Traditional use of medicinal plants among the indigenous communities in Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, India

• Published in: Nordic journal of botany Vol. 2022; no. 6
• Main Authors: Jan, Muatasim, Mir, Tawseef Ahmad, Khare, Rakesh Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2022; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Ajuga; Asteraceae; Baramulla; Colchicum; ethnic people; ethnobotany; ethnomedicine; Health care; Health care facilities; health services; Herbal medicine; India; indigenous knowledge; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous plants; Jammu and Kashmir; Medicinal plants; musculoskeletal diseases; Plant species; traditional knowledge; Verbascum thapsus; Viola odorata; Jammu & Kashmir; India
• ISSN: 0107-055X; 1756-1051
• DOI: 10.1111/njb.03387

A number of indigenous communities reside in the Himalayan belt of Baramulla, where the lack of modern health care facilities represents crucial problems to their survival. Therefore, the current study was aimed at documenting traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in the region. Ethnomedicinal data was collected during 2018–2020. Fifty‐one informants were interviewed in seventeen villages via questionnaires, semi‐structured interviews and group discussions. Data was also analyzed by various ethnobotanical indices. A total of 85 plant species distributed in 40 families was documented. Asteraceae was reported to be the dominant plant family and leaves were the most frequently utilized plant part. Musculoskeletal disorder scored the highest informant consensus factor (ICF) value (0.87). Colchicum luteum (0.61) and Verbascum thapsus (0.59) had the highest use value (UV) and Viola odorata and Ajuga integrifolia had the highest fidelity value (FL) (100%). Of the documented species, the use in this area of about 18 plants (21%) is reported here for the first time.. Medicinal plants still play an important role in the health care sector in the region and the folk knowledge attached to them is remarkable, although declining among the younger generations. Medicinal plants reported for the first time need to be studied pharmacologically.