Volume 168, 20 June 2015, Pages 201–207
Research Paper
Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants from Sudhanoti district (AJK), Pakistan
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance:
Ethnobotanical study was aimed to document indigenous medicinal plants
along with the ethnopharmacological therapeutic values, and to explore
the frequencies and relative importance of reported plants. Objective of
this study was to trace out the disease prevalence pattern with help of
informant consensus factor.
Material and method
Visual
appraisal approach (VAA) and rapid rural appraisal (RRA) methods along
with the group meetings and discussions about wide range of topics in an
open-ended questionnaire with local people were employed for collection
of qualitative ethnomedicinal data.
Results and discussion
Current study reported 58 medicinal plants belonging to 33 families, where Rosaceae was the predominant family. Berberis lycium
dominated among shrubs, which is used to treat liver problems
(jaundice). Females and old people were found more allied to the
indigenous healthcare system. Conservation threats to valued medicinal
plants were detected during course of the study.
Conclusion
Local
communities of the study area are highly dependent on medicinal plants
and reported the best therapeutic results for specific disorders. Urgent
attention must be paid on conservation of medicinal flora,
comprehensive documentation of indigenous medicinal knowledge and
pharmacological/phytochemical validation of reported plants for specific
diseases.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Indigenous knowledge;
- Ethnomedicines;
- Information consensus factor;
- Use value;
- Azad Kashmir;
- Pakistan
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+92 333 5805776.
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