Scientific Appraisal and Therapeutic Properties of Plants Utilized for Veterinary Care in Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir, India
by
, , , and
Zishan Ahmad Wani
1, 
Adil Farooq
1,
Sobia Sarwar
2,
Vikram S. Negi
3
,
Ali Asghar Shah
4,
Bikarma Singh
5,
Sazada Siddiqui
6,
Shreekar Pant
7,*,
Huda Alghamdi
6 and
Mahmoud Mustafa
6 1
Conservation Ecology Lab, Department of Botany, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri 185234, Jammu and Kashmir, India
2
Department of Botany, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore 05422, Pakistan
3
Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Management, G. B. Pant, National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora 263145, Uttarakhand, India
4
School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri 185234, Jammu and Kashmir, India
5
Botanical Garden Division, CSIR National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow 226001, Uttar Pradesh, India
6
Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61441, Saudi Arabia
7
Centre for Biodiversity Studies, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri 185234, Jammu and Kashmir, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biology 2022, 11(10), 1415; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11101415
Submission received: 3 September 2022
/
Revised: 19 September 2022
/
Accepted: 26 September 2022
/
Published: 28 September 2022
Simple Summary
In the rural areas of the Himalaya, ethnobotanical knowledge is crucial for preserving plant diversity and treating a variety of diseases. Ethno-veterinary medicines can provide leads for drug development, but probably a more practical and lucrative exercise would be to develop a preferred preparation by pharmacological research, and the ensuing medication can be returned to the society with extra impact. Further, this valuable knowledge base has now become obsolete due to industrialization, urbanization and, above all, lack of recognition by the younger generations. Therefore, there is a dire need to review, document and authenticate the valuable traditional knowledge of ethno-medicinal plants for human welfare. By comprehending the traditional knowledge system, the current study conducted in Jammu and Kashmir, India, could serve as a pilot to document the sustainable exploitation of regularly utilized bioresources and would provide crucial leads for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medicines.
Abstract
The importance of traditional and indigenous knowledge is acknowledged on a worldwide scale for its coexistence principles and sustainable use techniques. In view of this, the present study is an attempt to document the ethno-veterinary plants used by the tribal communities of Western Himalaya. This study also provides the scientific validation of herbal medicines used in ethno-veterinary practices through a reverse pharmacological approach. A total of 59 informants were selected through a non-probability sampling method. Detailed information on the medicinal plants used in ethno-veterinary practices along with their habits and habitats, part/s used, remedy preparation methods, additives/ingredients used during preparation and administration, dosages administered, and route of administration was collected. Data was analyzed for the Relative Frequency of Citations (RFC), Use Values (UV), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), and Jaccard Index (JI). Further, a reverse pharmacological approach was used for scientific validations of the documented herbal knowledge of plant species. During the study, 56 plant species belonging to 54 genera and 39 families were documented. Asteraceae was the dominant family followed by Lamiaceae, Amaranthaceae and Fabaceae. Life forms were dominated by herbaceous species and leaves were the most common plant parts used. The highest Relative Frequency of Citations (RFC) and Use Values (UV) were recorded for Brassica rapa L. (Brassicaceae). The Pearson correlation coefficient between RFC and UV shows a strong positive correlation between the proportion of uses of a plant species within a sample of informants and the number of times that a particular use of a plant species was mentioned by the informant. Studies of the biological activity of ethno-veterinary plants can provide clues of promising leads for the isolation and identification of useful compounds that may be developed into pharmaceuticals for human welfare.
