Quantitative ethnomedicinal study of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants used by the tribal communities of Central Kurram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The use of plants for different ethnobotanical purposes is a common practice in the remote areas of developing countries, particularly in reference to human and animal healthcare. For this aim, it is important to document ethnomedicinal use of plants for human and livestock healthcare from unexplored regions.Objective: The current study aimed to document the use of medicinal plants and to assess their conservation status.We hypothesized that Central Kurram, due to its remoteness and maintenance of traditions would show distinct differences in medicinal plant use in comparison to other areas of Pakistan.Method: The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and was analyzed using various quantitative indices including use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), use report (UR), fidelity level (FL), informant consensus factor (ICF) and family importance value (FIV). Plant samples were collected identified and then processed as voucher specimens following standard ethnobotanical practice.Results: One hundred twenty participants including 80 men and 40 women were interviewed. The participants reported a total of 106 plant species, belonging to 96 genera and 50 families. There were two families of pteridophytes (2 species), 2 families of gymnosperm (4 species) and 100 species belonging to 46 families of 2 angiosperms. The local population used therapeutic plants to heal 114 different diseases in 19 aliment categories in the study area.A total of 106 species belonging to 50 families were documented as used to treat different types of illness. The UV ranged from 0.01 (Artemisia scoparia and Malva sylvestris) to 0.75 (Conyza canadensis). The RFC varied from 0.025 (Hyoscyamus niger and Senecio crysanthemoides) to 1.992 (Ephedra intermedia). The species with 100% FL were Astragalus stocksii and Artemisia scoparia, while the FCI ranged from 0 to 1 for insecticides and acoustic disorders. The conservation assessment revealed that 49 plant species were vulnerable, followed by rare (34 spp.), infrequent (7 spp.), Dominant (5spp.) And 5 endangered species. Conclusion:The current study showed that Central Kurram has a significant diversity of medicinal plant, and the use of medicinal plants and plant-based remedies is still common in the area. A total of 106 medicinal plant species, belonging to 50 families were documented for the treatment of 114 disorders. The residents used medicinal plants in treatment of important diseases such as Covid-19, cancer, dysentery, as diuretic, wound healing, and sexual diseases.

Ethnomedicinal plants uses for the treatment of respiratory disorders in tribal District North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pakistan Authors

“…A large number of therapeutic plants have been previously reported from adjacent tribal areas. 7 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Tariq et al 2015;Hussain et al 2022;Irfan et al 2018a, b, c). Indigenous people used all plant parts in drug preparation, but leaves were used most commonly in this study.…”

Traditional knowledge and diversity of medicinal plants in Hindukush range, Tehsil Mastuj, Chitral, Pakistan: An ethnobotany survey

“…Mentha longifolia, Medicago sativa and Morus alba had the highest (0.7) UV value (Table 1, Figure 5). (Haq & Badshah 2021, Hussain et al 2022. The people of the study area have maintained the traditional lifestyles depending on wild and cultivated plants for food, fuel, fodder, construction material and crude drugs.…”

Ethnobotanical study of wild medicinal plants in Serbajadi protected forest of East Aceh District, Indonesia

“…Several previous studies show similar results that 39.9%-72.64% of respondents use herbaceous plants as traditional medicines both in Indonesia and in other countries (Amsalu et al 2018;Ali et al 2020;Hu et al 2020;Kidane et al 2018;Hussain et al 2022). This is likely because the search and mode of use of this plant group are easy besides the therapeutic indication of its medicinal properties (Baydoun et al 2015;Bahadura et al 2020).…”

“…Asteraceae and Lamiaceae contributed the most medicinal species, with 8 species each (Figure 2), followed by Euphorbiaceae with 5 species, Fabaceae and Poaceae with 4 species each, Acanthaceae, Burseraceae, Cyperaceae, and Myrtaceae with 3 species each, and the remaining families each with one or two species. Another study found that Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were the dominant families with 5-15 medicinal plant species in South Aceh (Suwardi et al 2021), Malaysia (Ramli et al 2021), Pakistan (Hussain et al 2022), Southwest Algeria (Bouafia et al 2021), and Ethiopia (Bahadura et al 2020;Chekole et al 2015;Getaneh and Girma 2014;Meragiaw et al 2016).…”