Abstract:
The current study was first quantitative ethnobotanical evaluation of medicinal plants of Fort-Derawar, a historic area of Cholistan Desert. Data was collected from March 2021 to February 2022. Comprehensive notes on individual plant species, quantitative ethnobotanical data such as, Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV) as well as Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) were calculated. In total, 98 respondents (47 male and 51 female) were selected to collect data using semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 79 medicinal plants belonging to 36 families were recorded during study. Papilionaceae (6 Species), Aizoaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae were most dominant families having 5 species each. Of these 62 species were wild, 10 species were cultivated and 7 species both wild-cultivated collected. Herbs were the most used life form and leaves recorded as the most exploited part. Decoction was the most preferred method used in preparation of herbal treatments. The highest value of RFC was recorded for Allium cepa (0.93%) followed by Calotropis procera (0.92%), Fagonia cretica (0.90%), Corchorus depressus (0.89%). The highest ICF value was recorded for Constipation, Stomach, Diarrhea and other digestive disorders (0.66%) and lowest ICF value was recorded for Urinary, Kidney disorders (0.25%) and the highest use value recorded for Dalbergia sissoo (0.153%) and the lowest use value recorded for Glinus lotoides (0.020%). Moreover, there were various plants in the study area that have great ethnobotanical potential to treat various diseases. Elders, Hakims, and Midwives of the study area were well aware of indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants, but the young generations were not much interested in herbal treatments or homemade plant based remedies. As a result, valuable knowledge about ethnomedicinal uses of medicinal plants in on the verge of decline. More efforts are needed to enhance the awareness of the local inhabitants for the proper methods of using medicinal plants.
Page(s):
230-230
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Abstract Book on Global Science Technology and Management Conference, Volume: 0, Issue: 0, Year: 2023
Keywords:
Relative frequency of citation
,
Medicinal plants
,
Ethnobotanical
,
FortDerawar