Traditional Herbal Remedies Used in women’s Health Care in Italy: a Review

Medicinal plants have a significant role in women's healthcare in many rural populations in Italy. Herbal remedies are mainly used to treat women’s conditions such as menstrual disorders, infertility, discomforts and dysfunctions of pregnancy, labor, uro-genital diseases and menopause. In the recent decades, ethnobotanical surveys have received increased attention among populations in Italy traditionally highly conservative regarding knowledge of folk medicine. This review highlights the use of plants in women’s health care. From a search of articles published between 1963 and 2017 we found a total of 73 containing reports of medicinal plants specifically used for treating women’s diseases, listing 197 taxa belonging to 61 families. Adiantum capillus-veneris is the most commonly reported species, followed by Malva sylvestris, Petroselinum crispum and Urtica dioica. We identified eighteen ailment and cosmetic categories. Plants used for menstrual cycle and breastfeeding are widely used.