Hamdard Medicus
. ' Vol. 53, No. I, 2010
St
A.H. Memon
1
*, F.M.A. Rind
1
,
M.G.H. Laghari
1
, U.R. Mughal
1
,
N. Memon
1
, F. Almani
1
and M.Y. Khuhawar
2
'Faculty of Pharmacy,
2
Dr. M. A. Kazi
Institute of Chemistry,
University of Sindh, Jamshoro,
Pakistan.
A survey on the folk medicinal uses and recipes of t
hirty medicinal plants was carried out in district Umerkot,
Sindh,
Pakistan
. Since
long time the people of this area have been using medicinal plants and their different parts for the
cure of a variety
of illnesses. Since the knowledge about the traditiona
l uses of these medicinal plants and their recipes
of the area remained intact
for exploration by the pharmacognosists, ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists,
pharmacists and chemists. The folk uses and
traditional recipes of thirty medicinal plants are the
refore documented
which are typically used in the
healing
of many health problems and diseases by the people of district Umerkot.
Through
this
study, the medicinal plants are documented on the b
asis
of their folk recipes and ethnomedicinal uses
to
demon
strate
their
efficacy
to
treat
the
diseases
of
humans
and
animals.
Keywords:
Folk recipes, Ethnobotanical uses, Umerkot.
Introduction
Umerkot is a district of Sindh Province
of Pakistan which is situated at 22° 10' to 25° 47'
north
latitude and 68°
55' to 71° east longitudes. It is bordered in the south of di
strict Sangher, in the north of
district Thar, in the east of
district Mirpur
-
khas and in the south west of India
. One p
art of district Umerkot
is desert area and the remaining three
parts are irrigated. Historically this dist
rict is well
-
known for its fort
and being birth place of Badshah (King) Akbar.
The district covers a tota
l area of 5608 sq. km. Umerkot,
Kunri, Pithor
o and Samaro are four talukas of district
Umerkot. Fro
m previously constituted taluka
Mirpur
-
khas and Samaro, two new talu
kas Kunri and Pithoro have been
created.
Physical Feature and Topography:
District Umerkot has two distinct portions one is irrigated
area
lying on the west side and other is desert lying at the east which is known as Thar
Desert
. The rainfall is
the
o nly
source of water for cultivation in the desert area. Some parts of Umerkot taluka are irrigated by
canals derived from Sukkur barrage o
ver river Indus which is the main river of Pakistan. The eastern
region of the district Umerkot forms the part of bigger desert that sprawls over a vast area of Pakistan
and India i.e., Cholistan to Nagar Parkar in Pakistan
and from the south of Haryana do
wn to Rajasthan in
India. The infertile tracts of sandy hills covered with spiky bushy plants constitute most part of the desert.
The asymmetrical and roughly parallel ridges of sandy
h ills
are found in the
district which covers the
height of
up to
forty s
ix meters. The valleys of district Umerkot are sufficiently moist to admit
cultivation
and when not cultivated they produce copious crops of thick and strong grasses. The consequent shortage
of potable water and additional high salinity of the subsoil rend
er many territories quite uninhabitable.
Climate:
The
climate
of
district
Umerkot is moderate to extreme in intensity. The irrigated western
portion is
temperate in summer and winter
while
the eastern desert area,
slightly
hot or cold in summer
and winter
respectively.
The south western breeze from
th e
sea is significantly neutralizing
the
summer
heat. The Umerkot
district
has
Study of folk recipes and ethnomedicinal uses of thirty medicinal plants of district Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286938144_Study_of_folk_recipes_and_ethnomedicinal_uses_of_thirty_medicinal_plants_of_district_Umerkot_Sindh_Pakistan [accessed Dec 21, 2015].
