Wild Plants Used as Herbal Tea in Antakya and Defne Provinces of Hatay

ABSTRACT: In the present study, wild plants that are members of the local flora and used traditionally as herbal tea in 32 villages of Antakya and Defne provinces of Hatay were compiled. Although all of them have some medicinal properties and are also used for healing, the main difference of these plants from other medicinal herbal tea plants is that they are consumed as tea for pleasure mostly without any medical purpose in daily life. All information has been compiled by face-to-face interviews with 182 local people as a part of an ethnobotanical study in Antakya province. 33 species belong to 9 families were determined as herbal teas that consumed for pleasure in daily life. Reminding, cultivation and marketing of these herbal teas should be encouraged in terms of evaluating our natural resources efficiently