Ethnobotanical and ecological study of Punica granatum in Dir district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Punica granatum L. (wild) belongs to family Punicaceae, a woody plant, predominantly found on calcareous and alkaline soils. The species is extensively utilized as food and firewood and for the extraction of various chemicals due to its therapeutic properties. To understand the ethno-botanical and ecological status of the species on a regional scale, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the Dir (L) area using close and open-ended questionnaires. Data collected from 124 respondents were analysed quantitatively using statistical analysis to calculate indices like Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use value (UV) and multivariate analysis. GPS data used for the presence data of the plants were used to develop GIS thematic maps. Geo-referenced data on P. granatum was collected from the study area, using GPS. Results suggest that the plant is mostly used as a remedy for dry cough, as an astringent, people used powder form of fruit peelings. It was documented in the present investigation that P. granatum is mainly eradicated due to its extensive use as firewood. The study also evaluated on the major aspect of how the P. granatum can be conserved naturally. It was found out that the plant is conserved in areas inaccessible to humans. The status of the vegetation community around this plant was also explored, it is found out that specific shrub and tree communities were major flora growing in proximity to P. granatum. The finding of this survey has concluded that wild P. granatum is an endangered species due to its extensive and uncontrollable use for firewood, curing diseases and its economic potential. These findings could be exploited to take necessary steps for the conservation of this species.

Antimicrobial activity of 50 plant extracts

“…One of the problems in modern veterinary medicine and medicine is antibiotic resistiance of Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Corynebacterium xerosis, Proteus vulgaris and Candida albicans, which significantly complicates preventive measures and treatment of these infections and reduces the therapeutic efficiency of existing antibacterial and anti-parasitic preparations (Mendez et al, 2012;Boyko & Brygadyrenko, 2016;Ali et al, 2017;Semeniuc et al, 2017). According to the data of Wasyl et al (2013), during monitoring of antimicrobial resistance of E. coli (n = 3430), isolated from slaughtered broilers, carrier hens, turkeys, swine and cattle in Poland, microbiological resistance to 14 tested antimicrobial substances was determined: highest resistance was exhibited by the bacteria to tetracycline (43.3%), ampicillin (42.3%) and ciprofloxacin (39.0%).…”

The ethnobotanical domain of the Swat Valley, Pakistan

“…The calculation of the index requires the Smith’s salience index value [41], as this value is the primary use of a certain item by persons or population. Adding the Smith’s Salience and Cultural Importance Indices which are the measures of versatility-diversity of use [18, 40], together with the part use value, and dividing them by three get the average value. The maximum theoretical value for CPI is 1, suggesting the plant needs to be put in the high priority list of conservation.…”

“…A checklist of all the ethnomedicinal plants and their uses was developed (Table 1). Free-listing was carried out after [38] by asking the respondents to list all the plants used in the local cultural domain. Free-lists for 16 different diseases and health problems were collected.…”

“…In many developed countries, especially North America and Western Europe, investors and the common public are equally, vigorously involved in the decision-making process at the managerial level and the opinions of the public are sought and considered before concluding on any future environmental policy [14, 15]. Common examples on the participation and consideration of public opinion can be seen in many cases in the UK, even on very minor issues, i.e.…”

“…public consultation on hunting with dogs and other mammals [16, 17]. Scoring and quantifying the public opinion in environmental biology and ecology is sometimes an issue and requires large-scale ecological surveys and consultation of the public to make sure a reduced risk of human-wildlife conflict remains [10, 18, 19]. …”