21 Fazal Hadi Platability 28.2 Formatted.pdf

Introduction: Indigenous people in a far-flung mountainous area without basic facilities, mainly rely on medicinal plants to cope with various veterinary health problems. Objective: The present study was carried out to explore the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices in Kaghan Valley, district Mansehra, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Method: Ethnoveterinary data were collected between February to October 2014 from nine villages of the Kaghan Valley by involving 80 local people include traditional healers using a semi-structured interview. Results: A sum of 41 plant taxa of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants was documented for treating livestock ailments. Out of which, herbaceous plants were recorded with high percentage (27 species, 65.8 %). Most of the species were used to treat gastrointestinal diseases (12 taxa), followed by health improvement (7 taxa). The widely used part of plants for livestock aliments was the whole plant (9 species) followed by leaves (7 species), and preparation were paste (18 species) followed by powder with 10 species. The highest used values were recorded for Arisaema costatum (0.82), Primula denticulata (0.76), and high relative frequency citations for Berberis lyceum and Dryopteris ramosa with 0.37 each. Among the plant species Skimmia laureola, Thymus linearis and Phytolacca latbenia were among the taxa with cent fidelity level. Conclusion: The flora used in traditional remedies of the valley was found mostly endemic due to excessive utilization. Thus, further chemical investigation, better utilization and conservation of indigenous use of the reported species should be considered for future work.

An ethnobotanical study was done in the Ashezai and Salarzai Valleys, District Buner, Pakistan. A total of 163 plant species belonging to 73 families were reported with the help of standardized questionnaires for their traditional, medicinal and economic uses. Out of these, 62 families were dicots; 8 monocots and two pteridophytes. Gymnosperms were represented by one family. Asteraceae had 16 spp. which was followed by Papilionaceae and Poaceae (each with 9 spp.); Lamiaceae, Moraceae and Rosaceae (each with 6 spp.); Apiaceae, Polygonaceae and Solanaceae (each with 5 spp.); Amaranthaceae, Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Euphorbiaceae (each with 4 species); Oleaceae and Salicaceae had 3 species each. The remaining families had less number of species. They included 110 medicinal plants, 51 fodder and forage species, 37 fuel wood species, 33 vegetable/pot-herb species, 22 fruit yielding species, 20 thatching/roofing species, 13 timber species, 18 ornamental species, 8 poisonous plants, 10 fencing/ hedges plants, 4 agricultural tools making species, 5 honeybee species. Deforestation, biotic interference and overgrazing are the responsible culprits for dwindling phytodiversity in the investigated area. This study might be helpful to ethnobotanists, conservationists, ecologist, pharmacologists, taxonomists, wild life and water shed managers as baseline data.

Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 2021

Background: Plants provide food, clothing, shelter, medicines, fodder, fuel wood and ecosystem services. The floristic diversity of any area plays an important role in the sustainable livelihood and food security of the inhabitants of that area. The people of the research area Shahbaz Garhi, District Mardan are living in the far flung and backward area. They are dependent on plants and plants products for supporting their livelihood and other needs. They obtain food, fuel, timber, medicines and fodder from plants and also use plants for ornamental purposes. Since the area has a rich flora which was not previously documented. Similarly, the inhabitants use these plants for many purposes. Therefore, the present study was planned to document the flora and its local uses and to know how the local people use these plant natural resources to support their livelihood. Methods: Thorough collection of plants was made from the research area during 2019-2020. Plants were collected and the related data was documented on the spot in the field. Identification was carried out with the help of authentic literature. The ethnobotanical data was collected through questionnaires and 50 informants were interviewed, whose age was ranging from 20-60 years. Standard procedures were adopted for ethnobotanical information collection which includes (Stijfhoorn 1996-1997) and (Martin 2004) procedures and further data authentication was made by adopting artifact (ex-situ) and inventory (in-situ) methods. Results: A total of 85 species belonging to 42 families were recorded. Out of 42 families, 35 families were dicots, 5 were monocots and 2 families were gymnosperms. The dominant family was Asteraceae comprised of 7 genera (9.09 %) and 7 species (8.23 %) followed by Poaceae, Fabaceae and Amaranthaceae with 5 species each, while Cupressaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, Rhamnaceae, Salicaceae, Solanaceae and Verbenaceae with 3 species each and the remaining families were represented by 2 or less species. The life form class was dominated by Therophytes comprised of 31 spp. (36.4%) followed by Nanophanerophytes 24 spp. (28.2 %) and Chamaephytes 11 spp. (12.9 %). The leaf size spectra showed that Microphylls was dominant with 25 spp. (29.4 %), followed by Mesophylls with 24 spp. (28.2 %), while the Nanophylls with 12 spp. (14.1%) and Leptophylls with 10 spp. (11.7 %). The habit of plants showed that 43 species (50.5 %) were herbs, 28 species (32.5 %) were trees, and 14 spp. (16.4 %) were shrubs.

Ethnobotany Research and Applications

Background: Wild Food Plants (WFPs) are a natural source of food in many rural communities and potential source of local food security. However, over-harvesting and excessive utilization endanger their survival. This study was conducted to document the diversity of wild edible plants along with their customary food uses from Lawat area Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Methods: Data on food uses was collected during 5 years observation (2015-2020) by conducting various surveys using semi-structured and freelisting interviews with 70 local participants and self-observations as well. Novelty was checked by comparing the gathered data with the published literature using Jaccard Index (JI). Use-value (UV) was used to check the relative importance of useful plants. Results: A total of 61 wild food plants belonging to thirty families were collected and identified. The edible parts of all reported species were consumed as fruits, cooked as vegetable and used in herbal tea or eaten raw. Thirty-two species were used as vegetables, followed by 13 species as fruits, 10 species in herbal tea, and 6 as condiments. Herbs were recorded with a major contribution of 72%; trees and shrubs contributed 11% each while 4.91% fern. A number of young parts (aerial part and leaves) of most species are used as vegetable. All reported parts of plants were frequently utilized by residents as food and maximum plants are available in the months of June-August. Most of the recorded WFPs belonged to Rosaceae (9 species), followed by Polygonaceae (8 species), Lamiaceae (5 species), Brassicaceae, and Amaryllidaceae (4 species each). Conclusion: WFPs still play an imperative role in the local food culture and are primary source of food for food insecure families in study area and traditional knowledge attached to them is astonishing in the region. In this study, many wild food plants along with their customary food uses were recorded for the first time in Lawat area with almost 72% of the species followed by 31% at district level and 23% species from Azad Kashmir.

Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 2022

Background: Wild Food Plants (WFPs) are a natural source of food in many rural communities and potential source of local food security. However, over-harvesting and excessive utilization endanger their survival. This study was conducted to document the diversity of wild edible plants along with their customary food uses from Lawat area Neelum Valley, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Methods: Data on food uses was collected during 5 years observation (2015-2020) by conducting various surveys using semi-structured and freelisting interviews with 70 local participants and self-observations as well. Novelty was checked by comparing the gathered data with the published literature using Jaccard Index (JI). Use-value (UV) was used to check the relative importance of useful plants. Results: A total of 61 wild food plants belonging to thirty families were collected and identified. The edible parts of all reported species were consumed as fruits, cooked as vegetable and used in herbal tea or eaten raw. Thirty-two species were used as vegetables, followed by 13 species as fruits, 10 species in herbal tea, and 6 as condiments. Herbs were recorded with a major contribution of 72%; trees and shrubs contributed 11% each while 4.91% fern. A number of young parts (aerial part and leaves) of most species are used as vegetable. All reported parts of plants were frequently utilized by residents as food and maximum plants are available in the months of June-August. Most of the recorded WFPs belonged to Rosaceae (9 species), followed by Polygonaceae (8 species), Lamiaceae (5 species), Brassicaceae, and Amaryllidaceae (4 species each). Conclusion: WFPs still play an imperative role in the local food culture and are primary source of food for food insecure families in study area and traditional knowledge attached to them is astonishing in the region. In this study, many wild food plants along with their customary food uses were recorded for the first time in Lawat area with almost 72% of the species followed by 31% at district level and 23% species from Azad Kashmir.

Being a remote, hilly and less accessible area, the people of Qalagai hills are dependent for their survival on the existing plant resources and thus have rich ethnoecological knowledge. A total of 209 species of vascular plants belonging to 167 genera and 75 families were identified in the area. Of them, 194 species were used by the indigenous people for 42 different local use classes. Most of the species were used as a source of medicine (92 spp.), followed by fodder and forage (58 spp.), fuel wood (29 spp.), wild fruits (25 spp.), vegetable (14 spp.), ornamental plants (11 spp.), and ethnoveterinary purpose (10 spp.). Poaceae was the largest family that contributed 22 species, followed by Asteraceae (16 spp.), Rosaceae (15 spp.), Lamiaceae (14 spp.), Polygonaceae and Ranunculaceae (7 spp. each) and Pteridaceae (6 spp.). Nanophylls and Microphylls were the dominant leaf size classes, while Therophytes and Hemicryptophytes were the dominant life forms.

Background: Indigenous people residing in the remote localities have practicing knowledge about the utilization of herbal resources to cure different ailments. Current study was conducted in Kalash valley District Chitral (Lower), Pakistan to investigate the indigenous medicinal plants, their local names, uses, etc. The valley inhabits peoples with unique culture and costumes and considered as the descendants of Alexander the great having their own way of plant utilization for medication. Methods: Data was collected by interviewing through questionnaires. During the fieldwork, 133 respondents (99 men and 34 women) of different age groups were selected and personal observations were also recorded. Data was analyzed by using parameters like Use Report (UR), Use Values (UV), Frequency of Citations (FC), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Relative Frequency of Citations (RFC). The plants were provided with voucher numbers after collection and identification. Results: 90 medicinal plant species from 44 families and 75 genera used to treat 23 illnesses. Rosaceae was leading family with 13 species (14.45%) followed by Asteraceae with 07 species (7.80%) and Lamiaceae 06 (6.70%) species. The most frequently used plant component was fruit (34.44%) followed by leaves (26.66 %) and powder was found to be the primary method of preparations and are often either ingested or used topically. The maximum used value was reported for Allium cepa (0.92) and minimum (0.06) for Carum carvi. The digestive system disorders showed highest Informant Census Factor (ICF) values (0.71) followed by the Anti-microbial diseases having ICF value of 0.68, while the evil-eyes repellent plants showed least ICF (0.40) values. The highest RFC was recorded for Cannabis sativa (0.40) while Cedrus deodara has the lowest (0.10). Conclusion: The present findings revealed that the Kalash valley has diverse plant resources used for various human aliments. The current work will provide useful information for future studies on various aspects of botanical sciences from the area.

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2014

Background: The tribal inhabitants of the Skardu valley (Pakistan) live in an area of great endemic botanic diversity. This paper presents the first quantitative ethnomedicinal spectrum of the valley and information on the uses of medicinal plant. This paper aims to analyze and catalogue such knowledge based on Relative Frequency Citation (RFC) and Use Value (UV) of medicinal plants in addition to the configuration of the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Relation between plants and cultures is indispensable. The link between culture and plant resources was explored first time for the Basikhel tribe of Tor Ghar District. This tribe is one of the largest tribe of District Tor Ghar. It has long established tribal culture. The study was conducted during the years 2012 and 2013. The information was gathered from 200 informants from 15 randomly selected villages. Data was obtained through semi structured interviews, group discussions and EPA. The local people use 250 species of the vascular plants belonging to 90 families for 23 different cultural uses such as food, fodder, timber, fuel wood, medicine, furniture and agricultural implements. The inhabitants of the area are highly dependent on local flora for their different cultural needs. Total of 150 species belonging to 50 families were documented for the medicinal uses. Informant consensus showed that wound healing and gastrointestinal treatment were ranked highest among all medicinal uses. For each plant its botanical name, family name, local names and conservation status was also recorded. Three species were found most threatened. This study is a part of an ongoing research project in which we will explore plant resources utilized by five different tribes of the District Tor Ghar in the near future.

Pak. J. Bot, 2011

The present research work was designed to gather indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant species, which are being utilized by the local inhabitants of arid (Kadhi) areas of Khushab, Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 48 plant species belonging to 45 genera and 32 families have been recorded which are being used for treating 45 different diseases/ailments during February-March, 2010. Most of the species (10 spp., 6.71%) were used for treating digestive ailments i.e. constipation and flatulence, followed by jaundice (9 spp., 6.04%), abdominal worms & blood purifier (7 spp., 4.70% each), whereas, 6 species were used as antilice, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and tonic, 5 species were used for treating acidity, flue and skin allergy. Fruits of plants were highly employed for the preparation of indigenous recipes (24.04%), followed by leaves (23.08%), seeds (11.54%), whole plant (10.85%) and roots (8.65%), while remaining nine parts were occasionally used.