Ethnopharmacology of Traditional Medicinal Plants in the Balkan and South East Mediterranean Region

The Balkan Peninsula and regions around the South East Mediterranean Sea are characterized by high biodiversity endemism and long tradition in folk medicine. Parts of the areas belong to one of the thirty-six world’s biodiversity hotspots due to geology, climate, and geographical location (high mountains and water near the coast). Moreover, the inhabitation and organization of societies, the development of trade among autochthonous populations along with the constant observation of nature and human health have led to the established use of various natural products as therapeutics. The empirical knowledge of these medicinal substances, mainly of plant origin, and their toxic potential was passed on by oral tradition and was sometimes recorded in texts. The ethnopharmacological knowledge found in the historical texts of these regions (from the 5th century BC to the 19th century AD) can be considered as the basis of Western pharmacopoeias. Traces for this development can be found in ancient Greece in the Corpus of Hippocrates “The Father of Medicine”, in Roman empire in the book of “De Materia Medica” of Dioscorides and the Galenic corpora, in Byzantine manuscripts in the works of Paul of Aegina and Mattheus Sylvaticus and in several manuscripts of the early modern periods found in monasteries and libraries. Beside historical texts, the significant ethnopharmacological knowledge and the experiences of people traditionally using folk medicinal practices, especially in remote places of these regions, are transmitted through generations orally. However, oral traditions on which much of this medical knowledge rests are imperiled, may eventually fade away and hence need to be recorded, assessed, and preserved.

Ethnopharmacology of Traditional Medicinal Plants in the Balkan and South East Mediterranean Region could be served as an important tool, providing a comprehensive approach to health systems in the countries of the area, preserving cultural diversity, strengthening the traditional medicine itself, despite all the tremendous advancements in modern phytochemical and medical research. Moreover, the collection of such ethnopharmacological data could offer to the current challenges including recognition towards the assessment of efficacy, quality control and safety monitoring related to traditional medicine, as well as to a future regulatory status of such herbal preparations, recognizing and promoting the historical role of complementary and traditional medicines in providing health care in this particular part of Mediterranean basin.

In this Research Topic we aim to highlight the traditional use of medicinal and edible plants in the Balkan Peninsula and Southeast Mediterranean region because, despite the rich diversity and importance, only a small proportion of the classified plants have been investigated and chemically characterized. Moreover, our goal is to present, inspire and/or encourage the scientific community of as much as possible countries of this area to investigate and test their ethnopharmacological sources as this research could overcome current limitations in drug discovery (e.g. low rates of approved new chemical entities) and lead to the integration of traditional medicine in modern health care systems.

The scope of this Research Topic is to encourage submissions (Original Research or Review articles) from countries within the Balkan Peninsula, as well as South East Mediterranean region, i.e. Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Romania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy (mostly South Italy-Sicily), Malta, Libya, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Studies dealing with plants or plant constituents outside of these regions will not be considered. We encourage submissions highlighting the traditional use of medicinal plants and fungi of these areas including subjects, but are not limited to:

• Ethnopharmacological surveys, ethnobotanical studies, as well as medicinal regimes found in historical textbooks and folktale tradition.
• Biodiversity, chemodiversity and chemotaxonomical studies of (endemic) plants with relevant traditional uses.
• Conservation and sustainable use of herbal resources, e.g. cultivation methods, crop studies, plant propagation, exploitation of medicinal and aromatic plants by-products.
• Phytochemical analysis of traditionally used medicinal plants.
• Biological evaluation of traditional herbal preparations.
• Pharmacological and clinical studies of medicinal plants and natural products.
• Bioactivity and mechanism of action studies with isolated plant-derived constituents.
• Development and application of “omics”, chemometrics, and Artificial Intelligence in Ethnopharmacology.
• Analytical methods and hyphenated techniques for the quality control of plant material, extracts, and pure compounds of traditionally used medicinal plants.
• Formulation studies on traditional herbal preparations/prescriptions.


All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed and will need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (please download the full text here). In all research dealing with plant extracts or other natural substances/compounds, the composition and the stability of the study material must be described in sufficient detail. Please also, note specifically the guidelines concerning Pharmacological Requirements (Section 1), as well as the need for testable scientific approaches to evaluate the effects of traditional medicinal preparations (Section 3d).