Studying the popularization of medicinal plants in the USSR by means of local newspapers. Case study based on the materials of the local newspaper "Pechorskaya Pravda" in 1976-1990.

Abstract

This work is dedicated to the medicinal plants popularization based on the materials of the local newspaper "Pechorskaya Pravda" published in the Pechorsky District, a subdivision of Pskov Oblast located in North-West Russia (then Russian SFSR) on the border with Estonia (then Estonian SSR). The main aim of this study was to analyze information provided by the newspaper about plants to the locals. The Green Pharmacy and the Procurement Office rubrics were studied in details to make a database of the medicinal plants and their possible application. The Green Pharmacy rubric was written mainly by the pharmacists and included medicinal plants description and suggestion instances of their application in folk medicine. The Procurement Office rubric showed the economic aspect of the human-plant relationship. It included the names of the plants that the office procured, with prices and the description of the goods that locals could buy or could receive as a prize in exchange. During this study 66 medicinal plants were covered in the Green Pharmacy section and 58 – in the Procurement Office respectively. Two editions (10th and 11th) of the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR were chosen for comparison, because they covered the period of the research – 1976 to 1990 (the 10th edition was issued in 1968, the 11th – in 1987 (part 1) and 1990 (part 2)). Of the 66 medicinal plants reported in the newspaper’s rubric, only 13 were included in both pharmacopoeias, while additional 21 – exclusively in the 11th. According to the list of medicinal plants included in both pharmacopoeias and the newspaper's material, a comparative analysis of diseases categories was done. The most frequently mentioned diseases categories were Digestive and Skin. Plants that have been suggested as a cure for the largest number of diseases were Chelidonium majus L. and Hypericum perforatum L. with 21 and 18 suggestion instances respectively. The Procurement Office rubric gives us an opportunity to get the idea of the most valuable plants from the economic point of view – procurement of Salix sp., Vaccinium oxycoccos and Vaccinium vitis-idaea has been rewarded a special prize. The ecological aspect has been highlighted as well by means of instructions and advices for the procurement provided in this rubric. As for the comparison of the rubrics, it provided the following results: of the 82 plants reported 24 were mentioned only in the Green Pharmacy, 16 – exclusively in the Procurement Office, while 42 were registered in both rubrics. This work provides insight into popularization and dissemination of medicinal plants in the region. However, as this work was the pioneering one to use such materials to discuss the human-plant relationship, the further analysis and the comparison with other materials is needed.