Ethnopharmacological Assessment of Medicinal Plants Used against Livestock Infections by the People Living around Indus River

Abstract

The present study was aimed to document detailed ethnopharmacological knowledge of medicinal plants against livestock infections of an unexplored remote region of Pakistan. Semistructured questionnaires were used for data collection. Total 43 plants belonging to 26 families were found to be used in ethnoveterinary practices. Seeds (29%) were found to be the most frequent plant part used followed by leaves (22%). Ethnoveterinary recipes were mostly prepared in the form of decoction and powdering. Informant consensus factor (Fic) results revealed high consensus for gastrointestinal (0.81), mastitis (0.82), and dermatological infections (0.80).Curcuma longaranked first with highest fidelity level (FL) value (66%) followed byTrachyspermum ammithat ranked second (58%). Preference ranking (PR) results showed thatZingiber officinale,Punica granatum,Triticum aestivum,Gossypium hirsutum, andWithania coagulanswere the most preferred species for the treatment of diarrhea. Direct matrix ranking (DMR) results showed thatMorus alba,Melia azedarach,Withania coagulans,Cassia fistula,Azadirachta indica, andTamarix aphyllawere the multipurpose species of the region. We invite the attention of pharmacologists and chemists for further exploration of plants having high Fic, FL, and PR values in the present study. Conservation strategies should be adopted for the protection of multipurpose plant species.