by other herbaria and was therefore missing.
These facts direct us towards the conviction that a complete review of the herbaria and of other literature depicting medicinal plants is important to conduct because it is the only way to gain of a complete grasp of traditional medicinal plants and about their possible use ín the medicine for individual ethno-geographical regions.
This review sums up information about folk herbaria which have a direct ethno botanical connection to the traditional use of plants in the Czech lands. Literature was included from authors who had either summarized then-renowned literature or oral sayings (Krkavec & Hájková, 1962; Mackù & Kreja, 1964; Korbelá , 1981; Bodlák & Zentrich, 1995; Bodlák et al., 1995) in a sufficient or hígh-quality manner or from authors who had summarized their own life experience in monographs (Jana & Zentrich, 1994; Jana, 1995; Jana & Zentrich, 1995; Jana & Zentrich, 1996; Jana & Zentrich, 1997; Jana & Zentrich, 1998; Vá a, 2003). Only plants which had their origins or were transplanted in Central Europe (Dostál, 1989) were included. Plants which do not have a historically well-founded tradition in cultivation, such as, e.g. tropical or sub-tropical species of vegetables and spices, were intentionally excluded.
Medicinal plants used in Czech Republic
Table 1 shows 22 species of fungi divided into 13 families, 1 species of lichen, and 283 species of plants (5.7% of all plants in the Czech Republic) divided into 81 families. Among the plants, the most numerously represented are 10 families comprising 277 species in total and which comprise 54.8% of all species of plants which have been utilized in folk medicine in the Czech Republic (Table 2). The majority of species are represented by the Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae family, with 37, 27, and 22 species respectively.
Discussion
According to an ethno-botanical survey about the knowledge of plants in the Czech Republic, several species of plants are very popular in folk medicine and are very often utilized as ancillary teas and concoctions in the treatment of, in particular, colds, influenzas and illnesses of the upper and lower respiratory tract, and furthermore as a prevention against these abovementioned diseases. The most often utilized plants include: Allium cepa, Chamomilla recutita, Crategus sp., Plantago sp., Prímula veris, Rosa canina, Sambucus nigra, Thymus sp., Tilia sp., Tussilago farfara and Urtica dioica. Even though treatments for colds and illnesses of the respiratory tract are the most common and most used, there are also other species of plants against disease which are known among the people.
As an astringent and hemostatic, the most well known in the subconscious of the people are fresh leaves, respectively, the sap of the Plantago sp. leaves, a concoction from Agrimonia eupatoria; the most widespread medicine against piles are coverings and baths with the sap from the root of the Daucus carota carrot and a concoction from oak bark {Quercus sp.); most often utilized against problems of the limbs, including a treatment for rheumatism, are Urtica sp., Sambucus nigra, Achillea sp., Betula pendula, Borago officinalis and Polygonum sp. Most commonly ušed for common skin diseases and burns are Chamomilla recutita, Chelidonium majus, Hypericum sp., Petasites hybridus, Urtica sp. As an anthelmintics used Allium sativum, Artemisia sp., Carum carvi, Cota tínctoria, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Tanacetum vulgare and Dryopteris filix-mas. At least some of these plants are among the standard equipment of nearly every village household.
Table 1: List of the medicinal plants of Czech Republic.
Table 2. Most numerously represented families
| Families | Number of taxa | %* |
| Apiaceae | 8 | 2.8 |
| Asteraceae | 37 | 13.1 |
| Brassicaceae | 9 | 3.2 |
| Daucaceae | 11 | 3.9 |
| Fagaceae | 15 | 5.3 |
| Lamiaceae | 27 | 9.5 |
| Linaceae | 8 | 2.8 |
| Rosaceae | 22 | 7.8 |
| Scrophulariaceae | 9 | 3.2 |
| Ranunculaceae | 9 | 3.2 |
| In sum | 277 | 54.8 |
* Percentage from all medicinal plants used in the traditional medicine of Czech Republic
Fungi have a significant representation among the healing plants. Fungi range among the most popular dishes of Czech cuisine. The Czech people usually go to the woods to pick up some wild living fungi. Fungi collection happened to a Czech “national sporting event”. Czech cuisine can offer various methods of preparation of different types of fungi, whereby 22 fungi species have different actions, such as astringent, hemostatic, antiaphrodisiac, tonic laxative, or anti-laxative, digestive, and also used for bronchitis, antiphlogosis and dermatitis (Table 1).
A large number of plant species which have been utilized as folk medicine also grow in locations in Western and Southern Europe. If we compared the different utilization of these species of plants in folk medicine, we would come to the conclusion that the majority of these species have a very similar therapeutic utilization in traditional medicine throughout the Europe; nevertheless, with some species of plants, the therapeutic utilization diametrically differs. Table 3 shows some of the most significant examples: e.g., Achillea milefolium has been utilized in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Italia as a diuretic and heamostatic; in Turkey this plant has been used as an anti-laxative which could correspond to its astringent and diuretic effects; however, in Spain, this plant has been utilized, among other purposes, as a laxative.
Particularly interesting is the utilization of the onion (Allium cepa). In the Czech Republic, this vegetable has been utilized as a very effective medicine in the treatment of all types of colds with an irritating cough. In this situation, the onion is boiled and, after it is strained, it is mixed with honey and given several times a day. A medicine prepared in this way shows, very good expectorant effects especially in children. In other parts of Europe, this method of utilization has not yet been documented (Table 2).
On the other hand, there is a very similar utilization throughout the whole of Europe of plants such as Urtica sp. (anti-rheumatic, diuretic, blood depurative), Tilia sp. (sedative, nervine), Sambucus nigra (antiphlogosis, for neuralgia, antirheumatic), Potentilla sp. (astringents). Other examples are shown in Table 3. Other authors (Laporatti & Ivancheva, 2003) also came to similar conclusions.
Conclusions
European medicinal plants have helped us in the treatment of various diseases since the beginning of mankind. People have kept information about them, about their determination, collection and use, by means of oral traditions and, later and at present, by means of written statements. The transfers of written statements about the traditional use of medicinal plants are represented, mostly, in public herbaria, which have been published within the last 700 years and have been continuously enriched by new information and researched based upon new experience of doctors or natural healers. They comprise as yet unproven information about the effects of a plant on some diseases, and therefore they serve as a large basis for study. It is necessary to study this information in order to utilize it in the search for new medicaments.
However, the herbaria which were published in past centuries differ by their content (e.g., by the volume of the depicted plants or by some data about their possible utilization). The herbaria of natural healers are rated exceptionally for the amount of depicted information about their individual research in the treatment of their patients. Even if modem herbaria come out of a synthesis of data researched from the historical herbaria, enriched by the research of the natural healers, these works are usually incomplete. This review sums up basic information about medicinal plants used in Czech folk medicine, and it presents us with a complete survey of medicinal plants of an ethno botanical origin of the central European region.
The ethno-pharmaco-botanical review strengthens the firm belief that ethno botanical findings represent an important shared heritage, which should not be relegated to a narrow cultural and historical context but should be researched in order to provide new, useful and important knowledge. Today, in fact, many invaluable drugs have found their importance for the present as a result of this research. It is equally clear why a study aimed at discovering more efficient folk medicines must carefully compare every new biologically active compound with the potential healing effects of the plants.
Table 3. Examples of comparable or different therapeutic uses of some plants in European traditional medicine.
Acknowledgements
The work presented here is part of the work of the Screening of biological activities of plants of Euro-Asian area on insect pest (project No. 1P05ME764).
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