Bryophytes Used in Folk Medicine: An Ethnobotanical Overview

Abstract

Bryophytes are considered the oldest living plants of terrestrial habitats and the closest modern relatives of the ancestors of the earliest terrestrial plants. Bryophytes are found on all continents and occupy xeric to aquatic niches, with the greatest diversity and biomass in cool temperate regions. Despite the lesser popularity of these organisms, bryophytes have ethnopharmacological importance in different cultures of the world, especially in Chinese, Indian, and Native American medicine. Different bryophyte extracts and isolated compounds have shown anti-microbial, antiviral, and cytotoxic effects. The present overview aims to highlight the use of bryophytes for the treatment of common ailments in folk medicine around the world and to collect, analyze, and summarize the available literature on the pharmacological activity of the most used mosses and liverworts. Based on the literature review, 109 wild taxa of Bryophyta being used for ethnomedical purposes have been documented. Overall, 170 uses were recorded for the 109 taxa considered. Herbal remedies for skin and hair care are by far the most commonly reported (25.0%); antipyretic uses of bryophytes account for 12.2%, while taxa used as medicinal treatments for respiratory and gastro-intestinal systems amount to 12.1% and 9.9%, respectively.