Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used in animal healthcare in Bulgaria

The practice of tending livestock is among the fastest disappearing parts of traditional knowledge. Historically, the Bulgarian festive ritual character of traditional medical practice is key [1]. Detailed knowledge and scientific reconstruction of ethnological data are central to contemporary ethnobotanical studies.

Written historical sources and old medicinal manuscripts, covering the period up to modern animal husbandry were examined. Sixty-two plant taxa with an ethnovetereinary use were determined, alongside animal-based substances (6), minerals (8) and other materials of various origins (10). Only 11.3% of them do not occur in the wild. Widely used species with numerous use reports (3~5) are Achillea millefolium, Allium sativum, Nicotiana tabacum, Tеucrium chamaedrys and Veratrum lobelianum. Thirty-two families were determined. Best represented (40.3% of all taxa) are the families Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Solanaceae. Their use shows a relatively stable connection between plant-disease-animal, e.g. Verbascum phoeniceum – for the treatment of „gurlitsa“ in swine, which is also the common name of the plant. Most cited ailments are diarrhoea, different types of wounds, scabs and cold symptoms. A questionnaire intended for structured and semi-structured interviews was developed and tested with two knowledgeable informants. The historical profile of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge was drafted.

Funding The authors are grateful to the financial support of Bulgarian NSF at the Ministry of Education and Science, 2901/KP-06-China/15/17.12.2020.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 November 2023

• References

• 1 Nedelcheva A, Draganov S.. Bulgarian medicinal ethnobotany: the power of plants in pragmatic and poetic frames. In: Pieroni A, Quave CL (Eds.) Ethnobotany and Biocultural Diversities in the Balkans. NY: Springer; 2014: 45-65