Ethnopharmacological relevance of medicinal plants used for the treatment of oral diseases in Central Punjab-Pakistan

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevanceThis is the first study of the indigenous knowledge in regard to the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of oral diseases in the Central Punjab, Pakistan region. The study aimed to document indigenous knowledge about the treatments of oral diseases using quantitative ethnobotanical indices, as well as highlighting important medicinal plant species by comparing the data obtained with previously published ethnobotanical and pharmacological data. MethodsThe ethnomedicinal data was collected from local informants and Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs). The Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) and Diseases Consensus Index (DCI) were calculated to analyse the documented data. The results were compared with those of the nine ethnobotanical studies highlighted in our literature review relating to oral disease, as well as many pharmacological studies evaluating the reported plants. ResultsIn total, 72 medicinal plants belonging to 38 families were reported by the 180 local informants and 17 THPs interviewed. The most commonly used family, life form and plant part used was Asteraceae (6 species), herbs (30 reports) and leaves (22 reports) respectively. The RFC ranged from 7.61% (Berberis lycium, Dodonea viscosa) to 51.78% (Abutilon indicum, Accacia nilotica, Cuscuta reflex and Solanum nigrum), while the DCI varied from 0.062 to 0.78 with the highest value of DCI for Zizyphus oxyphylla and the lowest for Abutilon indicum. The most prominent species based on quantitative indices in the present study and comparison with previous published data were Zizyphus oxyphylla, Pongamia pinnata, Launea nudicaulis, Acacia nilotica, Abutilon indicum, Salvadora persica and S. oleoides. ConclusionThis study has identified a range of medicinal plants traditionally used in Central Punjab, Pakistan for the treatment of oral diseases. This data can usefully inform the direction of future research and it is suggested that further detailed phyto-pharmacological, toxicological and clinical studies be conducted on the plant species documented in the study, especially those with the highest RFC and, DCI values.