Background: Traditional medicine is a major component in the primary healthcare system in the southeast of Iran, which has a rich floral diversity. However, there is no comprehensive report on the use of medicinal herbs in this specific region. This traditional usage of medicinal plants by local communities could serve as a source for pharmacological and phytochemical studies. The main objective of this study was to identify ethnopharmacological knowledge on medicinal plant species and their local healing applications by the folk communities of Kerman province in the southeast of Iran.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 217 herbal healers using semi-structured questionnaires, open interviews, and field surveys. Factors including use reports (UR) for each species, frequency of citation (FC), and informant consensus factor (ICF) were used to analyze the data. Plant species were identified by botanists through standard taxonomic methods.Results: A total of 402 medicinal plants were used in healing practices by the local communities of Kerman province. These species belong to 273 genera of 73 families, among which 367 species are dicotyledons, 27 are monocotyledons, 7 species are cryptogam, and one species is gymnosperm. An important implication from the current study is the identification of the traditional medicinal use of 292 plant species in this region for the first time. Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Fabaceae were the dominant medicinally utilized plant families, respectively. Leaf, flower, fruit, and seed were the most common plant parts used. Generally, crude drugs were used in the form of decoction, followed by poultice and infusion forms. Moreover, oral route is considered as the most common administration route followed by topical route. Endocrine (diabetes), dermatological, gastrointestinal, and respiratory problems were ranked as the most frequent ailment categories for which medicinal plants in this region were applied, respectively. Our findings suggested dominant use of Asteraceae and Apiaceae plants for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, Lamiaceae plants for respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, and Apocynaceae plants for dermatological problems.Conclusion: Our findings suggested that Asteraceae and Apiaceae plants were used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, Lamiaceae plants for respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments, and Apocynaceae and Euphorbiaceae plants for dermatological problems. Among the medicinal plants with high UR and new ethnobotanical uses,Rhazya strictawas used for wound healing,Calotropis procera,Clematis ispahanicaandEuphorbiaspp. for eczema,Cionura erectafor the treatment of cough,Launaea acanthodesfor the treatment of gastrointestinal parasites,Berberis integrrimaas an antidiabetic medicinal herb,Dracocephalum polychaetumandRydingia persicafor various types of chronic diseases,Citrus limonandCitrus aurantiumfor the treatment of ocular diseases and making the traditional kohl,Calendula officinalisfor the treatment of pterygium andProsopis farctafor preventing nasal bleeding. The identified medicinal plants can be further evaluated for their pharmacological activity and underlying mechanisms of action.

Monosodium glutamate is a sodium salt of a nonessential amino acid, L-glutamic acid, which is widely used in food industry. Glutamate plays an important role in principal brain functions including formation and stabilization of synapses, memory, cognition, learning, as well as cellular metabolism. However, ingestion of foodstuffs rich in monosodium glutamate can result in the outbreak of several health disorders such as neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, obesity and diabetes. The usage of medicinal plants and their natural products as a therapy against MSG used in food industry has been suggested to be protective. Calendula officinalis, Curcuma longa, Green Tea, Ginkgo biloba and vitamins are some of the main natural products with protective effect against mentioned monosodium glutamate toxicity through different mechanisms. This review provides a summary on the toxicity of monosodium glutamate and the protective effects of natural products against monosodium glutamate -induced toxicity.

Naturally occurring naphthoquinones (NQs) comprising highly reactive small molecules are the subject of increasing attention due to their promising biological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, apoptosis-inducing activities, and especially anticancer activity. Lapachol, lapachone, and napabucasin belong to the NQs and are in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of many cancers. This review aims to provide a comprehensive and updated overview on the biological activities of several new NQs isolated from different species of plants reported from January 2013 to January 2020, their potential therapeutic applications and their clinical significance.