Ethnobotanical Review of Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of Hypertension in the Southern Provinces of Iran

Hypertension is a chronic condition that can lead to serious health issues such as cardiovascular diseases and strokes. In addition to pharmacological treatments, traditional medicine, particularly the use of medicinal plants, plays a significant role in the prevention and management of high blood pressure. This review aims to identify medicinal plants used in the ethnobotanical knowledge of the southern provinces of Iran for controlling hypertension. This review involved searching for relevant articles on medicinal plants and their role in treating hypertension using keywords such as "hypertension," "medicinal plants," and "ethnobotany," along with the names of southern Iranian provinces and their cities, including Sistan and Baluchestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Fars, and Kerman. Credible databases, including Google Scholar, SID, Magiran, PubMed, and Scopus, were used to gather scientific resources for this study. The ethnobotanical review of the southern provinces of Iran revealed that medicinal plants such as Dorema aucheri, Ferula assafoetida L, Cichorium intybus L, Crataegus aronia (L.) Bosc ex DC., Amygdalus scoparia, Pistacia atlantica Desf, Achillea eriophora DC, Allium sativum L., Berberis integerrima, Silybum marianum L, Tragopogon aureus Boiss, Securigera securidaca Degen & Dorfl., Rumex pulcher L, Olea ferruginea are utilized for managing hypertension. Among plant families, Asteraceae is the most frequently represented with 7 species. The aerial parts of plants were the most commonly used plant parts, with 6 occurrences. This study highlights the use of a variety of medicinal plants in the southern provinces of Iran for the management of hypertension. The Asteraceae family showed the highest frequency among the medicinal plants. These findings underscore the importance of utilizing indigenous medicinal plants in the treatment of hypertension and the development of effective herbal medicines.