Volume 165, 13 May 2015, Pages 103–117
Research Paper
An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by ethnic people in Parbat district of western Nepal
- Under a Creative Commons license
Open Access
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological
relevance: Nepal, a mountainous country having diversified topographic
and climatic conditions, gives rise to a wide range of flora and fauna.
In villages ethnic people, including Magar and Majhi highly depend on
medicinal plants for their primary healthcare. Due to overexploitation,
encroachment in forest for arable land and destruction of natural
habitat, potentially useful medicinal plants are going to be threatened
in their natural environment. There is a strong need to enlist highly
valuable medicinal plants and use traditional knowledge to protect,
utilize and manage them in ex-situ and in-situ
conservation. The present research investigates and documents
traditional knowledge on medicinal plants utilization as natural
medicine by two ethnic communities Magar and Majhi of Parbat district in
Western Nepal.
Methods
Ethnomedicinal
data was collected during 2012–2013 by the following standard
ethnobotanical methods. Data about medicinal uses of herbs, shrubs and
trees were collected using semi-structured questionnaire, field
observation, personal interview and group discussion with 334 (130 men
and 204 women) pre-identified local informants, among which 13 male and 2
female were local healers. Statistical tool, informant consensus
factors (FIC) and fidelity level (FL) values were used to analyze the importance of ethnomedicinal plants.
Results
A
total of 132 ethnomedicinal plant species belonging to 99 genera and 67
families have been documented. These plants are used to treat various
diseases and disorders grouped under 12 disease categories, with the
highest number of species (61) being used for gastro-intestinal,
parasitic and hepatobiliary disorders (FIC=0.78%), followed by blood and lymphatic system (FIC=0.76%) category. The highest fidelity level (FL) values recorded in Paris polyphylla (FL=96.0%) followed by Bergenia ciliata (FL=95.0%) confirms that these plants are the best plant species with medicinal properties.
Conclusions
The
two ethnic communities, Magar and Majhi, in Parbat district are rich in
ethnomedicinal knowledge. The high degree of consensus among the
informants suggests that current use and knowledge are still strong, and
thus the preservation of indigenous knowledge would show good foresight
in acting before much has been lost.
graphical abstract
Keywords
- Ethnobotany;
- Medicinal knowledge;
- Traditional healers;
- Magar and Majhi;
- Western Nepal
1. Introduction
Human
beings vital interest in plants, primarily as a source of food, shelter
and clothing, dates back to the beginning of human civilization. Plants
contain a large number of spread of pharmacologically active
ingredients and each herb has its own unique combination and properties.
Ethnic people depend on the plants around them to acquire knowledge of
economic values and medicinal properties of many plants which is based
on need, observation, experience of older ethnic people, and trial and
error. Indigenous medicines provide considerable economic benefits to
ethnic people. The World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned that about
25% of modern medicines are developed from plants sources used
traditionally; and research on traditional medicinal herbal plants lead
to discovery of 75% of herbal drugs (Mian-Ying et al., 2002). World Health Organization (WHO) (2002)
recorded approximately over 21,000 plant species for their medicinal
uses throughout the world. Trade in drug from origins is getting
recognition and popularity globally, and now it is a profitable business
generating lots of income. Bioactive compounds from medicinal plants
can be directly used as healing agent and their phytochemicals also
serve as lead compound for developing potential drugs to cure various
diseases in human (Kamboj, 2000 and Verma and Singh, 2008). Various higher plants are well known for drug therapy in traditional medicine (Martini-Bettolo, 1980, Farnsworth et al., 1985, Akerele, 1993, Aniyam, 1995, Martin, 1995a, Martin, 1995b, Ghorbani et al., 2006 and Shanmugasundaram et al., 2011).
In
Nepal, there are about 8.4 million indigenous people of different
groups inhabiting various terrains. They possess their own culture,
religious rites and rich traditional medicine practices. 6653 species of
Angiospermic plants were documented among which 1792 to 2331 were
recorded as potential medicinal and aromatic plants (Rokaya et al., 2010).
Despite having immense potentialities to promote medicinal plants at
national as well as international markets, the country is still far
behind to utilize available resources to generate revenue. Traditional
herbal medicine in Nepal has strong cultural and religious foundation.
It exists in different ways among ethnic groups in their ritual or
ceremonial practices, spiritual practices and self-healing practices.
Indigenous and local communities have been using traditional and
indigenous knowledge for centuries under local laws, customs and
traditions to cure different diseases. Indigenous knowledge not only
identifies but also provides the system of management of natural
resources (Koirala and Khaniya, 2009).
Studies
on ethnomedicinal plants of Nepal have been conducted in the past by
the Nepalese and foreign researcher; and comprehensive works have
already been published (Rajbhandari, 2001 and Manandhar, 2002).
However, there are limited studies of this kind with a focus in hilly
districts. Plants having medicinal properties have been studied time to
time in different parts of Nepal by several researchers (Manandhar, 1993, Manandhar, 1995, Manandher, 1998, Bhattarai, 1998, Eigner and Scholz, 1999, Joshi and Joshi, 2000, Shrestha et al., 2001, Shrestha and Dhillion, 2003, Mahato and Chaudhary., 2003, Kunwar and Bussmann, 2008, Panthi and Chaudhary, 2003, Sharma et al., 2004, Bhattarai et al., 2006, Bhattarai et al., 2009, Ghimire and Bastakoti, 2009, Kunwar et al., 2009, Acharya and Acharya, 2009, Upreti et al., 2010, Joshi et al., 2011 and Malla et al., 2014). In Parbat, some of the studies on ethnomedicinal plants have already emphasized on their importance by some researchers (Malla and Chhetri, 2012, Thapa, 2012 and Malla et al., 2014);
but not much work on their importance has been done especially with
reference to Magar and Majhi. In addition, due to the availability of
modern medical facilities, the tradition of using indigenous knowledge
for the treatment of common ailments is also rapidly disappearing.
Keeping in view the importance of traditional knowledge of ethnic
people, the present survey enlists the medicinal plants used by Magar
and Majhi in Parbat district of Nepal. Emphasis has also been given to
prepare ethnomedicines, their application, management and conservation.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
Parbat,
a hilly district situated in the western part of Nepal, lies between
27°58′N to 28°39′N latitudes and 83°34′E to 83°59′E longitudes; its
geographical limit is 536.86 sq. km. area and altitudinal variation
starts from 520 m. to 3309 m. above the sea level. The headquarter of
the district is Kushma. The political boundaries of the district extend
in the east to Syangja and Kaski districts; Baglung, Myagdi and Gulmi
districts in the west; Myagdi and Kaski districts in the north and
Syangja and Gulmi districts in the south (Fig. 1).
It has sub-tropical, temperate and sub-alpine monsoon type of climate
with maximum temperature below 35 °C during summer (May–June) and above
7.0 °C during winter (December-January); and the northern part is
moistened because of high rainfall and southern part is dry due to low
rainfall. The average annual rainfall is 1950 ml. The major castes of
the district are Brahmin (35.73%) followed by Chhetri (17.30%), Magar
(10.96%) Kami (9.22%), Damai (7.51%), Sarki (6.66%), Gurung (3.69%),
Thakuri (2.50%), Newar (2.38%), Snayasi/Dashnami (1.43%), Sunar (0.77%),
Thakali (0.70%), Gharti/Bhujel (0.49%), and Majhi (0.20%). Beside
agriculture, animal husbandry is the main occupation of the tribal
communities due to excess availability of fodders. Goats, cows, bulls,
buffaloes and sheep are the main cattle of the local people in the
district. On the basis of altitude and different types of climate, the
vegetation pattern of the district is divided into conifer forest
(10.5%), broad leaved forest (69.5%), shrub forest (7%) and mixed forest
(13%). It is traversed by two big rivers Kaligandaki and Modi as well
as other rivulets, streams and streamlets such as Lingdikhola,
Panyukhola, Luwakhola etc.
- Fig. 1.Map of the study area in Parbat district, Nepal.
2.2. Ethnic communities in Parbat district
Ethnic
communities like Gurung, Magar, Majhi, Newar, Thakali, Kumal, Sarki,
Kami, Damai, Snayasi/Dashnami, Gharti/Bhujel and Sunarin Parbat district
have good association with the plants resources used for various
purposes in day to day life. These ethnic communities have been long
associated with the utilization of plant resources in their immediate
vicinity—they have passed down valuable information chiefly through oral
conversation from generation to generation (Fig. 2). This study has documented knowledge of traditional plant use existing among some of the communities such as Magar and Majhi.
- Fig. 2.Collected medicinal plants from Parbat district, Western Nepal. (A) Spiranthes sinensis. (B) Acampe papillosa. (C) Bergenia ciliate. (D) Dendrobium moschatum. (E) Paris Polyphylla (whole plant). (F) Researcher with Taxus wallichiana. (twig & ripened fruits). (G) Plant paste applying on fresh wound. (H) Aerial view of Lespar village (Magar community) of Parbat district (2100 m).
