ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY IN VALMALENCO (SONDRIO, ITALY): STUDY AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE PLANT AND CULTURAL BIODIVERSITY
Tesi di Dottorato
Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY IN VALMALENCO (SONDRIO, ITALY): STUDY AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE PLANT AND CULTURAL BIODIVERSITY / M. Bottoni ; tutor: G. Fico; Coordinatore: G. Vistoli. Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, 2023 Mar 27. 35. ciclo, Anno Accademico 2022.
Abstract:
Background - This thesis is part of the three-year European Italy-Switzerland Interreg research program B-ICE (ID. 63143) aimed at promoting a sustainable management model for the ongoing climate change in Valmalenco (Sondrio, Lombardy, Italy) and to reach new sources for the local enhancement through the proposal of an ethnobotanical investigation. In an era in which the awareness about the impact of global warming on mountain biodiversity is growing, the preservation of the traditional know-how related to the plant uses can represent an alternative strategy for the sustainable development of Alpine regions, in accordance with the “cultural tourism” plans. Moreover, the abandonment of local traditional practices might involve a loss of access to a stock of bioactive compounds potentially useful for therapeutic applications. According to an ethno-direct approach, candidate plants can be selected by using information collected in ethnobotanical field research and the uses reported by informants need to be verified through laboratory insights. From 2019 to 2022, the ethnobotanical survey was conducted in the municipalities of Chiesa in Valmalenco, Caspoggio, Lanzada, Spriana, and Torre di Santa Maria, where traditional know-how related to the use of plants still survive.
Aim – In this context, the doctoral project pursued the conduction of the ethnobotanical survey, followed by the in-depth analysis of the primary data for further scientific studies in the pharmaceutical filed. To this purpose, the work combined sequential multidisciplinary and complementary research activities with the aim of selecting a medicinal plant species and understanding its values in terms of potential source of new bioactive compounds.
Materials and Methods – The ethnobotanical field work allowed the documentation of the traditional uses of the autochthonous plant species trough the proposal of open and semi-structured interviews to the local communities, paying attention to the therapeutic uses of plants. Primary data were archived in a database and analysed by means of pivot tables and ethnobotanical indexes (Informant Consensus Factor, Fidelity Level), reaching the selection of a medicinal plant, worthy of further laboratory insights. The experimental investigation started with a micromorphological survey on the traditional herbal drug by means of Light (LM), Fluorescent (FM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The purpose was to identify the secreting structures responsible for the productivity of the secondary metabolites, together with the main chemical classes of the secreted compounds. Next step pursued the phytochemical characterization of the traditional preparation to better understand its potential in terms of bioactive compounds. To this end, methanol and aqueous extracts were obtained from the traditional drug and the chromatographic separation was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with a Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-MS/MS), equipped with an ESI source, and acquiring spectra both in negative and positive ion mode. Once characterized, the preliminary biological activity of the traditional preparation was assessed, coherently with the popular use. Different concentrations of both the extracts were then evaluated for their antioxidant (NRF2 pathway activation) and anti-inflammatory (NFKB pathway inhibition) potential by in vitro cell-based models, using two different cell lines (HEK293, R3/1). The experimental phase on the target species ended with the investigation on the preparation’s bitter taste, described by local people as responsible for the traditional therapeutic effect. Thus, preliminary evaluations concerning the interaction of the identified bioactive compounds with bitter taste receptors (TAS2R
Tipologia IRIS:
Tesi di dottorato
Elenco autori:
M. Bottoni
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