Myrtus communis phytotherapy in the mediterranean

Abstract

With its extraordinary properties, plant life appeared millions of years ago on our planet. Nature has bestowed upon plants active molecules with natural af’nities with the human body. As such, it is not surprising that the’rst humans found remedies for their aches by using plants (Plotkin 2000). This laid the foundation of ethnobotany in senso lato and phytotherapy in senso stricto. The fastdeveloping interdisciplinary’eld of ethnobotany is the study of the uses, conservation, and general economic as well as sociological importance of plants in human societies in the past and present (Baser, Honda, and Miki 1986; Ozturk and Ozcelik 1991; Baser 2002; Bonjar-Shaidi 2004). © 2012 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.