Abstract
Plants and natural products have played a significant role in curing and preventing a variety of ailments occurring in humans and animals, and continue to provide new bioactive leads for researchers in therapeutic discovery. This study was conducted with the aim to identify and document local healers’ practices of treating human diseases and quantitatively document indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants, as well as to highlight the species of public interest for bioprospecting potential. A total of 17 field tours were carried out in 12 regions of Jasrota hill and its adjoining areas of Himalaya. Informants (113) were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and discussions and local guided collections. The results were analyzed using ethnobotanical indices—use-reports (URs) and the informant consensus factor (ICF)—and the data were statistically analyzed. The ethnopharmacological uses of 121 plant species belonging to 105 genera and 53 families were reported for use as medicine for treating 93 types of ailments. A total of 4987 URs were mentioned by 113 informants. Fabaceae (90.09%) and Asteraceae (6.62%) were the most represented families. Herbs (46.28%) were the primary sources of medicine, decoction (33.88%) was the most common use method for utilization, and leaves (43.80%) were the most frequently used plant parts. The ICF values ranged from 0.667 to 0.974, with the highest number of species (1314UR, 55 species) being used for the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments (GIA), followed by dermatological disorders (38 species). This result showed that the exchange of knowledge could be evident among the different communities, and their medicinal uses and practices could be correlated.
Highlights
Plants are an integral part of life, as they produce secondary metabolites to fight disease [1,2], and humans have rationalized medicinal plants and their chemical components in various forms for therapeutic use [3,4]
The Himalayan Duggar, Pahari, Punjabi, and Gujjar people residing in and around the Jasrota Wildlife Sanctuary (JWS) protected area were focused on using the available natural plant resources
The results revealed a high diversity of medicinal species used by the people, with 121 taxa utilized in 15 ailment categories
Summary
Plants are an integral part of life, as they produce secondary metabolites to fight disease [1,2], and humans have rationalized medicinal plants and their chemical components in various forms for therapeutic use [3,4]. It is estimated that traditional medicine uses more than 5000 plant species comprising different taxonomic groups [14]. Indigenous knowledge about the use of medicinal plants in being lost from one generation to another generation due to modernization and the habitat destruction of the medicinal plants [15,16]. The documentation of traditional knowledge plays an important role in its conservation and facilitates future medicinal plant research for the discovery of medicines [17,18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
