Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan
Abstract Background Because of diverse topographical habitats, the Chenab River wetland harbors a wealth of medicinal and food plant species. This paper presents first quantitative assessment on the ethnobotanical use of plants by the local peoples residing in the Chenab riverine area. Methods The e...
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doaj-776e7f0683a9410ab82b121605218dd62020-11-25T01:43:44ZengBMCJournal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine1746-42692019-02-0115113110.1186/s13002-019-0285-4Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province PakistanMuhammad Umair0Muhammad Altaf1Rainer W. Bussmann2Arshad Mehmood Abbasi3School of Agriculture and Biology and Research Center for Low-Carbon Agriculture, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityDepartment of Zoology, Women University of Azad Jammu and KashmirDepartment of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden, Ilia State UniversityDepartment of Environment Sciences, COMSATS University IslamabadAbstract Background Because of diverse topographical habitats, the Chenab River wetland harbors a wealth of medicinal and food plant species. This paper presents first quantitative assessment on the ethnobotanical use of plants by the local peoples residing in the Chenab riverine area. Methods The ethnobotanical data were collected from six parts of the Chenab River wetland: Mandi Bahuddin, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sargodha, and Sialkot during 2014 to 2015, using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative indices including informant consensus factor (FCI), relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance level (RIL), use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), and corrected fidelity level (CFL) were used to analyze the data. Results On the whole, 129 medicinal plant species belonging to 112 genera of 59 families were reported, with herbs as dominant life forms (51%). Poaceae was the leading family with 13 species, and leaves were the most frequently utilized plant parts (28%). Herbal medicines were mostly used in the form of powder or decoction, and were mainly taken orally. Withania somnifera, Solanum surattense, Solanum nigrum, Azadirachta indica, Ficus benghalensis, Morus nigra, Morus alba, Polygonum plebeium, and Tribulus terrestris were among the highly utilized plant species, with highest UV, RFC, RIL, FL, and CFL values. The reported ailments were grouped into 11 categories based on FCI values, whereas highest FIC was recorded for gastrointestinal diseases and glandular diseases (0.41 and 0.34, respectively). The use report (UR) and frequency of citation (FC) depicted strong positive correlation (r = 0.973; p = 0.01). The value of determination (r 2 = 0.95) indicating 95% variation in UR can be explained in terms of the FC. Conclusion The significant traditional knowledge possessed by local communities depicts their strong relation with phytodiversity. Reported data could be helpful in sustainable use and protection of plant species in the Chenab wetland, with special emphasis on medicinal plants. Furthermore, screening of plant-borne active ingredients and in vivo/in vitro pharmacological activities could be of interest for novel drug synthesis.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13002-019-0285-4EthnobotanyMedicinal plantsQuantitative analysisChenab riverinePakistan |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Muhammad Umair Muhammad Altaf Rainer W. Bussmann Arshad Mehmood Abbasi |
spellingShingle |
Muhammad Umair Muhammad Altaf Rainer W. Bussmann Arshad Mehmood Abbasi Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine Ethnobotany Medicinal plants Quantitative analysis Chenab riverine Pakistan |
author_facet |
Muhammad Umair Muhammad Altaf Rainer W. Bussmann Arshad Mehmood Abbasi |
author_sort |
Muhammad Umair |
title |
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan |
title_short |
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan |
title_full |
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan |
title_fullStr |
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan |
title_sort |
ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in chenab riverine area, punjab province pakistan |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |
issn |
1746-4269 |
publishDate |
2019-02-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Because of diverse topographical habitats, the Chenab River wetland harbors a wealth of medicinal and food plant species. This paper presents first quantitative assessment on the ethnobotanical use of plants by the local peoples residing in the Chenab riverine area. Methods The ethnobotanical data were collected from six parts of the Chenab River wetland: Mandi Bahuddin, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sargodha, and Sialkot during 2014 to 2015, using semi-structured interviews. Quantitative indices including informant consensus factor (FCI), relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance level (RIL), use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), and corrected fidelity level (CFL) were used to analyze the data. Results On the whole, 129 medicinal plant species belonging to 112 genera of 59 families were reported, with herbs as dominant life forms (51%). Poaceae was the leading family with 13 species, and leaves were the most frequently utilized plant parts (28%). Herbal medicines were mostly used in the form of powder or decoction, and were mainly taken orally. Withania somnifera, Solanum surattense, Solanum nigrum, Azadirachta indica, Ficus benghalensis, Morus nigra, Morus alba, Polygonum plebeium, and Tribulus terrestris were among the highly utilized plant species, with highest UV, RFC, RIL, FL, and CFL values. The reported ailments were grouped into 11 categories based on FCI values, whereas highest FIC was recorded for gastrointestinal diseases and glandular diseases (0.41 and 0.34, respectively). The use report (UR) and frequency of citation (FC) depicted strong positive correlation (r = 0.973; p = 0.01). The value of determination (r 2 = 0.95) indicating 95% variation in UR can be explained in terms of the FC. Conclusion The significant traditional knowledge possessed by local communities depicts their strong relation with phytodiversity. Reported data could be helpful in sustainable use and protection of plant species in the Chenab wetland, with special emphasis on medicinal plants. Furthermore, screening of plant-borne active ingredients and in vivo/in vitro pharmacological activities could be of interest for novel drug synthesis. |
topic |
Ethnobotany Medicinal plants Quantitative analysis Chenab riverine Pakistan |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13002-019-0285-4 |
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