Application of Ethnobotanical Indices on the Use of ... · 4...

Research ArticleApplication of Ethnobotanical Indices on the Use ofTraditional Medicines against Common Diseases

Imran Khan,1 Naser M. AbdElsalam,2 Hassan Fouad,2,3 Akash Tariq,1

Riaz Ullah,4 and Muhammad Adnan1

1 Department of Botany, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat 26000, Pakistan2 Riyadh Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh 11437, Saudi Arabia3 Department of Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University,P.O. Box 11792, Helwan, Egypt

4Department of Chemistry, Government College Ara Khel, FR Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 26000, Pakistan

Correspondence should be addressed to Muhammad Adnan; [email protected]

Received 22 February 2014; Accepted 24 April 2014; Published 20 May 2014

Academic Editor: Rainer W. Bussmann

Copyright © 2014 Imran Khan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

The present study was aimed at documenting the detailed ethnomedicinal knowledge of an unexplored area of Pakistan.Semistructured interviews were taken with 55 informants randomly chosen regarding detailed ethnomedicinal and socioculturalinformation. The study exposed 67 medicinal plant species used to prepare 110 recipes and the major modes of herbal formulationwere decoction and powdering (20% each). The disease categories with the highest Fic values were gastrointestinal anddermatological (0.87 each). The study determined 3 plant species, i.e., Acacia modesta Wall., Caralluma tuberculata R.Br., andWithania somnifera (L.) Dunal with a FL of 100%. DMR results showed thatOlea ferruginea (Sol.) Steud. ranked first,Morus alba L.ranked second, andMelia azedarach L. ranked third. Among the 55 informants, the male concentration was high (61%) andmost ofthem were over 40 years old while a leading quantity of respondents (45%) was uneducated. There is a dire need to take necessarysteps for the conservation of important medicinal plants by inhibiting overgrazing and providing alternate fuel resources. Younggenerations should be educated regarding the importance of ethnomedicinal knowledge and plants with high Fic and FL valuesshould be further checked chemically and pharmacologically for future exploration of modern medicine.

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants offer a real substitute in developing coun-tries for the treatment of human and animal ailments [1].Ethnomedicine is often the single easily reached and afford-able therapy available.Theworldmarket for herbalmedicinesbased on traditional knowledge is now estimated at US$ 60billion [2]. Plant-based traditional medicine plays a key rolein the development of novelties in drug discovery [3].

Pakistan has a rich medicinal plants history having morethan 600 plants being used traditionally for medication [4].The majority of the medicinal plants are confined to north-west regions of Pakistan due to the presence of Himalayas,Karakoram, Sulaiman, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges [5]

that lie in associationwith Pak-Afghan border. Both countriesPakistan and Afghanistan share almost 2,500 kilometers ofboundary, called Durand Line, which was demarcated in 1893following an agreement between the British Empire and theAfghan king [6]. The Durand Line separates Pashtun ethnicgroup in the Pak-Afghan border areas. Culturally, Pashtunsrepresent the majority of the populace of Afghanistan andalso have significant population in Pakistan. The local lan-guage of southeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pak-istan Pashtun ethnic group is Pashtu [7]. The majority of thenorthwest areas of Pakistan living in the proximity to borderregion are rural in nature with high illiteracy rate and greatlydepend on medicinal plants for primary health care andfor generating income. In Pakistan, various ethnobotanical

Hindawi Publishing CorporationEvidence-Based Complementary and Alternative MedicineVolume 2014, Article ID 635371, 21 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/635371

http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/635371

2 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Tajikistan

Afghanistan

Mt Tirichmir

MastujChitral

Chitral

Kalam

DirDir

SwatKohistan

Dasu

Gilgit

Northern Areas

Mor Khun

Naran

MansehraBattagramShangla

Buner

SaiduSharif

AbbottabadHairpur

Swabi

MalakandAgency

Mardan

Nowshera

Charsadda

Peshawar

BajaurAgency

MohmandAgency India

MurreeIslamabad

Panjab

Pakistan

LandiKotal

Khyber AgencyOrakzai Agency

KohatKohatHangu

Parachinar

KurramAgency

Kalabagh

KarakBannu

MiranshahNorth

Waziristan

Waziristan

Razmak LakkiMarwat

JandolaSouth

Wana Tank

Dera IsmailKhan

Dera

Khan

ZhobBalochistan

ZarghunShar

Khowst

Gardez

Kabul Jalalabad

Charikar

Ismail

Mansehra

Mianwali

Figure 1: Map of the study area.

studies have been conducted in the different regions [8, 9](Akhtar et al. [9]; Mussarat et al. [10], Hassan et al. [11];and Begum et al. [12]). Most of the ethnobotanical studiesin Pakistan have documented just the uses of medicinalplants. Almost no studies have been documented on detailedethnomedicines preparations in the border region villages.The current research is the first effort to provide a thoroughoverview on the ethnomedicines employed by conventionalhealers and their detailed appliance in the region. Thisresearch will offer baseline data for more comprehensivestudies on effectiveness and security of these preparations,as well as the potential applications in the communal healthsystem. Moreover, the region is very rich in medicinal plantsdue to its conductive climate but this area has never beentouched so far. Therefore, it is imperative to documentthe vegetation and detailed home-grown information ofpeople about medicinal plants of this area before it is lostdue to changing cultures. The purpose of this study is toassess traditionalmedicinal plant knowledge specifically withregard to the traditional healer’s demographic characteristicssuch as gender, age, and source of income and to document

the knowledge and the uses of medicinal plants used by thetraditional healers in the Hangu region, Pakistan, to providebaseline data for future pharmacological and phytochemicalstudies by the application of ethnobotanical indices.

2. Material and Methods

2.1. Study Area. The present study was conducted in Hangudistrict located in north of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan,near the border region with Afghanistan (Figure 1). Hanguis situated at 33.53 North latitude, 71.06 East longitude, and858m above the sea level comprising a total area of 1,097 km2and total population of 314,529 [13].The dominant vegetationin the study area is Acacia modesta, Olea ferruginea, Dodon-aea viscosa (L.) Jacquin, Acacia nilotica L., Periploca aphyllaDecne., Melia azedarach, and Morus alba. The temperatureof the area rises gradually from the month of January to Juneand then slowly turns down up to December. The summerseason is modest and warm but June and July are the hottestmonths. The mean highest temperature is 8.8∘C and mean

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 3

lowest temperature is 7∘C in the months of December andJanuary.This district also produces wheat andmaize as majorcrops. The area is rural in nature and the majority of thepopulation is illiterate and they are also deprived of modernhealth services; hence the locals rely onmedicinal flora of theregion for the healthcare and to balance their low earningsas well [14]. The inhabitants mostly rely on timber for fuelpurposes due to lack of modern fuel resources [13].

2.2. Data Collection. Field work was carried out from Octo-ber 2012 to October 2013. Data was collected by making totaleight frequent visits to the study area in four different seasons.Total 250 informants were recommended by knowledgeableelders, local authorities, and development agents. Out of250, we have randomly selected 55 (34 men and 21 women)out of the total identified key informants. The selectedinformers were local inhabitants of the area aged between20 and 89 years. Ethnobotanical survey was taken to gatherinformation on traditional plants utilized by the local healersfor the treatment of human ailments in the district followingstandard methods [15, 16]. The survey was done by usingproper semistructured interviews and group discussionsas well. A checklist of questions was prepared in Englishlanguage for undertaking interviews and discussions. Thequestionnaire contained no strict questions and informantswere allowed to speak spontaneously and without pressure.Key questions aboutmedicinal plants were on local name of aparticularmedicinal plant, types of disease treated, mode andmethod of remedy preparation, parts of the plants used, useof fresh or dry plant parts, use of single or mixture of plantsfor remedy preparation, mode of administration, and doserequirement. Sociocultural information about informantswas also collected during interview. The informants wereinterviewed in their local language Pashto. Ethically writtenacceptance was collected from the main office of the districtand also from the head person of the village. The purposeof the present study was also explained to each informant inorder to remove their hesitation and to encourage them thattheir knowledge will be a great contribution in the scientificliterature.

2.3. Specimen Collection and Identification. The reportedmedicinal plants were collected from natural vegetation andhome gardens during the field walks and habits of theplants were listed. The collected voucher specimens weretaken to the Herbarium of Kohat University of Science andTechnology, Kohat, Pakistan. Specimen identification andconfirmation were undertaken by using Flora of Pakistanand taxonomic experts. Specimens with their label werestored at the Herbarium of Kohat University of Science andTechnology, Kohat, Pakistan.

2.4. Data Organization. The collected ethnobotanical datawere entered into Excel spreadsheet 2007 and summarizedusing graphical statistical methods such as percentages. Thehabit of the plants was categorized into three categories, thatis, herbs, shrubs, and trees. The part used by the healersfor the preparation of ethnomedicines was grouped under

11 classes, that is, leaves, whole plant, root, fruit, bark, andso forth. Human ailments treated in the study area werecategorized into 18 categories like gastrointestinal, derma-tological, skeletomuscular, antidiabetic, and so forth. Routeof administration was divided into oral, dermal, and nasal.The basic categorization using questionnaire data regardinginformants’ sex, age groups, educational status or literacy rate,and occupation was also carried out.

3. Data Analyses

3.1. Informant Consensus Factor (Fic). For the analysis of thegeneral use of plants, factor informant consensus (Fic) wasused to highlight plants of particular cultural relevance andagreement in the use of plants. Informants’ consensus withina community and between cultural groups indicates whichplants are widely used and thus aids in the selection of plantsfor pharmacological and phytochemical studies [17]. In orderto use this tool, illnesses were classified into categories, asplants with high Fic are likely to be more pharmacologicallyefficient as compared to plants with low Fic [18]. Fic valueslie between “0.00 and 1.00”. Fic values are always greaterwhen single or few plants are documented to be used by largenumber of respondents to cure a specific disease, while lowFic values give an indication that informants do not agreeover which plant to use [19, 20].

The Fic can be calculated using the formula as follows:

Fic = nur − ntnur − 1

, (1)

where Fic = informants consensus factor, nur = number of usecitation in each category, and nt = number of species used.

3.2. Fidelity Level (FL). Fidelity level is useful for identifyingthe key informants’ most preferred species used for treatingcertain ailments. The medicinal plants that are widely usedby the local people have higher FL values than those that areless popular. Fidelity level shows the percentage of informantsclaiming the use of a certain plant species for the same majorpurpose. This is designed to quantify the importance of thespecies for a given purpose. Before calculating the values ofFL all of the ailments that were reported are grouped intomajor classes [21]. FL value was estimated using the formulaFL = Ip/Iu × 100, where Ip is the number of respondentswho reported the utilization of medicinal plants for a specificmain ailment and Iu is the total number of respondents whomentioned the same plant for any ailment [22]. It is assumedthat those medicinal plants which are plants that are usedin some recurring manner for the same disease category aremore likely to be biologically active [18].

3.3. Direct Matrix Ranking (DMR). DMR [15, 16] was usedto compare the use diversity of given plant species basedon the data collected from the respondents. Total eightinformants were selected for the collection of DMR data.Selected informants were asked to assign use values (5 = best,4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = less used, 1 = least used, and 0


= not used) to each species. The values (average scores) givento each medicinal plant were summed up and ranked.

4. Result and Discussion

4.1. Medicinal Plants Reported. The study revealed 67 medic-inal plant species belonging to 55 genera and 39 familiesconsisting of 65 angiosperms and 2 gymnosperms in Hangudistrict (Table 1). The investigated region has a rich diversityof medicinal plants and provides a conductive habitat andideal climatic conditions for their growth as shown by thepresence of 67 medicinal plant species. The majority of themedicinal plants reported were herbs (43%) followed byshrubs (30%) and trees (27%). The high usage of herbs in thestudy area could be an indication of their abundance and itmight also be due to the fact that they are easily accessiblenear household and might have high effectiveness in thetreatment of ailments in comparison to other growth forms[23].The common use of herbs for medicinal purposes is alsoreported fromother parts of the world [24, 25].The dominantfamilies in the study area were Asteraceae and Solanaceaerepresented by the highest number of species (4 specieseach, 6%) followed by Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae, Oleaceae,and Lamiaceae (3 species each, 4.47%). Other families withlow number represented by 2 species each Amaranthaceae,Acanthaceae, Alliaceae, Poaceae, Papilionaceae, Zygophyl-laceae, Arecaceae, and Rhamnaceae, while the remaining 22families had only single species representation. The widerutilization of species from dominant families like Asteraceaeand Solanaceae might relate to the presence of effectivebioactive ingredients against ailments [26]. Our results arein line with other ethnomedicinal studies conducted in otherregions of Pakistan [9, 27] where traditional healers mostlyuse Solanaceae and Asteraceae members for the preparationof ethnomedicines.

4.2. Common Ailments in the Study Area. Traditional healersuse 67 medicinal plants for the treatment of a variety ofdisorders in the studied region. These were grouped into 18major disease categories like gastrointestinal, dermatological,antipyretic, blood disorders, and so forth. The natives ofthe region use total 25 plant species for gastrointestinaldisorders followed by 13 for dermatological infections. Theresults are in agreement with other studies conducted inother parts of Pakistan and other countries [28, 29]. The useof a large number of medicinal plants for the treatment ofgastrointestinal and dermatological ailments in the regioncould be due to the high occurrence of these problemsin the study area due to bad hygiene, fuel wood smokeinside houses, and other factors like water and air pollution[30]. Informant consensus results have also shown a highdegree of consensus for gastrointestinal and dermatological(0.87 each) ailments, which were followed by blood disorderlike diabetes (0.84) (Table 2). The highest plant use citationwas for gastrointestinal (200) followed by dermatologicalailments (100). High Fic value gives an indication that thesediseases are more prevalent in the Hangu region that mightbe due to the poor socioeconomic and sanitary conditions of

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Num

ber o

f pla

nts

Plant parts

Leav

es

Who

le p

lant

Frui

t

Root

s

Seed

s

Bark

Stem

Flow

er

Aeria

l par

ts

Late

x

Gum

Figure 2: Plant parts used for remedy preparation.

the people. According to Heinrich et al. [19], high Fic valuesare very useful in the selection of specific plants for furthersearch of bioactive compounds. The medicinal plants thatare widely used by the local people have higher FL valuesthan those that are less popular. The present study revealed20 medicinal plants having high FL value. FL values in thisstudy varied from 1.0% to 100%. The study determined 3plant species (Acacia modesta, Caralluma tuberculata, andWithania somnifera) with a FL of 100% followed by 7 (Alliumsativa L., Mentha arvensis L., Mentha longifolia L., Cannabissativa L., Punica granatum L., Morus alba, and Morus nigraL.) species with more than 90% and less than 100%, whichmight be taken as a signal of the excellent curative potentialof the plants (Table 3). All these plants that reported higherFL values are not only being frequently used in study regionbut also in other regions of the Pakistan [8, 31]. Theseplants possess different phytochemicals responsible for theirtherapeutic actions.Withania somnifera contains compoundwithanolides, which are believed to account for its extraor-dinary medicinal properties [32]. Caralluma tuberculatacontains pregnane glycosides, flavones glycosides, and otherphytochemical responsible for its antidiabetic and anticanceractivities [33]. It is understood that plants used in recurringmanner are more phytochemically active [16]. High FL valueplants might be selected for further chemical screening toinvestigate the bioactive compounds responsible for theirhigh curative potential [34, 35].

4.3. Ethnomedicinal Preparations. Traditional healers mostlyuse leaves (40%) of the plants followed by whole plant(28%) and fruits (19%) for the preparation of differentethnomedicines.The current investigation showed (Figure 2)that leaves (40%) are the most collected plant parts formedicinal purposes. This might be due to easy availabilityand containing high amount of chemicals and could beeasily extracted and used in different forms but it needsbiochemical analysis and pharmaceutical screening to cross-check the local information. Use of leaves of plants does notcause damaging effect on the plant life cycle as comparedwith other parts like roots and flower, and so forth. Due to


Table1:Medicinalplantsandtheirp

reparatio

nmetho

dsandadministratio

n.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Acaciamodesta

Wall.

Palosa

Mim

osaceae

Tree

Gum

,leaves

Backache

Gum

andpo

wdero

ffresh

leaves

ofAc

aciamodesta

are

mixed

with

wheatflo

urand

desigh

eeandmakeH

alwa

thatisused

forb

ackache.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Acacianilotica(L.)Delile

Kikar

Mim

osaceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Narcotic

Extractio

nof

fresh

root

and

leaves

aretaken

asalcoho

l(Sharab).

Oral

Asn

eeded

Aphrod

isiac

Four

gram

sofgum

istaken

aspaste

with

water.

Oral

Oncea

day

Earache

Abou

t30flo

wersa

reheated

in10mLmustard

oiland

filtered.

Throug

hear

Twoto

four

drop

sfor

5days

Alliu

mcepa

L.Py

aaz

Alliaceae

Herb

Leaves

Antipyretic

Equalamou

ntof

extracto

fon

ionbu

lbandmintare

mixed

andused

against

cholera.

Oral

One

teaspo

onof

this

mixture

istakenper

hour

fora

perio

das

needed.

Skin

infection

Poultic

eofo

nion

bulbis

used

againstabscesses.

Topical

Twotim

esa

dayforo

neweek

Alliu

msativ

umLinn

.Ugga

Alliaceae

Herb

Leaves,

roots

Bloo

ddisorders

Smallpieceso

fAllium

sativ

umarec

hewed

toredu

cebloo

dpressure.

Oral

Twicea

day

Gastro

intestinal

Thep

owdero

fleavesa

ndrootsa

realso

used

against

stomachprob

lems.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Aloe

barbadensis

Mill.

Zarpati

Aloeaceae

Herb

Leaves

Veterin

ary

(gastro

intestinal)

Twoleaves

arem

ade

spinele

ssandeach

oneis

dividedleng

thwise

into

2or

3slices.Th

eses

lices

ofleaves

alon

gwith

common

saltareg

iven

tothea

nimals

forstomachdisorders.

Oral

Threed

oses

after

every48

hoursp

eriod


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Amaranthus

virid

isL.

Sarkoo

mal.

Amaranthaceae

Herb

Leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Leaves

arec

rushed

with

sugara

ndtakenalon

gwith

blackteafor

curin

gconstip

ation.

Oral

Four

times

aday

Skin

infection

Poultic

eofleafisp

repared

alon

gwith

mustard

oilfor

thetreatmento

fabscesses.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Anagallis

arvensisL.

Dhabb

arPrim

ulaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Rheumatism

Thew

holeplantisc

rushed

into

powdera

fterd

rying.

Twogm

ofthep

owderw

ith5g

mof

wheatflo

uris

mixed

forthe

treatmento

frheumatism

.

Oral

Oncea

day

fora

week

Cann

abissativaL.

Bhaang

Cann

abaceae

Herb

Leaves,

flowering

tops,and

seed

Narcotic

Thefruitandleaves

are

used

asnarcotic,com

mon

lycalled“C

haras.”

Oral

Asn

eeded

Veterin

ary

Thed

ecoctio

nof

seedsis

givento

cattlefor

increasin

gmilk

.Oral

Asn

eeded

Carallu

matuberculata

R.Br

Pawany

Ascle

piadaceae

Shrub

Who

leplant

Antidiabetic

and

antic

ancer

Who

leplantisd

ried,

powdered,andtakenwith

water.Fresh

plantis

directlyeatenby

diabetic

patie

ntandisvery

effectiv

ein

cancer

treatmentasw

ell.

Oral

Oncea

day

Cuscutareflexa

Roxb.

Chum

bud

Cuscutaceae.

Herb

Stem

and

seeds

Wou

nd

Apaste

ofthep

lant

powder

inbu

tterisp

reparedandis

externallyappliedfor

wou

nds.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Skin

infection

Thew

holeplantisc

rushed

andthen

boiledin

8liters

ofwater

fora

nho

ur.Itis

filteredandthep

atient

isadvisedto

take

abathwith

thisdecoctionwith

out

usingsoap

forscabies.

Topical

Asn

eeded


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Carthamus

oxycantha

Co.Cr.

Spenaz

agai

Asteraceae

Herb

Seed

oil

Jaun

dice

Seedsa

recollected,drie

dun

dershade,and

grou

ndto

obtain

powdera

ndtakento

treatjaun

dice.

Oral

1teaspoo

nof

powderis

takentwicea

dayfor3

-4weeks

Skin

infection

Fewdrop

sofh

oney

are

addedin

seed

powderto

makep

aste.Th

ispaste

isappliedon

theface.Itis

effectiv

etoremovew

hite

spotso

fskin.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Citru

ssinensis

Malta

Rutaceae

Shrub

Fruit,

leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Fruitise

aten

forreducing

constip

ation.

Oral

2fruitsper

day

Cynodondactylonvar.

coursii

(A.C

amus)

J.R.H

arlanandde

Wet

Wakha

Poaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Wou

nds

Thep

astemadeo

ffresh

leaves

isappliedon

cuts

andbleeding

wou

nds.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Piles

Samea

sabo

veTo

pical

Asn

eeded

Gastro

intestinal

Juiceo

fthe

plantisg

iven

indiarrhea.

Oral

Twicea

day

Antipyretic

Samea

sabo

veOral

Twicea

day

DalbergiasissooDC.

Shaw

aPapilio

naceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Piles

70gm

ofyoun

gleaves

ofbu

dsarec

rushed.O

neglass

ofwater

isaddedto

itand

strained.Th

estrained

decoctionistakendaily.

Oral

Takendaily

for10days

Jaun

dice

Samea

sabo

veOral

Takendaily

for10days

Daturastram

onium

L.To

ratorii.

Solanaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Earache

Thejuice

offlo

wer

isuseful

fore

arache.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Narcotic

Seedsa

ndleaves

are

smoked

fortheirnarcotic

actio

n.Oral

Asn

eeded

Dicliptera

bupleuroides

Nees.

Somni

Acanthaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Skin

infection

Poultic

eisu

sedforscabies.

Topical

Oncea

day

Digeramurica

ta(L.)

Mart.

Tand

ola

Amaranthaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Gastro

intestinal

Juiceise

xtracted

from

the

who

leplantsandused

aslaxativ

e.Oral

Asn

eeded

Dodonaeaviscosa(L.)

Jacquin

Zetawon

iSapind

aceae

Shrub

Leaves

Rheumatism

Theleavesa

rewarmed

and

kept

onjointsto

relieve

pains.

Topical

Oncea

day


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Eriobotrya

japanica

(Thun

b.)L

indl.

Lokat

Rosaceae

Tree

Fruit

Chestp

roblem

sFruitistaken

directlyto

treatcoug

h.Oral

Asn

eeded

Eucalyptus

lanceolatus

Dehnh

.Lachi

Myrtaceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Gastro

intestinal

Leaves

andbark

areb

oiled

inwater.Filtrateand

decoctionareu

sedfor

abdo

minalpains.Fruitis

addedto

greenteaa

ndtakenas

antie

metic.

Oral

Twicea

day

EuphorbiahelioscopiaL.

Katta

saarai

Euph

orbiaceae

Herb

Leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Matureleaves(5g

)are

mixed

with

3spoo

nfulso

fsugartopreparer

ecipeto

treatconstip

ation

Oral

Twicea

day

EuphorbiahirtaL.

Chapatray.

Euph

orbiaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Diabetes

Leaves

juiceistaken

for

diabetes

Oral

Asn

eeded

Fagoniaindica

Burm

.f.Mazgh

aKai.

Zygoph

yllaceae.

Herb

Aeria

lparts

Bloo

dpu

rifier

Extracto

faerialp

artsis

used

Oral

Thric

eaday

Skin

infection

Samea

sabo

veTo

pical

Thric

eaday

Diabetes

Samea

sabo

veOral

Thric

eaday

Antipyretic

Halfk

gof

thew

holeplant

isbo

iledin

2literso

fwater;

patie

ntsw

ithhepatitisare

advisedto

take

bath

with

thisdecoction.

Topical

Thric

eaday

Ficuscarica

L.Inzeer

Moraceae

Tree

Fruit

Piles

Twoto

four

fruitsare

soaked

inwater

ormilk

atnightand

used

inthe

morning

onem

pty

stomach.

Oral

Dailyfor10

days

Ficuselastica

Roxb.ex

Hornem.

Rubb

erPlant

Moraceae

Tree

Leaves,

Bark

Antipyretic

Leaves

andbark

are

crushedandtakenalon

gho

neyin

smallquantity

toredu

cefever.

Oral

Oncea

day

FicusreligiosaL.

Pepp

alMoraceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Vomiting

Decoctio

nof

bark

isused.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Foenicu

lum

vulga

reMill.

Soon

phf

Umbelliferae

Herb

Seedsa

ndroots

Gastro

intestinal

Take

sonf

with

whitezeera,

grindit,

andusea

fterm

eal;

itisgood

toremoveu

lcer

andsto

machpain

Oral

Asn

eeded


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Fumariaindica

(Hausskn

.)Pu

gsley

Khatees

oii.

Fumariaceae

Herb

Aeria

lparts

Bloo

dpu

rificatio

n

Twokg

ofaeria

lpartsis

driedun

dershade

and

crushedto

obtain

powder;

2-3g

mpo

wderw

ithon

eglasso

fwater

istaken.

Oral

Twicea

day

foro

neweek

Jaun

dice

Samea

sabo

veOral

Twicea

day

foro

neweek

Gastro

intestinal

Juiceo

ffresh

partsisu

sed

aslaxativ

e.Oral

Oncea

day

forfou

rdays

Antipyretic

Juiceo

ffresh

partsisu

sed

toredu

cefever.

Oral

Oncea

day

fortwodays

Jasm

inum

humile

f.kensuense

Zeetchum

beli

Oleaceae

Shrub

Flow

er,

root,and

latex.

Skin

infection

Flow

ersa

ndrootsa

rebo

iledto

makep

asteand

rubon

skin

fortreating

pimples.

Topical

Twicea

day

foro

neweek

Jasm

inum

officin

aleL

.Ch

umbeli

Oleaceae

Shrub

Who

leplant.

Gastro

intestinal

Decoctio

nof

leaves

and

rootsa

reprepared

andused

asanthelmintic.

Oral

Oncea

day

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Crushedleaves

arem

ixed

with

flour

andtakenalon

gwater

totre

atkidn

eysto

nes.

Oral

Twicea

day

foro

nemon

th

Justicia

adhatoda

LSh

naBa

zaAc

anthaceae

Shrub

Leaves

Diabetes

Halfk

gof

fresh

leaves

ofthisplantise

xtracted

with

500m

Lwater

andused

againstd

iabetes.

Oral

10mLof

extractis

used

twicea

day

Bloo

dpu

rificatio

nSamea

sabo

veOral

10mLof

extractis

used

twicea

day

Chestinfectio

n

Leaves

andflo

wersa

replucked,driedun

dershade,

grou

ndto

obtain

powder;

50gm

ofthispo

wderis

mixed

in15mLof

honey.

Oral

Half

teaspo

ontwicea

day

for15days

Skin

infection

Halfk

gleaves

areb

oiledin

4literso

fwater

and

decoctionisused.

Oral

Twicea

day

Lathyrus

aphaca

L.JeeW

areen

Papilio

naceae

Herb

Seed

and

flower

Skin

infection

Decoctio

nisused

forskin

prob

lems.

Topical

Asn

eeded


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Malva

negle

ctaWallr.

Pand

erak

Malvaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Rootsa

retakenandbo

iled

in2glasseso

fwater

and

after

boiling

when1g

lassof

water

remains,itistaken

fork

idneysto

nes.

Oral

Oncea

day

for4

0days

MeliaazedarachL.

Tora

Draka

Meliaceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Diabetes

Powdero

fseeds

isused.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Gastro

intestinal

Fruitisg

roun

dandits

juice

ismixed

with

oiland

taken

asanthelmintic

.Oral

Asn

eeded

MenthaarvensisL.

Podeena.

Lamiaceae.

Herb

Leaves

Gastro

intestinal

70gm

driedleaves

ofwild

mintand

30–4

0gm

ofbishop

s’weedareg

roun

dtogether

and10–12g

mof

common

saltisalso

added.

Itisused

forg

asprob

lems

andsto

machpain.

Oral

Thric

eaday

after

meal

Vomiting

Teao

fdrie

dleaves

istaken

tosto

pvomiting

.Oral

Asn

eeded

Menthalongifolia

L.Ve

nalai

Lamiaceae

Herb

Leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Decoctio

nof

leaves

isused

ascarm

inative.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Monotheca

buxifolia

(Falc.)

A.D

C.Gorgola

Sapo

taceae

Shrub

Fruit,ste

mSkin

infection

Poulticeisu

sedagainstskin

infection.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Morus

alba

L.To

otMoraceae

Tree

Fruit,

leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Crushedleaves

aretaken

alon

gho

neyto

treat

diarrhea.

Oral

Twicea

day

Morus

nigraL.

TorT

oot

Moraceae

Tree

Fruit,

leaves

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Fruitisd

irectlyeatenas

diuretic.

Oral

Twicea

day

Nann

orrhopsritchiana.

(Griff

.)Aitch.

Mazzari

Arecaceae/Palmae

Shrub

Leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Crushedleaves

areu

sedas

carm

inative.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Veterin

ary

Freshleaves

areg

iven

toanim

alsa

spurgativ

e.Oral

Asn

eeded

Neriu

moleand

erL.

Gandderai

Apocyn

aceae

Shrub

Leaves

Dentalp

ain

Wou

nd

Thefresh

leaves

arew

ashed

andcrushed,andthen

3cups

ofwater

area

dded.

Thefi

ltrateisg

iven

tothe

patie

ntssuff

eringfro

mdentalpain.

Oral

Twicea

day

for5

days

Poultic

eofleavesisa

pplied

externallyto

redu

cesw

ellin

g.To

pical

Twicea

day


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Olea

ferruginea(Sol.)

Steud.

Kawwaan

Oleaceae.

Tree

Fruit,

leaves,

seeds,and

bark

Dental

Decoctio

nisused

for

toothache.

Oral

The

decoctionof

fresh

leaves

iskept

inthe

mou

that

nighttill

recovery.

Rheumatism

Theo

ilextractedfro

mthe

fruitsisused

asmassage

inthetreatmento

frheumatism

.

Topical

Asn

eeded

Skele

tomuscular

Samea

sabo

veTo

pical

Asn

eeded

Otoste

gialim

bata

Benth.

Spin

azgh

aiLamiaceae

Shrub

Who

leplant

Throatinfection

50gm

fresh

leaves

are

grou

ndand3-4teaspo

ons

ofwater

area

dded

toit.

Thismixture

isfiltered

throug

hac

loth

andisgiven

tothep

atient

sufferin

gfro

mmou

thgumsa

ndthroatpains.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Wou

ndCr

ushedleaves

area

pplied

forc

uringof

wou

nds.

Topical

Oncea

day

Oxalis

cornicu

lata

L.To

keep

i.Oxalid

aceae

Herb

Leaves,

root

Gastro

intestinal

Juiceo

fleavesa

ndrootsa

reused

againststomach

prob

lem.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Peganu

mharm

alaL.

Spin

nali

Zygoph

yllaceae

Herb

Seeds

Spiritual

Thes

mokefrom

burning

seedsa

ndleaves

isbelieved

tobe

devilrepellent

and

also

used

asprotectio

nagainstevileyes.

Perip

loca

aphylla

Decne.

Barada

Perip

locaceae

Shrub

Stem

,bark,and

latex.

Gastro

intestinal

Branches

andflo

wer

are

driedun

dershade,groun

dto

obtain

powder,and

takenalon

gwater

for

constip

ationandsto

mach

ulcer.

Oral

2–4g

mof

ispo

wdertwice

aday


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Phoenixdactylifer

aL.

Khajoor

Arecaceae

Tree

Fruit,

leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Take

four

driedkh

obani

andthreek

hajoor

andkeep

itin

milk

andbo

ilit.

Afte

rcoolingtake

iton

anem

pty

stomachwith

1teaspoo

nof

isapagu

l;itisgood

for

controlling

constip

ation.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Sexpo

wer

Samea

sabo

veOral

Asn

eeded

Pinu

sroxburghiiSarg.

Nakthar

Pinaceae

Tree

Allaeria

l

Dental

Juiceise

xtracted

from

fresh

leavesandbark

bygrinding

.Th

isismixed

with

water

andtakenfortoo

thache.

Oral

Twicea

day

before

meal

andatbed

time

Gastro

intestinal

Similarly

,the

bark

and

leaves

ofPinu

sare

dried

andcrushed,andthen

the

powderisd

issolvedin

cold

water

andtakenfor

diarrhea.

Oral

Twicea

day

before

meal

andatbed

time

Skin

infection

Leaves

ofthep

lant

are

boiledandthee

xtractis

obtained

andtakenbefore

mealasrem

edyforscabies.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Pista

ciachinensis

Bung

e.Shenai

Tree

Who

leplant

Gastro

intestinal

Powderedgalls

friedwith

ghee

areg

iven

internallyin

dysentery.

Oral

Oncea

day

Skin

infections

Thes

tem

gum

isaddedto

them

ustard

oil,warmed,

andmixed.Th

eprepared

poultic

eisthenappliedto

ther

upturedheelsa

tnight.

Topical

Atnightfor

once

Plantago

lanceolata

L.Gwayozhabe

Plantaginaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Dental

Leaves

arec

rushed

and

kept

inmou

thto

relieve

toothache.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Gastro

intestinal

Seedsa

ndfruitsared

runk

aspu

rgativea

ndlaxativ

e.Oral

Asn

eeded

Skin

infections

Freshleaves

arec

rushed

for

athlete’s

foot.

Topical

Asn

eeded


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Plantanu

sorie

ntalisL.

Chenar

Platanaceae

Tree

Who

leplant

Gastro

intestinal

Thep

eelofthe

fruitis

dried,soaked,and

grou

nd.

Thep

owdersoform

ed,

called“N

arsaway,”ismixed

insm

allquantity

inac

upof

curd

andisused

for

dysentery.

Oral

Twiceina

daytill

recovery

for

thetreatment

Punica

granatum

L.Anar

Punicaceae

Shrub

Fruit,bark

Gastro

intestinal

Thefruitperic

arpisdried,

powdered,mixed

with

sugar,andused

ford

iarrhea

anddysentery.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Chestinfectio

nsTh

efruitperic

arpismixed

with

teaa

ndisgivenfor

who

opingcoug

h.Oral

Asn

eeded

Bloo

dpu

rifier

Fruitisd

irectlyeaten.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Rumex

dentatus

L.Re

enzakai

Polygonaceae

Herb

Leaves

Sexenhancer

Decoctio

nof

leaves

isused.

Oral

Oncea

tnight

Skele

tomuscular

Samea

sabo

veOral

Asn

eeded

Ricin

uscommun

isL.

Raanda

Euph

orbiaceae

Shrub

Seeds,leaf,

bark,

androot.

Gastro

intestinal

Thes

mallquantity

ofoilis

rubb

edon

thea

bdom

en,

which

isslo

wlyand

gradually

absorbed

throug

hsw

eatg

land

storelease

constip

ation.

Topical

Twicea

day

foro

neday

Sageretia

thea

(Osbeck)

M.C.Joh

nst.

Mam

oti

Rham

naceae

Shrub

Fruit,

roots

Jaun

dice

Thee

xtractionof

rootsis

used

ascoolingagentin

jaun

dice.

Oral

Oncea

day

Saccharum

spontaneum

L.Shaat

Poaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Chestinfectio

nJuiceo

fwho

leplantsis

mixed

with

milk

forthe

treatmento

fcou

gh.

Oral

Twicea

day

fortwodays

Solanu

mincanu

mL.

Tarkha

Mow

tngee

Solanaceae

Shrub

Leaves

and

roots

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Decoctio

nof

leaves

and

rootsa

reused

tobreak

kidn

eysto

nes.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Solanu

mvillosum

Miller.

Koot

soab

Solanaceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Decoctio

nof

leaves

and

rootsa

reused

tobreak

kidn

eysto

nes.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Sonchu

sarvensis

L.Kr

ooKo

nai

Asteraceae

Herb

Who

leplant

Wou

nds

Thew

holeplantisc

rushed

toform

apaste.Th

epasteis

appliedas

apou

ltice

onwou

ndsa

ndbo

ils.

Topical

Asn

eeded


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

Silyb

ummarianu

m(L.)

Azghai

Asteraceae

Herb

Leaves,

seeds,and

flowers

head

Antipyretic

Jaun

dice

Liverp

roblem

s

Seedsa

recollected,drie

dun

dershade,and

roastedin

vegetableo

il.Ro

astedseeds

areg

roun

dto

obtain

powder.Th

isisused

totre

athepatitis.

Oral

Half

teaspo

onof

thispo

wder

istaken

thric

eaday

fora

mon

th

Samea

sabo

veOral

Samea

sabove

Samea

sabo

veOral

Samea

sabove

Taraxacum

officin

ale

F.H.W

igg.

Asteraceae

Herb

Leaves,

root

Jaun

dice

20–30g

mdriedaeria

lparts

areb

oiledin

1litero

fwater

for15–20

min

towhich

15–20g

msugarisa

dded.

Thisdecoctionisfiltered

andused

againstjaund

ice.

Oral

Halfcup

isgiventwicea

day

Diabetes

Halfk

gdriedaeria

lparts

areb

oiledin

2litersw

ater

anddecoctionisfiltered

andused

ford

iabetes.

Oral

One

cupof

this

decoctionis

takentwicea

day

Term

inaliaarjuna

L.Com

bretaceae

Tree

Bark,

fruits,

and

leaves

Cardiovascular

Fruitsandleaves

are

grou

ndto

makep

owder

andmixwith

essential

additiv

es.

Oral

Oncea

day

Vitexnegund

oL.

Marmandi

Verbenaceae

Shrub

Leaves,

root,stem,

andseeds

Gastro

intestinal

60gm

driedseedso

fthis

plant,30

gmBishop’sweed,

and2-3teaspo

onof

common

saltareg

roun

dtogether

topo

wder.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Antipyretic

Samea

sabo

veOral

Asn

eeded

Jaun

dice

Thed

ecoctio

nof

leaves

isused

forjaund

ice.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Kidn

eyprob

lem

Thes

eeds

areg

roun

dto

obtain

powdera

ndare

takenwith

water

fork

idney

stone.

Oral

Halfspo

onon

cead

ay


Table1:Con

tinued.

Scientificn

ames

Localn

ames

Families

Habit

Partused

Medicinaluses

Herbalformulation

Administratio

nDosage

With

aniasomnifer

a(L.)

Dun

alKa

pyanga

Solanaceae

Herb

Leaves,

roots,and

seeds

Kidn

eyprob

lems

Thed

ecoctio

nof

leaves

istakento

breakkidn

eysto

nes.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Zizip

husm

auritiana

var.

abyssin

ica(H

ochst.ex

A.

Rich.)Fiori

Bera

Rham

naceae

Tree

Fruit,root,

andleaves

Gastro

intestinal

Thed

ecoctio

nof

fruitand

bark

istakenwith

acup

ofmilk

totre

atconstip

ation

anddysentery.

Oral

Asn

eeded

Zizip

husn

ummularia

(Burm.f.)Wight

and

Arn.

Karkata

Rham

naceae

Shrub

Fruit,

leaves

Gastro

intestinal

Powdero

ffruits

andleaves

areu

sedto

treat

constip

ation.

Oral

Thric

eaday

for2

days


Table 2: Fic values of traditional medicinal plants for treating human ailments in district Hangu.

S. Number Disease categories Nur Nt Fic1 Gastrointestinal 200 25 0.872 Dermatological 100 13 0.873 Skeletomuscular 7 2 0.834 Blood disorders 58 10 0.845 Chest infections 24 7 0.736 Jaundice 14 7 0.537 Ear nose throat problems 12 3 0.818 Antipyretic 32 7 0.809 Narcotic 3 2 0.5410 Sex power 8 3 0.7111 Kidney problems 22 7 0.7112 Wounds 3 2 0.5413 Rheumatism 9 3 0.7514 Veterinary 9 3 0.7515 Dental 12 4 0.7116 Piles 9 3 0.7517 Liver problems 7 1 118 Cardiovascular 9 1 1

Table 3: Fidelity level value of medicinal plants commonly reported against a given ailment.

Number Medicinal plants Ailments lp lu FL value %01 Acacia modesta Skeletomuscular 19 19 10002 Caralluma tuberculata Antidiabetic 19 19 10003 Withania somnifera Gastrointestinal 26 26 10004 Allium sativum Blood pressure 18 19 94.705 Mentha arvensis Gastrointestinal 23 25 9206 Mentha longifolia Gastrointestinal 23 25 9207 Cannabis sativa Narcotic 11 12 91.608 Punica granatum Blood purifier 21 23 91.309 Morus alba Respiratory tract 19 21 90.410 Morus nigra Respiratory tract 19 21 90.411 Oxalis corniculata Gastrointestinal 17 19 89.412 Fagonia indica Dermatological 17 19 89.413 Fagonia indica Blood purifier 26 30 86.614 Ricinus communis Pregnancy 06 08 7515 Olea ferruginea Dermatological 12 16 7516 Olea ferruginea Sore throat 11 15 73.317 Justicia adhatoda Skeletomuscular 07 10 7018 Cuscuta reflexa Dermatological 11 16 68.719 Ziziphus nummularia Antidiabetic 06 10 6020 Sageretia thea Antidiabetic 08 14 57.1

good rainfall conditions about eight months in the year, theleaves remain green and abundant for most of the months.Our findings of the frequent use of green leaves in thepreparation of remedies corroborate the results of [36, 37].Traditional healers are involved in preparation of 110 recipespreparation and the major modes of ethnomedicines prepa-ration in the studied regionwere decoction (20%), powdering(20%), crushing (12%), extracting juice (10%), and so forth

(Figure 3). Decoction and grinding of medicinal plants forthe preparation of ethnomedicines could be due to their higheffectiveness for the curing of various ailments. Accordingto Deeba [38], decoction, grinding or crushing, and boilingmethods are the most commonly followed methods for theextraction of active compounds. Monotherapy preparationsusing single medicinal plant were found to bemore abundantin comparison with herbal concoction that was prepared by


0

5

10

15

20

(%)

Mode of preparation of remedies

Dec

octio

n

Pow

der

Crus

hed

Juic

e

Extr

act

Paste

Poul

tice

Smok

e

Tea

Figure 3: Methods of preparation of ethnomedicines.

mixing two or three species; for example, healers take equalamount of extract of onion bulb and mint and mix them forthe treatment of cholera. Another example is taking 70 gmdried leaves of wild mint and 30–40 g of “bishops” weedand grinding them together and 10–12 gm of common saltis also added to them and taken for the treatment of gastricproblem and stomach pain. The use of mixture of plantshas recently been shown to increase the effectiveness of theherbal medicine [39]. Out of total 110 ethnomedicines, 91%were prepared by using fresh plant materials, whereas 9%were prepared using dried parts (Table 1). The high usage offreshly prepared ethnomedicines is an indication of the highabundance of medicinal plants in the surrounding areas tobe harvested anytime. These findings are in line with otherstudies conducted in other areas [40, 41]. The other reasonbehind the repeated use of fresh plant material could bedue to the fact that the drying process contributes to theloss of volatile oil and sometimes due to the fact that hightemperature protein becomes denature. Higher use of freshplant material on the other hand is not a sustainable practiceas it may threaten the plants due to recurrent harvesting.

4.4. Route of Administration and Dosage. The current surveyrevealed that most of the plant remedies are taken orallyand topically in the investigated region while only singlerecipe is taken through ear (Table 1). As mentioned earlier,gastrointestinal and skin problems are common in the regionand that might be the reason why the majority of the plantsare being used orally and topically while some of the plantsare being used through ears. Ethnomedicines are taken alongdifferent types of additives generally called vectors like honey,salt, sugar, milk, desi ghee, and wheat flour for the purposeof increasing flavor and to reduce the astringent taste ofthe remedies. This means that since traditional medicinescould have sour or bitter tastes in most cases, the additivesreduce such tastes and may even improve the efficacy of themedicine. The measurements used to determine the dosagesare not standardized and depend on the age and physicalappearance of the patient, sociocultural explanation of theillness, diagnosis, and experience of individual herbalist [42].

Mostly the treatment of the patient is completed within asingle day or couple of days. When the patients did not showany indication of improvement from their sickness followingtreatment completion, they were recommended to modernhealth centres in urban area for further examination by thephysician.

4.5. Multipurpose Medicinal Plants and Threats to TheirExtinction. The results of the DMR implementation on mul-tipurpose medicinal plants enabled us to recognize which ofthe multipurpose plants are more under stress in the areaand the causes that threaten the plant (Table 4). Accordingly,Olea ferruginea ranked first,Morus alba ranked second,Meliaazedarch ranked third, and Acacia modesta ranked fourthwhileAcacia nilotica ranked fifth.Thesemultipurpose speciesare basically trees and therefore these species are facing greatpressures as the local people are unsustainably harvestingthese species for a variety of purposes.The factors responsiblefor the declining of these species abundance in the areawere their overharvesting for agricultural tool, construction,fodder, and fire wood purposes. Beside these major threats,locals of the region also use these plants for handicraftsmanufacturing. Free grazing is the common practice in thearea. Before the commencement of winter, the grasses areharvested, dried, and put into a stake. The harvesting is donecollectively, and then during the bare and cold months ofwinter, these are fed to the domestic animals. Fuel consump-tion per home in the studied area is often considered morethan the consumption on feeding and other requirementsbecause of severe winters. Thus, the results require urgentconservation strategies to save the declining population ofmultipurpose plant species in the study region. References[43, 44] have also stated the identical pattern of maximumexploitation of multipurpose medicinal plants for uses otherthan their traditional medicinal importance in southeasternEthiopia. Traditional healers mostly use the whole plant ofthese multipurpose species or individual roots (Table 1) ofsome species for the preparation of ethnomedicinal recipesand this is an unsustainable practice as compared to leaves.Therefore, there is a dire need to take necessary steps for theconservation of these species before their extinction.

4.6. Indigenous Knowledge Associated with Gender, Age, andSocioeconomic Status of the People. Among the 55 infor-mants, 34 (61.81%) were male and 21 (38.18%) were female(Table 5). It is witnessed that males had better knowledgeregarding ethnomedicines than females. The reason behindthatmen have well indigenous knowledge thanwomenmightbe due to the fact that the men are usually favoured in theshift of the knowledge; however, in many cultures womenare responsible for the family’s health. The highest numberof informants aged above 40 years. The result shows thattraditional knowledge is prevalent among the communitymembers; however, it is under threat of transferring to theyounger generation to come. The decreasing rate of transferof indigenous knowledge might be due to the lack of interestamong the younger generation to learn and practice it,which might be attributed to the ever increasing influence


Table4:DMRscoreo

ffifte

enkeyinform

antsfore

levenmedicinalplantsspeciesw

ithadditio

nalu

sesb

esides

medicinalvalue.

Use

diversity

A.modesta

P.chinensis

D.viscosa

D.sissoo

M.azedarach

M.albanigra

O.fer

ruginea

F.religiosa

P.roxburghii

A.nilotica

Z.mauritiana

Total

Rank

Agriculturaltoo

l2

03

04

55

01

50

254

Con

structio

n0

40

55

55

54

32

383

Fodd

er5

30

00

53

30

04

235

Fire

woo

d5

35

35

45

43

53

451

Medicine

53

33

45

52

33

339

2To

tal

1713

1111

1820

2314

1116

12Ra

nk4

79

93

21

69

58

Basedon

usec

riteria(5

=best;

4=very

good

;3=good

;2=lessused;1

=leastu

sed;and0=no

value).


Table 5: Gender, age group and literacy level frequencies, andoccupation of the interviewed people in the region.

Total PercentageGender

Male 34 61.81Female 21 38.18

Age groups20–29 2 3.6330–39 3 5.4540–49 7 12.7250–59 7 12.7260–69 15 27.2770–79 12 21.8180–89 9 16.3

Educational attainmentIlliterate 25 45.45Primary 16 29.09Middle 10 18.18Secondary 2 3.63University 2 3.63

OccupationFemales

House wives 19 90.47Primary teacher 2 9.52

MalesShopkeepers 10 29.4Farmers 13 38.2Labours 6 17.6Primary teachers 5 14.7

of modernization [8]. Almost half of the respondents inter-viewed were illiterate (45.45%), whilst most of those withan education had merely primary (29.09%) which reflectthe unavailability of standard educational institution in thearea (Table 5). Literate people in the study area were foundto have less knowledge of medicinal plants as compared toilliterate ones as the former are more likely to be exposedto modernization as also revealed by studies conductedelsewhere [8, 45, 46]. The inhabitants of the study area arenot very well off due to less literacy rate and therefore theyare heavily dependent on medicinal plants for a variety ofpurposes in order to compensate their income.

5. Conclusions

The present study has recorded 67 medicinal plants used forthe treatment of a variety of human ailments in the ruralarea near Pak-Afghan border region. In the study area herbsconstituted the highest proportion of medicinal plants tobe utilized. Mostly the leaves of the plants are harvestedfor different ethnomedicines preparation. Decoction andpowdering are the most common methods of drug prepa-ration and remedies are mostly taken orally in the studiedregion. A high number of plants have been reported to treat

gastrointestinal and dermatological problems.The medicinalplants in the region are also facing some threats like unsus-tainable collection method of some plants, collection forfuel wood, for construction, and for fodder, and agriculturaltools. For sustainable utilization of medicinal plants and toavoid further loss, the District Agricultural Office needs toteam up with the local people, by providing the communitywith planting materials of the most threatened and preferredmedicinal and multipurpose species so that they can growthem in their home gardens. Moreover, the documentedmedicinal plants with high degree of consensus can serve asa basis for future investigation of modern drug.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper.

Authors’ Contribution

Muhammad Adnan and Akash Tariq have designed theresearch project. Imran Khan conducted the field work andwrote the draft of the paper. Akash Tariq has equally con-tributed in writing the paper with Imran Khan. MuhammadAdnan, Naser M. AbdElsalam, and Riaz Ullah providedcomments on the draft and helped in finalizing the paper. Allthe authors read and approved the final paper.

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Deanship of ScientificResearch, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, forfunding the work through the research Group project NoRGP-VPP-210. The authors are thankful to the local peoplefor sharing their valuable indigenous knowledge.

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