Our study's objective was to systematize knowledge and traditional usage of plants against respiratory infections among the population in Serbia, based on literature data, and compare these results with published ethnomedicinal studies conducted in other territories of Balkan region. The study aimed to produce a review that can be a basis for furth...

By Marija Marković, Dejan Pljevljakušić, Jelena Matejić, Biljana Nikolić, Mirjana Smiljić, Gorica Ðelić, Olivera Papović, Mrđan Ðokić, Vesna Stankov-Jovanović

Comparison between conventional and microwave-assisted hydrodistillation at different power levels has been applied for the extraction of essential oil from Zingiber officinale Rosc. rhizome. In addition to the collected essential oils, as the main products, hydrolats were also collected, as valuable by-products from both extraction techniques. A c...

By Zorica Drinić, Miloš Jovanović, Dejan Pljevljakušić, Nada Čujić-Nikolić, Dubravka Bigović, Katarina Šavikin

The paper provides an insight into the traditional use of medicinal plant species from the genus Gentiana in the Pirot County in Southeastern Serbia. The ethnopharmacological study was conducted in the form of interviews among the population in four municipalities: Pirot, Babušnica, Bela Palanka, and Dimitrovgrad. Among the population of Pir...

By Marija Marković, Dejan Pljevljakušić, Nebojša Menković, Jelena Matejić, Olivera Papović, Vesna Stankov-Jovanović

Driven by frequent media misinformation about the level of profitability of growing certain medicinal plants, in this paper we presented a cost-benefit analysis based on twenty years of experience in field production. The observed costs and profits for peppermint, chamomile, lemon balm, marshmallow, valerian and pot marigold are based on the averag...

By Dejan Pljevljakušić, Sreta Brkić

The species from genus Thymus are polymorphous plants from the family Lamiaceae, spread in Serbia in many species, subspecies, varieties, and forms. The aerial parts of species from genus Thymus have a long tradition of being used worldwide. The subject of this study was the research of ethnomedicinal application of thyme in Pirot County (Southeast...

By Marija Marković, Dejan Pljevljakušić, Biljana Nikolić, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Vesna Stankov-Jovanović

Hydrolats are valuable co-products of the essential oil distillation process, whose volatile compounds can be quantified by various methods. In this paper, we have tried to estimate the liquid-liquid extraction cycle number threshold for volatile compounds quantification of lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) hydrolat. For this purpose, ten consecuti...

By Dejan Pljevljakušić, Zorica Drinić

Biological activities of Sorbus aucuparia L. leaves extract was tested in our study. Antineurodegenerative activity was evaluated by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and tyrosinase (TYR) inhibitory activity assays while antioxidant activity was by tested using four different assays. In all antioxidant test we noticed concentration dependent activity of ...

By Katarina Šavikin, Gordan Zdunić, Ana Alimpić, Dubravka Bigović, Dejan Pljevljakušić, Sonja Duletić-Laušević

Arnica (Arnica montana L., Asteraceae) is a perennial mountain plant whose flower heads (Arnicae flos) are mainly used for topical treatment of bruises and sprains in phytopharmaceutical preparations such as ointments, creams and gels. Until few years ago, the world market demand for this raw material was almost exclusively covered from the spontan...

By Dejan Pljevljakušić

Essential oil of chamomile [Chamomilla recutita (L.)Rausch.,syn. Matricariachamomilla L., Asteraceae], also known as oil of German or Hungarian chamomile, is obtained by steam distillation of fresh (or partially dried) flowersand stems. Depending on various factors, essential oil yield ranges from 0.3 to 1.0%. The oil is usually clear, blue, viscou...

By Katarina Šavikin, Nebojša Menković, Mihailo Ristić, Ivana Arsić, Gordana Zdunić, Sofija Đorđević, Sofija Ćujić, Dejan Pljevljakušić