Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

Traditional practices of the ethnoveterinary plants

in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan

Ghazala Shoaib

, Ghulam Mujtaba Shah

, Nasir Shad

*, Yunus Dogan

, Zeeshan Siddique

Abbas Hussain Shah

, Muhammad Farooq

, Khalid Rasheed Khan

& Anely Nedelcheva

1. Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; ghazalashoaib1987@gmail.

com, gmujtabashah72@yahoo.com

2. Key Laboratory of Silviculture, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China; dear-

botanist@gmail.com

3. Buca Faculty of Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey; ynsdgn10@gmail.com

4. Department of Bioscience, University of Wah, Wah Cantt, Pakistan; zsssbio@gmail.com

5. Department of Botany Government Post Graduate College Mansehra, Pakistan; abshah2086@gmail.com, khan4uk@

gmail.com, khalidkhangcmansehra@gmail.com

6. Department of Organic Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University “St.

Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria; aneli_nedelcheva@yahoo.com

* Correspondence

Received 27-V-2020. Corrected 18-VIII-2020. Accepted 16-IX-2020.

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Indigenous people in a far-flung mountainous area without basic facilities, mainly

rely on medicinal plants to cope with various veterinary health problems. Objective: The present study was car-

ried out to explore the traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary practices in Kaghan Valley, district Mansehra,

Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Method: Ethnoveterinary data were collected between February to October 2014

from nine villages of the Kaghan Valley by involving 80 local people include traditional healers using a semi-

structured interview. Results: A sum of 41 plant taxa of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants was documented for

treating livestock ailments. Out of which, herbaceous plants were recorded with high percentage (27 species,

65.8 %). Most of the species were used to treat gastrointestinal diseases (12 taxa), followed by health improve-

ment (7 taxa). The widely used part of plants for livestock aliments was the whole plant (9 species) followed

by leaves (7 species), and preparation were paste (18 species) followed by powder with 10 species. The highest

used values were recorded for Arisaema costatum (0.82), Primula denticulata (0.76), and high relative frequency

citations for Berberis lyceum and Dryopteris ramosa with 0.37 each. Among the plant species Skimmia laureola,

Thymus linearis and Phytolacca latbenia were among the taxa with cent fidelity level. Conclusion: The flora

used in traditional remedies of the valley was found mostly endemic due to excessive utilization. Thus, further

chemical investigation, better utilization and conservation of indigenous use of the reported species should be

considered for future work.

Key words: traditional knowledge; livestock ailments; medicinal plants; Kaghan Valley.

Plants have been used throughout human

evolution for different purposes. The ethnovet-

erinary covers the utilization of plants by

humans to prevent, control, and cure cattle’s ail-

ments. The subject of Ethnoveterinary botany

(EVB) or Ethnoveterinary Medicine (EVM)

deals with all the traditional techniques applied

by humans not only to control the common dis-

eases of domestic animals but also to improve

the breeding practices in them (Guzman, 2015).

Shoaib, G., Shah, G.M., Shad, N., Dogan, Y., Siddique, Z., Shah, A.H., Farooq, M., Khan,

K.R., & Nedelcheva, A. (2020). Traditional practices of the ethnoveterinary plants

in the Kaghan Valley, Western Himalayas-Pakistan. Revista de Biología Tropical,

69(1), 1-11. DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i1.42021

ISSN Printed: 0034-7744 ISSN digital: 2215-2075

DOI 10.15517/rbt.v69i1.42021

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

The dwellers of remote and mountainous ter-

ritories preferred ethnoveterinary medicinal

plants for the health issues of their livestock

(Mathias, 2001). Cattles are one of the primary

income sources in the mountain communities

and are considered experts in animal rearing,

pastoralism, and animal husbandry (Butzer,

1988). The interaction of indigenous plants and

domestic animals plays a key role in the subsis-

tence of far-flung human communities provid-

ing a wide range of dairy products (Gordon,

2000). Ample literature found on uses of plants

by humans such as wild fruit, wild vegetable,

fuelwood, ethnomedicine, thatching, timber,

etc. The traditional ethnoveterinary knowl-

edge got scientific attention for two decades

and reported worldwide, for instance, in East

Africa (Dharani et al., 2015), sub-Saharan

Africa (Toyang, Wanyama, Nuwanyakpa, &

Diango, 2007), Nigeria (Chafe, Musa, & Dog-

ara, 2008), Zimbabwe (Matekaire & Bwakura,

2004), Ethiopia (Yineger, Kelbessa, Bekele,

& Lulekal, 2007), Uganda (Tabuti, Dhillion,

& Lye, 2003), Cameroon (Nfi et al., 2001),

Canada (Lans, Turner, Khan, Brauer, & Boep-

ple, 2007), India (Usha, Rajasekaran, & Siva,

2016), Europe (Mayer, Vogl, Amorena, Ham-

burger, & Walkenhorst, 2014), etc. In Pakistan,

few and fragmented literature are present from

different parts of the country such as Greater

Cholistan desert (Khan, 2009), Southern Pun-

jab (Jabbar, Raza, Iqbal, & Khan, 2006).

About 258 650 species of higher plants

have been reported worldwide, and among

them, more than 10 % of plants are used for

the cure of various diseases as a community

scale (Christenhusz & Byng, 2016). Based on

traditional knowledge along with many known

drugs (e.g., reserpine, tubocurarine, morphine,

and aspirin, etc.), new plants are being stud-

ied for their medicinal uses (Rahman et al.,

2018). Mountainous communities, particularly

of the developing countries, are considered

deprived and poorest due to the absence of

basic facilities of life. The Northern part of

Pakistan is mountainous and encompasses a

vast population with no or poor basic facili-

ties. These people endeavor to fulfill all their

necessities from mountain agriculture, ani-

mal husbandry, medicinal plants, and forest

resources (Kiran, Jean-Yves, & Brigitte, 2011).

Domestic animals (goats, sheep, and cows

of different varieties) are the major source of

income and dairy products for the poor com-

munity of the Kaghan Valley. The cultivation

of medicinally important plants is limited by

the noteworthy deficiency of accessible data

on the spread and management of significant

species limits (Abbasi et al., 2013). Allopathic

drugs for cattle are challenging to access and

afford for the people of remote and rural areas

of Pakistan (Shinwari, 2010). As a result, the

local people highly depend on the herbal rem-

edy to treat many acute and chronic diseases

(Abbas, Khan, Alam, Khan, & Abbasi, 2017).

The present work was based on the field works

and aimed to document the medicinal plants

used in veterinary diseases. The major aim of

this study was to make discussion and keep-

ing given limitation in the knowledge in the

selected localities; this research was carried

out to gather more vital information about

ethnoveterinary plants in the Kaghan Valley,

Western Himalayas-Pakistan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area: Kaghan Valley is situated

between (34º 14′-35º 11′ N & 72º 49′ - 74º 08′

E), lies under the administration of District

Mansehra, Pakistan. It is the catchment area of

River Kunhar, covering an area of 1 627 km

(Fig. 1). The valley is bounded by Azad Jammu

and Kashmir from East and South direction,

West by Allai valley, North by Chillas and Gil-

git Baltistan. Floristically, the valley falls in the

Sino-Japanese region (Takhtajan, 1986). The

study area has four ecological zones (temper-

ate, subalpine, alpine, and sub-tropical) with

rich forests and high altitudinal mountains of

the Himalayan region with averagely 22 °C

minimum and 40 °C maximum temperature.

(Champion, Seth, & Khattak, 1965; Schick-

hoff, 1995). The exclusive features of the

Kaghan valley are the presence of nomads with

a number of herds (Sardar, 2003; Schickhoff,

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

1995). The valley is mainly inhabited by the

Gujars tribe and Hindko language speakers. It

is the famous and common route of nomadic

people, and a considerable number of people

travel by horses, mules, and donkeys and some-

times by vehicles through the valley as well as

stay at high pastures (Siri Payya, Baser, Gitti

Das, etc.) in the summer season. During the

winter season, they move towards warmer parts

of the country like lower Hazara and different

parts of the Punjab Province.

Filed survey and data collection: Field

trips were arranged consecutively in the study

area from February to October 2014 for the

collection of ethnoveterinary information and

documented plants. Nine villages were selected

based on unstructured interviews and group

discussions for preliminary valley informa-

tion. Local people include traditional healers

were interviewed directly by semi-structured

approach (Martin, 2004). During field trips

a total of 80 informants (male and female)

between 20-80 years of age were interviewed

with inform consents and willing to share their

knowledge (Table 1), old people had more

information regarding medicinal plants for

cattle compared to young people. Socioeco-

nomically, they were farmers, herdsmen, and

nomads. Questions on the utility of various

plants, their part used, type of preparation,

ethnoveterinary uses, and route of admin-

istration were asked through questionnaires

(Martin, 2004). The recorded taxa and their

local veterinary remedies were comparatively

assessed with available literature of the coun-

try, nomenclature mainly based on Flora of

Pakistan (Nasir & Ali, 1970-2001) for iden-

tification. The botanical names and authori-

ties were confirmed following the Angiosperm

Fig. 1. The study area and visited localities Bank of River Kunhar in Kaghan valley.

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

Phylogeny Group IV system (Stevens, 2001),

and The Plant List database (TPL, 2013).

All the recorded species were properly pro-

cessed and labeled and submitted to Hazara

University, Herbarium.

Data analysis: The used value (UVi) was

calculated by the formula proposed by (Phillips

& Gentry, 1993).

UVi = ¼ ∑Ui = ni

Ui is the number of citations by each

informant for the speciﬁc species “i” and “ni”

is used for the total number of informants inter-

viewed for speciﬁc plant species “i”. The use

value ranges from 0 to 1.

The Relative Frequency of Citations

(RFC) index was used to analyze the tradition-

al practices of the ethnoveterinary medicinal

plants and the value of each species recorded

in the area (Tardío, Pardo de Santayana, &

Morales, 2006).

RFC = FC/N

FC is the number of informants who use

plant species traditionally, and N is the total

number of informants.

Fidelity level indicates the percentage of

informants claiming the use of plant species for

the same purpose.

FL (%) = Ip/Iu x 100

Ip is the number of informants who inde-

pendently suggested the use of a plant spe-

cies for a particular disease and Iu is the

total number of informants who mentioned

the same plant for any disease (Alexiades &

Sheldon, 1996).

RESULTS

Diversity of ethnoveterinary flora: Total

41 plant taxa of 39 genera belonging to 30 fam-

ilies were recorded. Out of which, 34 dicots,

4 monocots, 2 ferns, 1 gymnosperm. Family

Polygonaceae was the most widely used family

(4 species) followed by Poaceae and Lamiac-

eae (3 species) each, Apiaceae, Brassicaceae

and Ranunculaceae with 2 species each and the

other remaining 25 families were with one taxa

each (Table 2). Herbs were dominant with 26

species followed by shrubs (9 species), trees (4

species) and ferns with 2 species. Total of 41

plant species were used to treat twenty different

type of disease, grouped in six main categories,

among the plant species maximum number of

plant species were used to treat gastrointestinal

ailments 12, followed by health improvement

7, dermal problems 6, respiratory disorders

5, urinary tract malfunction and as coolant

1 each (Fig. 2).

Parts used and drug formulation: Local

community members used 13 different parts

of plants either separately or combined for

ethnoveterinary ailments. Out of which, whole

plant was widely used part 8, following by

leaves 7, roots 4, seeds, grains and bark 2 each,

flowers, fronds, fruits and stigma with 1 each.

In combination, roots & rhizomes and leaves

& flowers was the widely used part 2 each,

and the other remaining parts with any type of

combination were recorded with one part used

each. Most of the crude drugs were used in the

TABLE 1

Knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicinal plants reported

by local respondents

Variable

Demographic

categories

Number of

informants

Percentages

Gender Male 50 62

Female 30 38

Experience Traditional healer 9 11

Local people 71 89

Age groups 18-40 11 14

41-60 21 26

Above 60 48 60

Education Illiterate 55 69

Primary 13 16

Middle 3 4

Matric and above 9 11

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

form of paste (18 species) followed by powder

(10 species), decoction (7 species), extract and

fried 3 species each (Table 2).

Quantitative analysis: The medicinal

plant species with greater use values were

Arisaema costatum having (0.82) followed by

Primula denticulata (0.76), Paeonia emodi and

Geranium wallichianum (0.74) each, Bergenia

ciliata (0.71), Foeniculum vulgare and Thymus

linearis (0.65) each. While minimum used

values of collected medicinal plants was Vis-

cum album (0.14). The RFCs analysis revealed

the species with high value were Arisaema

costatum, Berberis lyceum, Dryopteris ramosa

(0.37) each and Indigofera heterantha (0.35).

Skimmia laureola, Thymus linearis, Phytolacca

latbenia, Oxalis corniculata, Oryza sativa, Iris

hookeriana, Incarvillea emodi and Foeniculum

vulgare showed maximum fidelity level (100

%) as shown in Table 1.

DISCUSSION

In traditional therapies, the parts and mode

of preparation has a significance role in the

action of medicinally used plant taxa. The root

paste of Aconitum heterophyllum given to cattle

against flu and fever. Decoction of fronds and

rhizome of Adiantum capillus-veneris is used

for treatment of diarrhea. The mashed roots of

Arisaema costatum has therapeutic action in

fever, flu and weakness (Abbasi et al., 2013).

Fresh leaves of Foeniculum vulgare are given

to cattles to treat abdominal pain, indigestion

and diarrhea (Jabbar et al., 2006). Flowers and

fruit of the same species have been reported

as galactagogues and ruminative (Manganelli,

Camangi, & Tomei, 2001). The roots powder

of Geranium wallichianum is mixed in water

and thick paste is given to cattle for better

growth. Paste of fruits and flowers of Herac-

leum canescens mixed with flour given to cattle

for stomach disorder. Incarvillea emodi is

effective given in liver inflammation and fever

(Ahmad, Ahmad, & Weckerle, 2015). Oryza

sativa boiled with curd and oil and fed to cattle

for weakness and lungs infection (Abbasi et al.,

2013). The thick paste of Phytolacca latbenia

is given to ox and cow for improving health

in snowy season. Resin of Pinus roxburghii is

applied on skin infections. Also, decoction of

needles is used to cure cough and asthma. Root

powder of Persicaria bistorta is applied on

injuries and boils. Primula denticulata plants

infusion used to improve health.

Different workers used different mode of

administration to cure the ailments, the use of

leaf paste for enteritis, bark powder for helmin-

thic infection, flowers as a tonic and the rind as

an astringent and to treat diarrhoea (Karthick-

eyan & Gajendran, 2005; Majid et al., 2019).

Fig. 2. Major cattle ailments versus the number of plants used.

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

TABLE 2

Ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of the Kaghan valley

Botanical name, family, voucher number and local name Habit Part(s) used preparation/administration UV FC RFC FL %

Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. ex Royle

(Ranunculaceae), /GS/SA/H-02/, Patress

Herb Roots The paste of dry root powder is mixed with water and given to

cattle in paste form for the treatment of flu and fever.

0.41 20 0.3 80

Adiantum capillus-veneris L. (Pteridaceae), /GS/GL/F-19/,

Kakoa

Herb Frond & rhizome The decoction of fronds and rhizome is used for treatment of

diarrhoea.

0.18 15 0.25 50

Arisaema costatum (Wall.) Mart.

(Araceae), /GS/NA/H-34/, Surganda

Herb Root & rhizome Roots is mashed and given to cattle to relieve fever and flue.

It also improved the health of cattle.

0.82 30 0.37 93.75

Berberis lycium Royle (Berberidaceae), /GS/TN/S-01/,

Sumbal

Shrub Bark For the cure of mouth and foot disease of cattle’s, the powder

of bark applies on (Locally: Mou-khurr injuries or diseases)

0.58 30 0.37 85

Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. (Saxifragaceae), /GS/

TN/H-03/, Patpewa

Herb Roots

Dry root powder mixed with curd is used to treat diarrhoea

called “baa” locally.

0.71 10 0.12 66

Brassica rapa L. (Brassicaceae), /GS/PG/H-35/, Sarson

Herb Seeds Powder of seeds boiled with milk are given to cattle as a

galactagogue.

0.24 20 0.25 71

Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (Poaceae), /GS/KA/H-36/,

Khabal

Herb Whole plant Fresh plant paste is applied on wound for healing. 0.2 12 0.15 60

Daphne mucronata Royle (Thymelaeaceae), /GS/TN/S-

04/, Kutilal

Shrub Young leaves The paste of young leaves is applied on skin to care rashes

and skin allergies.

0.25 18 0.22 72

Diospyros lotus L. (Ebenaceae), /GS/TN/T-05/, Amlok

Tree Bark Paste of the bark is applied on blisters and lesions on mouth

and foot.

0.31 23 0.28 60

Dryopteris ramosa (C.Hope) C.Chr. (Dryopteridaceae), /

GS/TN/F-06/, Kunji

Herb Fronds Fronds are fried and given to cattle to treat bloody (amoebic)

dysentery.

0.44 30 0.37 90

Erysimum melicentae Dunn

(Brassicaceae), /GS/AA/H-21/, Jangli sarson

Herb Whole plant Whole plant is used with maize flour as a galactagogue. In

summer, its paste is given to cattle and sheep for their better

heath.

0.31 23 0.28 82

Foeniculum vulgare Mill.

(Apiaceae), /GS/TN/H-07/, Sounf

Herb Leaves & fruits Leaves are given to cattle after temperature to improve their

taste for fodder; fruits are mixed with water and flour given to

cattle to treat abdominal pain.

0.65 32 0.4 68

Geranium wallichianum D.Don ex Sweet (Geraniaceae), /

GS/JI/H-29/, Rattanjot

Herb Rhizome Rhizome powder is mixed in water and thick paste is given to

cattle for better growth.

0.74 15 0.18 68

Heracleum canescens Lindl.

(Apiaceae), /GS/MA/H-18/, Dilphaki

Herb Flowers & fruits for stomach disorder in castles the paste of flowers and fruits

mixed with flour given to cattle

0.26 10 0.12 83

Incarvillea emodi (Royle ex Lindl.) Chatterjee

(Bignoniaceae), /GS/AA/H-22/, Jan e adam booti

Herb Leaves & flowers Paste of leaves and flowers of the plant is given to cattle for

treatment of liver inflammation and fever.

0.48 14 0.17 100

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

TABLE 2 (Continued)

Botanical name, family, voucher number and local name Habit Part(s) used preparation/administration UV FC RFC FL %

Indigofera heterantha Brandis

(Leguminosae), /GS/PA/S-08/, Kaanthee

Shrub Root’s bark

Powder of root bark or its decoction is given to cattle for

abdominal pain.

0.17 28 0.35 73

Iris hookeriana Foster

(Iridaceae), /GS/PG/H-41/, Chalundri

Herb Leaves

Paste of green leaves is given to sheep as a vermifuge.

0.47 22 0.27 100

Isodon rugosus (Wall. ex Benth.) Codd

(Lamiaceae), /GS/SA/S-38/, Pisomaar

Shrub Whole plant

Paste of whole plant applied on goats’ skin to get rid of ticks

and lice.

0.16 11 0.13 55

Mentha longifolia (L.) L. (Lamiaceae), /GS/MA/H-23/,

Safeed podina

Herb Roots & leaves Powder of dry leaves and roots is used for the treatment of

throat infection locally called “Aphara”.

0.56 14 0.17 87.5

Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata (Wall. & G.Don) Cif.

(Oleaceae), /GS/NA/T-09/, Kaho

Tree Seeds

Seeds are boiled in water and the decoction is given for 5-6

days for indigestion.

0.21 10 0.12 40

Oryza sativa L. (Poaceae), /GS/DR/H-24/, Chawal

Herb Grains One kg rice grains is boiled with curd and oil and fed to cattle

for weakness and lungs infection.

0.51 24 0.3 100

Oxalis corniculata L. (Oxalidaceae), /GS/TN/H-10/,

Khatgorora

Herb Whole plant

Paste is given to cattle for normal evacuation of bowels.

0.21 15 0.18 50

Paeonia emodi Royle (Paeoniaceae), /GS/TN/H-11/,

Mamekh

Herb Roots/tubers Dry root powder is mixed with water and flour and given to

cattle for better health and growth.

0.74 10 0.12 100

Phytolacca latbenia (Moq.) H. Walter (Phytolaccaceae), /

GS/TN/H-25/, Lubber

Herb Whole plant The thick paste of plant is given to ox and cow for improving

health in snowy season.

0.54 22 0.27 100

Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (Pinaceae), /GS/TN/T-12/, Chir

Tree Resin & needles Resin is applied on skin infections. Decoction of needles is

used to cure cough and asthma.

0.37 8 0.1 57

Persicaria bistorta (L.) Samp. (Polygonaceae), /GS/

TN/H-14/, Masloor

Herb Roots &

rhizome

Powder of roots are applied on injuries and boils. 0.5 14 0.17 70

Primula denticulata Sm. (Primulaceae), /GS/NN/H-27/,

Ramtootia

Herb Whole plant Fresh plant is crushed and placed in water for a week, on

rotting given to cattle to improve health.

0.76 23 0.28 95

Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae), /GS/TN/T-13/, Druna

Tree Fruit coat Fruit coat is given to cow after birth to maintain internal

system.

0.21 20 0.25 50

Ranunculus muricatus L. (Ranunculaceae), /GS/PA/H-28/,

Barea

Herb Whole plant

& fruits

Whole plant is crushed and applied on wounds. Powder of

fruits (achenes) is used against eczemic infection.

0.32 18 0.22 64

Rumex acetosa L. (Polygonaceae), /GS/JI/H-39/, Khatri

Herb Leaves

Paste of leaves is given for normal evacuation of bowel.

0.41 12 0.15 60

Rumex dentatus L. (Polygonaceae), /GS/PG/H-30/, Hola

Herb Leaves Paste of young green leaves is given for liver inflammation

and paste is also applied on skin for ticks and lice.

0.32 26 0.32 86

Rumex hastatus D. Don (Polygonaceae), /GS/TN/H-15/,

Khatimal

Herb Leaves

Young plant paste is given to cattle for cough and aphara (flu,

cold and temperature in cattes).

0.56 17 0.21 85

Skimmia laureola (DC.) Siebold. & Zucc. ex Walp

(Rutaceae), /GS/TN/S-31/, Neer

Shrub Leaves

Leaves rotted paste is used to treat lungs infection.

0.55 10 0.12 100

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

Paste of leaves of Rumex acetosa is given

orally for normal evacuation of bowel, relieves

liver inflammation and to remove ticks and

lice. Root decoction is orally administered for

foot and mouth infection (Abbasi et al., 2013).

However, the Arial parts are also used for the

cure of Scabies. Skimmia laureola leaves rotted

paste is used to treat lungs infection. Decoction

of leaves of Thymus linearis is used as for flu

locally known as “Malla”. Triticum aestivum

grains porridge is given in dysentery and is

also used and orally administered as galacta-

gogue and reported for same uses by Abbasi et

al. (2013). Valeriana jatamansi has medicinal

action in liver and pancreas impairment. Fresh

leaves are used directly or its extract is used, for

diarrhea. This plant medicinal use is recently

learnt by the locals (Ahmad et al., 2015). Ver-

bascum thapsus is reported to be used as leaf

ointment for the treatment of rectal prolapse

(Manganelli et al., 2001). Leaves and flowers

fried in oil given to treat severe flu. Young buds

and leaves of Viburnum grandiflorum paste is

given against constipation and flowers of Viola

pilosa used as coolant. Decoction of Viscum

album is use as a remedy of body weakness and

decoction of corn silk of Zea mays is given for

a week for urinary inflammation.

Novelty of the study: The current work

is the first of its nature in the study area and

eleven plant species (Aconitum heterophyllum,

Adiantum capillus-veneris, Arisaema costa-

tum, Dryopteris ramose, Incarvilllia emodi,

Indigofera heterantha, Iris hookeriana, Olea

europaea subsp. cuspidata, Viola pilosa and

Valeriana jatamansi) were documented for

the first time in Pakistan for their ethnovet-

erinary practices. These plants were not only

different taxonomically but also in ethnovet-

erinary uses. The ethnoveterinary knowledge

diminishes more quickly as compare to the

plants important for human health (Farooq et

al., 2008; Khan, 2009). The communication

disclosed the presence of plant based veteri-

nary knowledge in aged people similar to the

studies of Deeba, Muhammad, Iqbal, & Hus-

sain (2009); Zia ud Din, Zafar, Khan, Jonsson,

TABLE 2 (Continued)

Botanical name, family, voucher number and local name Habit Part(s) used preparation/administration UV FC RFC FL %

Thymus linearis Benth. (Lamiaceae), /GS/NH/H-40/,

Chikar

Herb Leaves

Decoction of leaves is used for flu locally known as “Malla”.

0.65 35 0.43 100

Triticum aestivum L. (Poaceae), /GS/DR/H-20/, Gandam

Herb Grains Grains porridge is given in dysentery and is also used as

galactagogue.

0.33 18 0.22 72

Valeriana jatamansi Jones (Caprifoliaceae), /GS/AA/H-

32/, Mushkbala

Herb Whole plant Extract of fresh whole plant is given for liver and pancreas

impairment.

0.47 15 0.22 75

Verbascum thapsus L. (Scrophulariaceae), /GS/PG/H-16/,

Gandikan

Herb Leaves & flowers

Leaves and flowers are heated in oil and are administered to

treat severe flu.

0.37 27 0.33 67.5

Viburnum grandiflorum Wall. ex DC. (Adoxaceae), /GS/

MT/S-17/, Guch

Shrub Leaves & buds Young leaves and buds paste is given against constipation. 0.21 16 0.2 64

Viola pilosa Blume (Violaceae), /GS/JI/H-33/, Thandi jari

Herb Flowers

Dry flowers soaked in water are given as coolant.

0.56 8 0.1 80

Viscum album L. (Santalaceae), /GS/MA/S-26/, Neelatari

Shrub Whole plant

Decoction of plant is use as a remedy of body weakness.

0.14 10 0.12 45

Zea mays L. (Poaceae), /GS/TN/S-37/, Makai

Shrub Stigma Decoction of corn silk is given for a week for urinary

inflammation.

0.35 22 0.27 75

Rev. Biol. Trop. (Int. J. Trop. Biol.) • Vol. 69(1): 1-11, March 2021

Para el tratamiento de enfermedades del ganado, lo más

usual fue utilizar la planta entera (9 especies), seguida de

las hojas (7 especies), con preparación en pasta (18 espe-

cies) y en polvo (10 especies). Las especies registradas

con más uso fueron: Arisaema costatum (0.82), Primula

denticulata (0.76) y Berberis lyceum y Dryopteris ramosa

con la misma alta frecuencia relativa (0.37 cada una). Las

especies Skimmia laureola, Thymus linearis y Phytolacca

latbenia se reportaron entre los taxones con mayor nivel de

fidelidad porcentual. Conclusión: La flora utilizada en los

remedios tradicionales del valle de Kaghan fue mayorita-

riamente endémica. Se propone para trabajos futuros mayor

investigación química, y mayor utilización y conservación

en las especies de plantas reportadas por los indígenas.

Palabras clave: conocimiento tradicional; dolencias del

ganado; plantas medicinales; Valle de Kaghan.

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Ethical statement: authors declare that

they all agree with this publication and made

significant contributions; that there is no con-

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