Volume 173, 25 July 2015, Article number 9612, Pages 1-10
a
Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islmabd, Pakistan
b Department of Plant Sciences, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University Quetta, Pakistan
c Department of Botany, University of Balochistan Quetta, Pakistan
b Department of Plant Sciences, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University Quetta, Pakistan
c Department of Botany, University of Balochistan Quetta, Pakistan
Abstract
Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance The highlands of Northern Balochistan are the hot spots of medicinal and endemic plant in Pakistan. These plants are still commonly used for medicinal purposes by local people in their daily lives. This study first documented the information about the medicinal
uses of endemic species of Balochistan-province Pakistan. Materials and
methods A survey was performed using open ended questionnaires, free
listening and personal observations with 152 informants (54% female, 46%
male). In addition, the use value (MUV), use report (UR), fidelity
level (FL), frequency citation (FC), relative frequency citation (RFC),
family importance value (FIV) of species were determined and the
informant consensus factor (ICF) was calculated for the medicinal plants included in the study. Results A total of 24 endemic plants
belonging to 19 genera and 14 families were used by the local
inhabitants to treat 12 categories of various diseases. The most common
families of endemic plant species as depicted by its number of species (6 species) and FIV (9.9) was Fabaceae as the dominant family. The endemic plant
species comprised perennial herbs (30%), annual herbs (25%), shrubs
(29%) and under shrubs (16% each), no endemic tree species was reported
in the study area. The highest number of species were used in the
treatment of gastrointestinal diseases (12 species). The main route of
administration is oral injection (62%) while the most frequently used
form of external administration of herbal medicine was paste (5.4%) and
the most commonly applied methods of preparation are powder (48.2%).
Highest use report were calculated for Allium baluchistanicum and Viola
makranica, (8 UR each), and least use report were calculated for two
species Heliotropium remotiflorum and Tetracme stocksii (1 UR for each).
Use values of the recorded plant
species have been calculated which showed a highest use value of (0.73)
for A. baluchistanicum and (0.56) for Berberis baluchistanica while the
lowest UVs were attained for T. stocksii (0.13). Highest RFC value were
calculated for Achillea millefolium (0.19) and least RFC were
calculated for Blepharis sindica (0.02). The endemic species with 100%
fidelity level was calculated for two plant species i.e. Seriphidium quettense and B. baluchistanica. Conclusions The Balochistan is rich in endemic and other medicinal plants,
still needs more exploration and study. Thus, it is important to
document and reconstitute the remainders of the ancient medical
practices which exist in Balochistan and other areas of the world, and
preserve this knowledge for future generations. The endemic species
which are used in traditional medicine in the region lacks
phototherapeutic evidence. It is necessary to perform phytochemical or
pharmacological studies to explore the potential of plants used for medicinal purposes. Overgrazing, urbanization and unsustainable harvesting of such rare and endemic medicinal plants
in this region is facing severe threats of extinction. It is thus
recommended that cultivation techniques be formulated, especially for
the most important endemic plant medicinal species of the region. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Author keywords
Endemic; Medicinal plants; Northern Balochistan; Pakistan; Traditional medicine
Indexed keywords
EMTREE medical terms: Achillea; adult; Allium; Allium baluchistanicum; Amaranthaceae; annual plant;
Article; Astragalus affghanus; Astragalus khalifatensis; Astragalus
lowarensis; Astragalus nicharensis; Atriplex stocksii; Berberis;
Berberis baluchistanica; Berchemia pakistanica; Blepharis sindica;
Caragana; Caragana brachyantha; Colutea armata; Dionysia lacei; endemic
species; Fabaceae; female; gastrointestinal disease; Heliotropium;
Heliotropium baluchistanicum; Heliotropium remotiflorum; Heliotropium
ulophyllum; herbal medicine; human; male; Matthiola macranica; medicinal plant; middle aged; normal human; observational method; open ended questionnaire; Pakistan; perennial plant; Pimpinella ranunculifolia; plant leaf; plant
seed; powder; Primulaceae; Rhamnaceae; Seriphidium quettense; shrub;
species diversity; Stewartiella baluchistanica; Tetracme stocksii;
Vincetoxicum stocksii; Viola; Viola makranica; Xylanthemum macropodum;
young adult
Species Index: Achillea millefolium; Allium baluchistanicum; Berberis; Fabaceae; Feline immunodeficiency virus; Heliotropium; Seriphidium
ISSN: 03788741
CODEN: JOETDSource Type: Journal
Original language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.06.050Document Type: Article
Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd
