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An ethnobotanical survey of the Gollak region, Kosovo

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution volume 59, pages 739–754 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

An ethnobotanical field study focused on traditional uses of medicinal plants, wild food plants, and mushrooms was conducted in 37 villages in the Gollak region of eastern Kosovo. Interviews with 66 elderly informants were conducted using standard ethnobotanical methods. The uses of 92 vascular plants and 6 mushrooms species belonging to 47 different families were recorded. Mainly infusions and decoctions were quoted as folk medicinal preparations and the most commonly quoted plant medicinal uses referred to diseases of the respiratory system, skin, and gastrointestinal tract. Comparison of the collected data with the ethnobotanical findings of previously conducted studies in the surrounding Western Balkan areas showed that, even if more than the half of Gollak’s wild botanical genera quoted as medicines used are the same in Serbia and in Northern Albania, commonalities between the actual medicinal plant applications recorded in the present study and those reported for the other areas are extremely scarce. This may confirm the richness of the bio-cultural heritage of the Western Balkan region and the urgent need to conduct cross-cultural comparative field ethnobiological studies.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to all Gollak’s inhabitants who participated in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Prishtina, St. Mother Teresa, Prishtinë, Kosovo

    Behxhet Mustafa, Avni Hajdari, Qazim Pajazita & Bedije Syla

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., #511, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA

    Cassandra L. Quave

  3. University of Gastronomic Sciences, Via Amedeo di Savoia 8, 12060, Pollenzo, Italy

    Andrea Pieroni

Authors
  1. Behxhet Mustafa
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  2. Avni Hajdari
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  3. Qazim Pajazita
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  4. Bedije Syla
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  5. Cassandra L. Quave
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  6. Andrea Pieroni
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Correspondence to Avni Hajdari.

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Mustafa, B., Hajdari, A., Pajazita, Q. et al. An ethnobotanical survey of the Gollak region, Kosovo. Genet Resour Crop Evol 59, 739–754 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9715-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9715-4

Keywords

  • Albanians
  • Ethnobotany
  • Gollak
  • Kosovo
  • Medicinal plants