Volume 164, 22 April 2015, Pages 186–202
Research paper
Ethnobotany of medicinal plants among the communities of Alpine and Sub-alpine regions of Pakistan
Abstract
Ethno-pharmacological relevance
To
best of our knowledge it is first quantitative ethno-botanical study
from Alpine and Sub-alpine, Western Himalaya of Pakistan. The study aims
to report, compare the uses and highlight the ethno-botanical
significance of medicinal plants for treatment of various diseases.
Methods
A
total of 290 (278 males and 12 females) informants including 14 Local
Traditional Healers (LTHs) were interviewed. Information was collected
using semi-structured interviews, analyzed and compared by quantitative
ethno-botanical indices such as Informant Consensus Factor (ICF),
Relative frequency of citation (RFC), use value (UV), Fidelity Level
(FL) and Jaccard index (JI).
Results
A
total of 125 plant species (Gymnosperms 7 species, Monocotyledons 2 and
116 Di-cotyledons) belonging to 41 families are collected, identified
and ethno-botanically assessed. The most dominant family is
Ranunculaceae (20 species) followed by Rosaceae (14 species). In
diseases treated, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) diseases have highest
proportion (27.5%) followed by respiratory diseases (20%) in the
mountain communities. The most dominant life form of plants used is
herbs (78%) followed by shrubs (19%) while the most commonly used plant
parts are leaves (44 reports) followed by underground part, the roots
(37 reports). The highest ICF (0.68) is found for ear, nose and eye
disease category followed by respiratory disorders (0.46). There are 15
medicinal plants having 100% FL. Use value (UV) and Relative frequency
of citation (RFC) range from 0.03 to 0.53 and 0.04 to 0.23 respectively.
In comparison, maximum similarity index is found in the studies with JI
19.52 followed by 17.39. Similarity percentage of plant uses range from
1.69% to 19.52% while dissimilarity percentage varies from 0% to 20%.
Conclusions
The
Alpine and Sub-alpine regions of Pakistan are rich in medicinal plants
and still need more research exploration. On the other hand,
ethno-botanical knowledge in study areas is decreasing day by day due to
high emigration rates resulting from after effects of wars during the
last few decades. Historically developed ethno-botanical heritage should
be preserved and promoted on global level for analyzing phytochemical,
pharmaceutical and other biological activities for future drug
discovery.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Ethnobotany;
- Ethno-botanical indices;
- Alpine–Subalpine regions;
- Pakistan
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