WILD RESOURCES OF THE PROSPECTIVE MEDICINAL PLANT ARUM MACULATUM L. IN BULGARIA

Background: Arum maculatum L. (Araceae), has been known as a medicinal plant for centuries. In Bulgaria, this species is an officially acknowledged medicinal plant (Medicinal plant act 2000), even though it is not often used. Our ethnopharmacological survey demonstrated that A. maculatum is a promising plant for treatment of hemorrhoids and even preferable than the surgery which is so far considered the definitive treatment (Kochmarov et al 2015). Therefore the problem for the plant resources is crucial. Our survey on the natural distribution of the genus Arum in Bulgaria (Kozuharova et al. 2014) revealed that A. maculatum occurs only in eight floristic regions – data collected by literature review, revising herbarium collections (SOM, SOA and SO) and field observations on more than 30 localities in 2013. This suggests a limited potential of natural resources. The aim of this study is to test the potential of natural resources exploitation. Methods: In order to evaluate exploitation potential of A. maculatum we selected key plots at four localities (harvesting areas). We used the methodology of Shtrueter et al. (1986) adapted to the specifics of this species - transects to measure the total area of the localities, a projective cover of species, its demographic structure, expected yield kg/ha, etc. Results: The extrapolation of the data reveals that 1) the populations are strongly fragmented, and vary in size; 2) the generative individuals are decades of times less that the vegetative adults and juveniles; 3) the propagation is basically vegetative; 4) the potential exploitation varies depending on the locality from 0,3 kg/ha to 147,2 kg/ha (at the average 37 kg/ha). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate more limited potential of natural resources exploitation compared to previous considerations (Mitrev 1995). The sustainable use for medicinal purposes of the plant substance Ari Tubera should be based on cultivation.