Ethnobotanical survey of medicinally important shrubs and trees of Himalayan region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Ethnopharmacological relevancePresent study was commenced with an aim to document the indigenous knowledge of medicinally important shrubs and trees of Himalayan region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. This is the first contribution to the quantitative ethnobotany of this region, as no reported data focusing on shrubs and trees from the area have been published. Study reported the ethnobotanical significance of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases.MethodStudy was conducted during 2012-2014 following standard ethnobotanical methods. The ethnomedicinal data was collected through informed consent semi- structured interviews of 160 key informants. Documented data was analyzed by using quantitative indices of informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), use value (UV) and relative frequency citation (RFC).ResultsA total of 73 shrub and tree species belonging to 56 genera and 37 families were reported to be used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of various ailments. Medicinal plant diversity showed that Rosaceae was dominating family with (9 spp.) followed by Moraceae (7 spp.), Euphorbiaceae, Mimosaceae, Pinaceae, Rhamnaceae (4 spp. each), Oleaceae (3 spp.), Apocynaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Ebenaceae, Fagaceae, Lythraceae, Papilionaceae, Acanthaceae, Verbenaceae (2 spp. each) while remaining 22 families were represented by one species each. Leaves (23%) were highly utilized plant parts, followed by fruits (22%), bark (18%), seeds (10%), roots (9%), flowers (8%), whole plant and aerial parts (4% each) and stem (2%). Modes of preparation fall into 14 categories including powder (33 reports) followed by decoction (29 reports), paste (22 reports), juice (18 reports), infusion (12 reports), raw (8 reports), extract and latex (5 reports each), gum and oil (4 reports each), fresh part and pulp (2 reports each), chewed and cooked (1 report each). The highest FIC was recorded for Gastro-intestinal disorders (0.58) followed by nail, skin and hair disorders (0.44). Maximum fidelity level (FL=100%) was expressed by Abies pindrow, Adhatoda vasica, Bauhinia variegata and Cedrela serrata. Based on use value Juglans regia (0.88) was found most significant species followed by Acacia nilotica (0.83), Phyllanthus emblica (0.81), Pinus roxburghii (0.75) and Punica granatum (0.71).ConclusionThe area has a rich diversity of medicinally important shrub and tree species. The tradition of using plants for medicinal purposes is still alive in the local community but recently this tradition is gradually declining in new generation. Therefore awareness is needed to be raised among the local people on sustainable use and conservation of local flora.

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