Ferula aucheri

Ferula aucheri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Ferula
Species:
F. aucheri
Binomial name
Ferula aucheri
(Boiss.) Piwczyński, Spalik, M.Panahi & Puchałka[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Dorema aucheri Boiss.
  • Angelica dura K.Koch
  • Dorema robustum Lofius ex I.G.Borshch., nom. nud.

Ferula aucheri, synonym Dorema aucheri, is a plant that grows in Iran. In Persian it is called بیلهر (Bilhar). It is the first umbelliferous plant found to produce exudate flavonoids.[2]

It grows in the mountains of western of Iran (Sedeh and Kermanshah). In Persian it is called كندل كوهي (kandale kohi) and in Kermanshah it is known as زو (zo).

Harvested traditionally for cooking, the young leaves and branches of Ferula aucheri are typically used to make a famous pickle known as "Bilhar pickle" or used as vegetables in soup.[3] It can also be cooked by steaming and served with butter as a meal.

Ferula aucheri is used in parts of Iran as traditional medicine, believed to have uses as a stimulant, nervonic, antispasmodic, bronchodilator, expectorant, kidney stone repellent, emmenagogue and analgesic for visceral pain.[4]

Excessive harvesting of these plants for both cooking and traditional medicine has led it to become endangered in local provinces.[3]

Despite being used in both cooking and traditional Iranian medicine, Ferula aucheri has been shown to have hepatotoxic effects when extract of the plant has been injected into albino mice, causing necrosis, inflammation of the liver tissue, cell proliferation, cholestasis, and increases in release of the liver enzymes ALP, ALT (SGPT) and AST (SGOT).[5]

  1. ^ a b "Ferula aucheri (Boiss.) Piwczyński, Spalik, M.Panahi & Puchałka". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  2. ^ Wollenweber, Eckhard (January 1995). "Dorema aucheri - the first umbelliferous plant found to produce exudate flavonoids". Phytochemistry. 38 (1995), S. 1417.
  3. ^ a b Mosaddegh, Mahmoud (February 2012). "Ethnobotanical survey of herbal remedies traditionally used in Kohghiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad province of Iran". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 141 (1): 80–95. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2012.02.004. PMID 22366675.
  4. ^ Khanahmadi, M; Miraghaee, S Sh; Karimi, I (2017-04-19). "Evaluation of the Antioxidant and antimicrobial Properties of Dorema aucheri plant". Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 14 (10): 684–685. ISSN 2074-1804. PMC 3518988. PMID 23285423.
  5. ^ Mostafavi, Seyed Hossein; Fazilati, Mohammad; Mostafavi, Seyed-Ali; Vahhabi, Mohamma Reza; Mostafavi, Fatemeh; Omidvarinia, Shabnam; Zandi-Atashbar, Navid; Derakhshanian, Hoda; Hajipoor, Abdol Reza (2013-09-01). "Hepatotoxicity of Dorema aucheri (Bilhar) in albino mice" (PDF). Archives of Iranian Medicine. 16 (9): 530–532. ISSN 1735-3947. PMID 23981157.