Study of plant resources with ethnomedicinal relevance from district Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Abstract: An ethnomedicinal expedition was conducted to collect and record indigenous knowledge about the use of medicinal plants by local inhabitants of four villages (Chittra, Topi, Pandi, and Kalri) of district Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Ethnomedicinal data were obtained from 60 randomly selected local inhabitants of the study area through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews. These data were analyzed quantitatively through different ethnobotanical indices including family importance value, relative frequency of citation, use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), informant consensus factor (ICF), and Jaccard index (JI). our study reported 69 medicinal plants belonging to 39 families. Rosaceae (9 species) was a dominant family of the study area. Herb (54.83%)was dominant growth form of plants used for medicinal purpose. Leaves contributed maximum usage (44.29%) for curing diseases. Decoction (23 records) was most used mode of utilization. Relative frequency of citation and UV ranged from 0.03–0.85 and 0.05–1.17, respectively. There were 4 plant species with 100% FL. Highest ICF (0.88%) was found for gastrointestinal diseases. By comparing results with previous study, JI ranged from 0.54 to 24.43%. Our results found that there were 18 plant species not reported with ethnomedicinal aspect in previous studies from district Bagh region. The research of this study concludes that the area is rich with medicinal plants and the local inhabitant of this area still prefermedicinal plants over allopathic medicines for treating different ailments. Comparative analysis has shown some novel uses of plant species whichmay be due to cultural differences of the study area. However, awareness and pharmacological study are needed to conserve and unveil pharmaceutically important plants.


Introduction
Plants are considered indispensable for sustenance of life because rural communities belonging to different countries use local plants for different purposes. Plants not only provide food, shelter, and oxygen to human beings but are also pivotal source of chemicals used in various drugs [1]. Medicinally important plants are considered as a main source of medicine for majority of population inhabited in rural areas. To gather information about medicinal plants, interest was prevailing in all ancient civilizations. Ethnobotany correlates the medicinal use of plants by local inhabitants of an area. Ethnobotanical study of an area reflects the awareness among local inhabitants about medicinal usage and application of plants against diseases. World Health Organization estimated that 80% of population in developing countries depend on herbal medication for fulfilling their health care necessities. Almost all plants have active constituents effective for diseases but some plants are much rich with these chemicals and are preferred for disease treatment [2]. These phytochemicals include b-amyron, stigmasterol, luteolin, arachidic acid, palmitic acid, flavonoids, etc. [3].
It is estimated that out of 4,22,000 flowering plants, 35,000-70,000 plant species are being used for herbal medication throughout the world [4]. It is stated in previous studies that about 25% of allopathic drugs are being produced from plants or byproducts extracted from plants. These drugs are more preferred than synthetic ones because of fewer side effects, low cost, and easy accessibility. This can be explained by comparing the medicinal plant Salix alba with synthetic drug, aspirin. It is confirmed by different studies that bark of Salix alba is effective against side effects caused by aspirin [5]. Pakistan is bestowed with variety of medicinal plants due to its different climatic and soil conditions. Traditional Unani medicine system is practiced by large population of Pakistan. This Unani medicinal practice largely relies on medicinal plants. A total of 6,000 flowering plants are present in Pakistan, from these around 400-600 plants are considered as medicinally important [6]. It is also noteworthy that about 80% of total angiospermic plants of Pakistan are present in western and northern mountainous regions of Pakistan. In 1950s, 84% of Pakistan's population was dependent on medicinal flora for treating various diseases, but due to rapid change in lifestyle and modernization, now the use of medicinal plants is restricted to remote areas [7]. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a state that lies in the foothills of Himalayas between 33-36°latitude and 73-75°longitude. This area is comprised of 13,297 km 2 [8]. This area is rich with plant diversity because of rivers, springs, streams, and grasslands. The number of medicinal plants are restricted in this area. The people of this area have significant knowledge about the use of medicinal plants but this knowledge about usage of medicinal plants is decreasing with death of aged people. So, a proper attention is needed to conserve these natural resources before the information related to important medicinal plants species is lost forever.
Previously, few studies had been conducted about the traditional use of medicinal plants from AJK [9][10][11] and district Bagh. Safeer et al. [12] reported 34 medicinal plant species from moist temperate Himalayas of district Bagh. Amjad et al. [13]

Study area
Present study has been conducted in four villages (Chittra, Topi, Pandi, and Kalri) of district Bagh, AJK. This area is located in western Himalayas region (Figure 1). Bagh district, as indicated by its name (garden) is one of the greenest sites of AJK. Average annual precipitation is 1,500 mm. Temperature ranges from 21 to 40°C in summer and about 2°C during winter. Various ethnic groups including Rajput, Sudhan, Gujar, Jat, and Maldial live in this area. Most common languages are Gojri, Kashmiri, Hindko, and Pahari. Its vegetation falls in subtropical as well as moist temperate regions [15].

Data collection
Current Survey is conducted directly by interacting with the native people through interviews as well as by group discussions following the method as in ref. [16]. For recording information, questionnaires were distributed among local people particularly herbalists (Hakeems) and old age people who are usually more acquainted with medicinal plants uses. The questionnaire was designed following Edward et al. [17] methodology.

Collection, identification, and preservation of plants
During the entire survey, plants were collected from diverse localities. Collected plants were placed in old newspapers for drying. Collected samples were identified by using flora of Pakistan. Each collected sample was dumped in the herbarium of PMAS -Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi.

Data analysis
Quantitative data analysis was done by using following ethnobotanical indices.

Family importance value (FIV)
FIV tells us about most frequently used family by the aboriginal people in the study area. It was calculated by the following formula [18]. Here N is total number of informants and FC is the frequency citation of plant families.

Relative frequency of citation (RFC)
The RFC of medicinally important plants in the study area was calculated by using the following formula: where "FC" indicates the number of participants that report the use of specific species and N indicates the total informants who are involved in the study [19].

Use value (UV)
UV of plant species was calculated by using the following formula [20].
where "ΣUi" is the sum of all uses mentioned by each informant. N indicates the total number of participants.

Fidelity level (FL)
FL was used to find out the species domination over other species for curing specific complaints [21]. It is commonly calculated by the use of following formula.
where N p demonstrates the number of those contributors that specify the use of species for particular illness category and N designates number of those informers that use them for any type of disease category.

Informant consensus factor (ICF)
In order to categorize the most reliable medicinal plants for those diseases that are considered to be most frequent in the area, ICF was used by the following formula [22].
where Nur represents the number of use reports of a specific plant for a particular ailment and Nt indicates the total species that are used by all participants for this ailment category.

Jaccard Index (JI)
JI was used for comparing the reported research species with the previous data published from adjoining areas, at regional and global level. This was done by analyzing the quoted plant species as well as their medicinal uses with previous published articles by using the following formula: Here "c" is the number of plants common to study area and previously published article, while "a" is the number of plant species reported in previously published article, and "b" is the number of plant species reported from study area [23].

Results and discussion
3.1 Qualitative ethnobotany 3

.1.1 Demographic of informants
Data related to ethnomedicinal plants was recorded from 60 inhabitants through interview as well as by the use of questionnaires and group discussion. With regards to gender, 68.33% female and 31.67% male participants were involved for giving ethnomedicinal information. Much information was collected from the females of study area because it was much easier due to same gender rather than from the males. Our study results were also in agreement with refs. [24,25]. Similarly, 3.33% herbalists (Hakeems) and 96.67% other native people contributed in this survey. Age data showed that majority of informants were in the age range of 55-80 years (56.67%). It was followed by 35-50 years (30%), and above 80 were 13.33% ( Figure 2). Mostly old age people prefer use of herbal medicines over allopathic drugs.

Diversity of medicinal plants
Present study showed that a total of 69 plant species belonging to 39 families were being used by local inhabitants of district Bagh, AJK. Four different growth forms having medicinal values were recorded from study area. It was found that 54.83% plant species are herbs. Other plant species were trees (24.53%), shrubs (17.31%), and climbers (4.33%) ( Figure 3). Maximum use of herbs for medicinal purposes was due to more abundance and easily accessibility of these plants in study area. Our results also corroborate with the results of refs [26,27].

Plant parts used and mode of utilization
Plant parts used for medicinal purpose in the study area includes leaves, seeds, roots, branches, fruits, cones, flowers, and plant exudates. Leaves were most frequently used plant part for preparation of medicines with 44.29%. It was followed by whole plant (34.29%), fruits (27.14%), barks (11.43%), roots (11.42%), seeds (10%), branches and plant exudates (8.57%), and cones and flowers (2.86%) ( Figure 4). Leaves showed maximum usage percentage (44.29%) for treatment of different ailments. Umair et al. [28] and Ajaib et al. [9] showed similar results regarding usage of plant parts against disease treatment in their studies. Leaves are the main photosynthetic organ containing high level of secondary metabolites, essential oils, and phytochemicals. These metabolites are very useful against various disorders [29,30]. It is also noted that the confiscation of roots and whole plants may have destructive effects on existence and regeneration of plants. So, the use of leaves against diseases is advantageous for sustainability of local flora [31]. Plant parts with maximum usage percentages by traditional healers can be further investigated for phytochemical screening of important medicinal constituents in these parts. This can also help in confirmation of authentic information regarding medicinal uses of plant parts suggested by indigenous people or traditional healers.
Local inhabitants use different mode of utilization including decoction, plant extract, powder, juice, and paste. The most common usage forms were decoction (23 records), plant extract (17 records), powder (14 records), juice (10 records), and paste (7 records) ( Figure 5). The most common mode of utilization for medicinal purpose was decoction with 23 records. It was also reported in literature that therapists mostly used medicinal plants in the form of decoction [32,33].
Decoction is also most frequently used mode of utilization in Pakistan for herbal medicines [34]. The use of medicinal plants in the form of decoction is preferred because it can be easily made by using water, tea, soup, or milk [35]. Decoction is usually made by mixing two or three different plant parts or plant species. This phenomenon of making decoction with more than one plant part is of great value among traditional healers  because it is richer with medicinal constituents as compared to single part [36].

FIV
Ethnomedicinal flora showed that the most represented family was Rosaceae contributing (22.5%) followed by Asteraceae (20%), Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae, Moraceae, and Mimosaceae (7.5% each), Ebenaceae, Solanaceae, Pinaceae, Amaranthaceae, Convolvulaceae, Fagaceae, and Apiaceae (5% each) followed by other families (2.5%) ( Table 1). Highest FIV was reported for family Rosaceae (22.5%). This is due to the abundance of this family in the study area. These results were analogous with the findings of refs [37,38]. Highest RFC for Berberis lyceum Royle (0.85) shows that this plant is very familiar among people of study area and most of the people know about its medicinal values and usage. UV was used to find out the relative importance of plant species among traditional healers according to their usage. This technique helps in authentication of different uses of plant species among number of people [39]. In present investigation UV ranges from 0.05-1.17. Our results of highest RFC and UV values for Berberis lyceum also corroborate with the findings of ref. [40]. Local people use this plant against various diseases like mouth and teeth problems, diabetes, rheumatic pain, dysentery, constipation, blood diseases, respiratory problems, flu, and jaundice. UV is not constant for a plant species among different areas or even within same area. Its value goes on changing over time. For example, highest UV was reported for Mentha longifolia (1.05) and Olea ferouginea (1.02) from the tehsil Harighal [13] of same district Bagh. High UV of Berberis lyceum shows that it is very important among the people of district Bagh for healing various diseases. Lowest UV was 0.08 for Stellaria media L. Low UV does not mean that this plant is of low medicinal components or of less importance but it can be due to the fact that people are less familiar with this plant and its usage in particular area [41].

FL
FL was used to find out the species domination over other species for curing specific complaints. FL value ranged from 28.95 to 100%. Four plant species with 100% FL, were Stellaria media, Rumex hestatus, Fragaria nubicola, and Prunus armeniaca ( Table 2). The lowest FL was found for Viola odorata with a value of 28.95%. Plants with 100% FL were used for curing constipation, female reproductive disorders, and healing wounds. Urtica dioica with 85.71% FL was used as a tonic and Hedera nepalensis with 83.33% FL was used for joint pain by local inhabitants of study areas. High FL of a plant species reflects it extensive usage and uniqueness for treating a specific disease in an area [42,43]. The plant species with high Study of plant resources with ethnomedicinal relevance from district Bagh  151 FL can also be checked further for pharmacological purposes [44].

JI
The results of our study were compared with 18 previous studies reported from neighboring areas of district Bagh as well as at regional and international level. By comparing results it is found that JI ranged from 0.54 to 24.43% ( Table 3). Highest JI (24.43%) was found with the study reported from Harighal AJK [13]. Lowest JI (0.54%) was found for the study reported from district Rangamati, Bangladesh [49]. The range of similar and dissimilar uses with previous studies ranged from 0 to 33.33% and 0.85 to 23.53%. These similar and dissimilar uses are sorted out among the common plant species in the study area and previous reports. High level of similarity is due to same cultural, traditional values, vegetation, and geography among different areas [13,50]. While low similarity reflects that there is lesser exchange of information regarding use of medicinal plants with others. This may be due to large distance among two areas or limitations of cultural and traditional values. By considering novelty, it was found that about 18 plant species are reported first time from district Bagh with their ethnomedicinal relevance. These species were not reported from district Bagh before. These plant species include Coriandrum sativum, Anethum graveolens, Cichorium intybus, Parthenium hysterophorus, Brassica campestris, Stellaria media, Dryopteris ramosa, Diospyros lotus, Quercus incana, Juglans regia, Myrsine africana, Melilotus indica, Persicaria amplexicaulis, Polygonum aviculare, Adiantum capillus-veneris, Rumex dentatus, Pyrus communis, and Capsicum frutescens. 21 plant species were found having different medicinal uses in the study reported in ref. [13] from Harighal district Bagh. These plant species with different medicinal uses include Amarathus viridis, Gerbera gossypina, Sonchus oleraceus, Artemisia vulgaris, Silybum marianum, Sarcococca saligna, Malvastrum coromandelianum, Melia azedarach, Acacia nilotica, Ficus palmata, Conyza Canadensis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Olea ferruginea, Oxalis corniculata, Rumex hestatus, Prunus domestica, Prunus persica, Pyrus pashia, Berberis lyceum, Solanum nigrum, and Urtica dioica. Our results showed that 8 plant species were found with different medicinal uses in the study reported in ref. [12] from moist temperate Himalayas of district Bagh. These include Urtica dioica, Bergenia ciliate, Berberis lyceum, Fragaria nubicola, Rosa brunonii, Pinus wallichiana, Indigofera heterantha, and Sarcococca saligna. Similarly, 2 plant species Urtica dioica and Sarcococca saligna have different medicinal uses reported from the study area of Sudhan Gali and Ganga Chotti hills, district Bagh [14]. Plant species with new medicinal uses are shown in (Table 4) along with medicinal uses.

Conclusion
This study reported some useful medicinal plant species from district Bagh. From the results of study areas, it is concluded that people of study area still prefer native plants because of their low cost and accessibility. These areas are enriched with plant species having a lot of therapeutic uses and are important to cure a variety of human ailments. After comparative analysis, some plant species with novel medicinal uses are also found. These plants can be further investigated by pharmacological studies to confirm validity of medicinal uses. To conserve the plants of medicinal value of this study area, heavy grazing and medicinal plants devastation should be diminished or controlled in the area and the precious knowledge of medicinal plants should be transferred to new generation before it is lost forever.