Abstract
Background: Local communities use animals and plants as common traditional therapies for various diseases. The study aimed to document animals and animal-plant mixture recipes that are used as alternative and complementary medicine in southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Methods: The data were collected (2017–2018) in three remote areas (Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, and Lakki Marwat) through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with local inhabitants. Data on ethnomedicinal uses and cultural values of animal products or parts and their mixture with plants were analyzed using various indices such as frequency of citation (FC), informant consensus (FIC), and fidelity level (FL) to find the highly preferred species in the area.Results: A total of 185 informants (117 females and 68 males) were interviewed. The study documented 32 animal species, vertebrates (n = 24) and invertebrates (n = 8), for curing 37 types of diseases. Mammals (n = 13) were among the most commonly utilized species followed by birds (n = 8), arthropods (n = 7), reptiles (n = 2), and fishes and annelids (n = 1 each). Among the reported animals, Herpestes edwardsi (mongoose), Macaca mulatta (monkey), Labeo rohita (rohu), Oryctolagus cuniculus (rabbit), and Streptopelia decaocto (dove) were the newly reported species used as alternative medicine. The meat of Capra hircus (goat), monkey, and rabbit was used to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C, cancer, epilepsy, and asthma. A total of 17 plants belonging to 15 botanical families were used in combination with animal parts/products. The commonly used families were Piperaceae (31%) followed by Apiaceae (27%). The notable plant species in combination with animal products were Curcuma longa, Piper nigrum, Coriandrum sativum, Brassica rapa, and Phoenix dactylifera. Seeds were the highest used part in animal-plant mixture recipes. Gallus gallus (chicken) and Columba livia (pigeon) secured the highest (FC = 28) and (FL = 80%), respectively. FIC results had shown the highest degree of consensus for general body weakness (FIC = 0.88) and pyrexia (FIC = 0.86).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that local communities in the southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have substantial knowledge about the formulation of ethnomedicines from both flora and fauna that need urgent documentation to avoid eroding and for conservational purposes. The newly reported phytozootherapeutic recipes and animal species can potentially be a source of pharmacologically active constituents and should be checked experimentally for further confirmation.
Highlights
Since ancient times human beings are aware of ethnobiological uses and depend on fauna and flora for their medicines, food, clothing, and other resources of living (Lohani et al, 2008)
The study has been planned with the objectives to document 1) recipes comprised of animals, animal parts, or animal products 2) recipes comprised of both plant and animal parts/products used by the residents of the southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and 3) the highly preferred recipes by quantitative indices
These three regions were occupied with a diversity of animals and plants and most of the people of rural as well as urban regions depend upon plants and livestock
Summary
Since ancient times human beings are aware of ethnobiological uses and depend on fauna and flora for their medicines, food, clothing, and other resources of living (Lohani et al, 2008). 65% of the world population relies on alternative medicines derived from natural resources for their primary health care Cragg and Newman (2013) as these are comprised of different bioactive compounds which may be more effective with the least toxicity as compared to synthetic drugs (Oudhia, 1995; Alves and Rosa, 2005). Rural people, who have century’s old traditional knowledge transferred from their ancestors and propagated from generation to generation, play a vital role in disease management. They heavily depend on this knowledge of the traditional system due to poverty, and lack of modern medical facilities, so this information is restricted to rural areas (Sandhya et al, 2006; Ibrar et al, 2007). The study aimed to document animals and animal-plant mixture recipes that are used as alternative and complementary medicine in southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
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