Ethnomedicinal use of Common Garden Species in Arghakhanchi district, Western Nepal
Bindu Poudel, Jyoti Bhandari, Ashish Poudel, Deepak Gautam
Abstract
This study mainly sheds light on the ethnomedicinal uses of plants present in and around home gardens in the western mid-hills of Nepal. The study was conducted in Sandhikharka municipality, Arghakhanchi district during June-July 2020. The primary data was obtained through, semi-structured questionnaire survey, discussion with key informants (n=41) and field visit. The data then was quantitatively analyzed using 3 ethnobotanical indices viz. Informant consensus factor (Fic), Use frequency (UF) and Use value (UV). A total of 52 plant species with ethnomedicinal importance belonging to 32 families and 48 genera were recorded. Out of which Astereceae and Lamiaceae were the dominant families followed by Amaranthaceae, Poaceae and Rosaceae with the whole plant being the most frequently (15 species) used parts. A total of 23 species were used to treat different types of gastrointestinal ailments. Oral route was found to be desirable route of administration (43 species, 82.69%) followed by topical (23 species, 44.23%) and inhalation (1 species, 1.92%). Most informants agreed upon use of reported species with an average Fic value of 0.79 where Ocimum tenuiflorum was found to be the most frequently used species with UF= 0.79 and UV= 1.63. This study revealed that local people were mostly familiar with common ailments mainly cough, common cold, fever, skin infections etc and used these reported species to treat those ailments. As this study area harbors high diversity of medicinal plants, and older individuals possessed relatively higher ethnobotanical knowledge than the younger age class. Hence, the emphasis should be given for the documentation of this knowledge and transferring them to the younger generation before they are lost or disappeared. Also, there is need for conservation of valuable medicinal plant species.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, ethnobotanical indices, ethno-pharmacology, use frequency
Bindu Poudel, Jyoti Bhandari, Ashish Poudel, Deepak Gautam
Abstract
This study mainly sheds light on the ethnomedicinal uses of plants present in and around home gardens in the western mid-hills of Nepal. The study was conducted in Sandhikharka municipality, Arghakhanchi district during June-July 2020. The primary data was obtained through, semi-structured questionnaire survey, discussion with key informants (n=41) and field visit. The data then was quantitatively analyzed using 3 ethnobotanical indices viz. Informant consensus factor (Fic), Use frequency (UF) and Use value (UV). A total of 52 plant species with ethnomedicinal importance belonging to 32 families and 48 genera were recorded. Out of which Astereceae and Lamiaceae were the dominant families followed by Amaranthaceae, Poaceae and Rosaceae with the whole plant being the most frequently (15 species) used parts. A total of 23 species were used to treat different types of gastrointestinal ailments. Oral route was found to be desirable route of administration (43 species, 82.69%) followed by topical (23 species, 44.23%) and inhalation (1 species, 1.92%). Most informants agreed upon use of reported species with an average Fic value of 0.79 where Ocimum tenuiflorum was found to be the most frequently used species with UF= 0.79 and UV= 1.63. This study revealed that local people were mostly familiar with common ailments mainly cough, common cold, fever, skin infections etc and used these reported species to treat those ailments. As this study area harbors high diversity of medicinal plants, and older individuals possessed relatively higher ethnobotanical knowledge than the younger age class. Hence, the emphasis should be given for the documentation of this knowledge and transferring them to the younger generation before they are lost or disappeared. Also, there is need for conservation of valuable medicinal plant species.
Keywords: Medicinal plants, ethnobotanical indices, ethno-pharmacology, use frequency
