Ethnomedicinal study of medicinal plants used by the inhabitants of tribal District North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic plants are the wealth of any area for disease treatment. The current study was focused on report the traditional knowledge of unexplored areas of District North Waziristan, Pakistan. This was the first quantitative survey for studying the medicinal plants of the study area.

Methods: Ethnomedicinal data was collected from 130 informants through face-to-face interviews as well as semi-structured questionnaires. The collected data was analyzed through quantitative indices viz., Relative frequency of citations (RFC), Use value (UV), Fidelity level (FL), Jaccard index (JI), and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF).

Results: A total of 206 medicinal plant species belonging to 78 families were recorded which are being used by the natives of the área under study. Maximum number of species were reported for the treatment of constipation (36 spp.), followed by blood purification (22 spp.). The most frequently used plant parts were leaves (63 spp.) followed by fruits (49 spp.). In the case of recipe formulation, decoction was the leading method (58 spp.), followed by powder (47 spp.). The highest relative frequency of citation (RFC) was recorded for Cydonia oblonga (0.56), followed by Morus alba (0.55), Berberis lycium (0.54), and Salvadora oleoides (0.52). The highest Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) value was reported for gastrointestinal disorders (0.91).

Conclusions: The indigenous health professional in North Waziristan have a wealth of knowledge on therapeutic plants and their utilization. Harvesting of whole plants and roots exerted huge pressure on the native flora and there is an urgent need to initiate conservation strategy for the safeguard of medicinally important flora.

Keywords: quantitative study, traditional knowledge, relative frequency of citation, North Waziristan, Pakistan.