Analysis of the demand for medicinal plants from herbalists' perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the demand for medicinal plants from the perspective of herbalists who trade these plants in Istanbul and to reveal the relations among the variables affecting the demand. For this aim, the results of the face-to-face survey with 200 herbalists in 20 randomly selected districts of Istanbul were analyzed. In this scope, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and Chi-Square independence test were used. The analyses were carried out with SPSS 22.0 statistical package program. According to the results of the study, the top three medicinal plants which are most in demand are linden, ginger and sage, respectively. The most plant sales occur in winter and the most important criterion for consumers when purchasing plants is price. It was found that herbalists mostly sell the medicinal and aromatic plants which are good for respiratory diseases.

Keywords

• odun dışı orman ürünleri
• tıbbi ve aromatik bitkiler
• talep
• aktar
• i̇stanbul
• non-wood forest products
• medicinal and aromatic plants
• demand
• herbalist
• istanbul