Medicinal Plant Biodiversity used among the rural communities of Arid Regions of Northern Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

One-third of the earth’s surface is categorized as arid. Arid regions throughout the world having unique biodiversity comprising of different climatic conditions. The current study focused on Medicinal Plant Biodiversity used among the rural communities of Arid regions of Northern Punjab, Pakistan. Total 225 households were interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire. By using different quantitative indices, results were analyzed that includes frequency of citation (FC), the relative frequency of citation (RFC), fidelity level (FL), Informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV). In this study 98 plants, species were reported, used for medicinal purposes. Asteraceae was found to be a dominant family. The most frequently used parts were leaves (46%) as compared to other plants parts. The mostly used herbal medicinal preparation method was a powder (44%) as compared to decoction (43%), paste (20%). The highest ICF was reported for respiratory system disorders (Asthma, cold, chest problems, flue, and cough). The fidelity level varies from 50% to 96%. Species having the highest use value was <em>Ficus benghalensis</em> (0.16) while the plant species with the highest RFC was <em>Ficus palmate</em> (0.42). The findings exposed that medicinal plants are the main source of medicines for primary health care. Medicinal plants having high used value help to identify a phytochemical compound that are bio-active that are essential for the synthesis of new drugs for various diseases.