EXPLOITATION OF FOLK ETHNOMEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE OF KOTLI AZAD JAMMU AND KASHMIR-Pakistan

Abstract

ABSTRACT For the documentation of folk Ethnomedicinal knowledge from District Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir-Pakistan, we have surveyed various areas of Kotli and gathered information from the habitants by personal interviews, discussion and also by questionnaires. Plant specimens were also collected from the fields of different selected areas in different seasons of the year. Their medicinal uses and taxonomically confirmed with the help of available literature. The duration of this research work was one year, from December 2019 to January 2020. During the research period, we reported 59 plant species which belongs 54 genera and29 families, among the reported families Lamiaceae and Fabaceae were dominant families having six species each, followed by Asteraceae with five species. These plants are utilized by habitants from centuries as Ethnomedicine against various diseases like cough, cold, malaria, fever, stomach disorders, mouth and throat sour etc. This research provides a lot of Ethnomedicinal knowledge which depicts men’s interaction with plants.