Contributed Short Lecture “Ethnoveterinary use of herbal mixtures in the treatment of livestock– a survey in Bavaria”

Summary

While mixtures are common in traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, they seem to be rare in Western veterinary phytotherapy. From 2018 till 2021, we conducted an ethno-veterinary study on Bavarian farms to evaluate how frequently medicinal plant mixtures are used in practice.
A total of 77 interviews were carried out with 101 farmers. Altogether 884 use reports (UR) were recorded, comprising detailed information about plant species, plant part and further natural substances used, the manufacturing process for the end product, dosing, administration and therapeutic intention. Among them, 159 UR described the use of mixtures (each contained between two and 19 ingredients (mean: 4)) corresponding to 155 different plant species and 17 different natural substances (e.g. salt, sugar, propolis).
The most frequently mentioned plant species in mixtures were: Calendula officinalis L. (27 UR), Salvia officinalis L. (24 UR) and Cinnamomum verum J.Presl (24 UR).
The most frequently reported UR were for "Alimentary tract and metabolism" (QA) followed by dermatological indications (QD) and respiratory tract diseases (QR). Purchased products were used for 36% of the UR ([Fig. 1]). Popular purchased products among the farmers were ColoSan​ SaluVet with 10 UR for digestive disorders and “Schwedenbittertrunk” for use in skin diseases or mastitis (8 UR). Overall, the farmers surveyed preferred single preparations (448 UR compared to 159 UR of mixtures used).