Therapeutic uses of wild plant species used by rural inhabitants of Kangra in the western Himalayan region

Abstract

The importance of medicinal plants in traditional health care practices has long been recognized as a source of biodiversity conservation and research. However, many remote areas of Himachal Pradesh lack information upon the usage of plants for medicinal purposes. The current study was conducted in Kangra Valley (district Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India) from March 2020 to August 2021 for the documentation of ethnomedicinal plants. Information on the ethnomedicinal plants was collected through extensive field visits using a pretested questionnaire, interviews and group discussions with the selected informants. Data collected from the study site were analysed using three different quantitative indices, viz., use-value, informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level (Fl), (%) to check the importance and homogeneity of traditional ethnomedicinal knowledge among the informants of the study site. A total of 116 informants were selected using the snowball sampling technique. The rural inhabitants of the study area reported a total of 108 plants belonging to 51 families and 95 genera. A maximum number of plant species was reported from the Fabaceae (9) family, followed by Rosaceae (6), Moraceae (5) and Euphorbiaceae (5). The plant part that was most frequently used for the preparation of traditional remedies includes leaves (31%), followed by fruits (13%), whole plants (12%), bark (11%), roots (10%) and flowers (8%). Most of the plant species were used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders (73), followed by dermatological (55) and respiratory disorders (38). The informants reported that the younger generation was not very interested in traditional knowledge due to cultural changes and the acceptance of Western culture. As a result, documenting traditional knowledge and ethnomedicinal plants from various parts of the world is critical. It not only helps in the documentation but also helps in the conservation and protection of endemic and endangered medicinal plants globally.