Ethnobotanical heritage of Kafir Kot, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan: Ethnobioinformatics and conservation

Abstract

Background: In remote and semi-arid regions, traditional phytotherapy remains a vital component of primary healthcare. However, indigenous botanical knowledge in geographically isolated areas like Kafir Kot (District Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan) remains under-documented and vulnerable to socio-cultural erosion.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 78 key informants (50 males and 28 females) to document local medicinal plant utilization. Ethnobotanical data were quantitatively evaluated using use value (UV), family importance value (FIV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), informant consensus factor (ICF), and fidelity level (FL) metrics.

Results: A total of 50 therapeutic plant species spanning 24 botanical families were recorded, with Asteraceae and Poaceae demonstrating the highest family representation. Herbaceous species were the predominant growth form. High consensus among informants was observed for treatment of cancer (ICF = 0.966), followed by sexual performance (ICF = 0.957). Centaurea cineraria, Parthenium hysterophorus, and Aerva javanica exhibited the highest citation frequencies (RFC = 0.22). Erigeron bonariensis showed the highest FL (71.43%; Np=10/FC=14) for diarrhea, indicating high specificity for this ailment, whereas species with high UV such as Boerhavia diffusa (UV=0.88) showed low specificity but high versatility across multiple ailment categories.

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate a well-preserved ethnomedicinal heritage in Kafir Kot. High quantitative consensus values highlight candidate species for future pharmacological screening, while providing a foundational framework for biocultural preservation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Keywords: Kafir Kot, Medicinal plants, Traditional medicinal knowledge, Ethnobotanical heritage, Informant consensus factor, Fidelity level, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan