Ethnomedicinal uses of the local flora in Chenab riverine area, Punjab province Pakistan

Rainer W Bussmann,Muhammad Umair,Muhammad Altaf,Arshad Mehmood Abbasi

doi:10.1186/s13002-019-0285-4

Abstract

BackgroundBecause 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.MethodsThe 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.ResultsOn 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 (r2 = 0.95) indicating 95% variation in UR can be explained in terms of the FC.ConclusionThe 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.

Highlights

Because of diverse topographical habitats, the Chenab River wetland harbors a wealth of medicinal and food plant species
About nine plant species including Withania somnifera, Solanum surattense, S. nigrum, Azadirachta indica, Ficus benghalensis, Morus nigra, M. alba, Polygonum plebeium, and Tribulus terrestris were highly utilized with maximum use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance level (RIL), fidelity level (FL), and corrected fidelity level (CFL) values
The determination value (r2) was 0.95, which indicates that 95% of variation in use reports (UR) can be described in terms of the frequency of citation (FC)

Summary

Introduction

Because of diverse topographical habitats, the Chenab River wetland harbors a wealth of medicinal and food plant species. Herbal medicine is very popular around the globe, with particular reference to South Asia, e.g., Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The main reasons for the popularity of herbal medicines are (i) the belief that plants are close to nature, safer than modern synthetic drugs; (ii) easy accessibility; (iii) plants providing a cheaper method of treatment; and (iv) the idea that plants show less side effects or antagonistic reactions as compared to modern drugs [2]. The majority of the world population, especially rural people in developing countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, or Nepal, partially or entirely rely on herbal medicine [3].

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