An ethno-botanical study of indigenous medicinal plants and their usage in rural valleys of Swabi and Hazara region of Pakistan

An ethnobotanical study was conducted to document indigenous medicinal plants and their usage from knowledgeable and elderly persons in Razzar and Gadoon valley of Swabi and Allai and Tanawal valley of Hazara region of Pakistan during 2016-2019. Several systematic field visits and questionnaire surveys were carried out in selected sites of the study area to gather relevant information from the local community. Rapid assessment method was adopted for data collection by interviewing the local people having enough knowledge of medicinal plants use for treatment of different ailments. UV (UV) formula was applied to calculate the relative importance of medicinal plant species in each site of the study area. In the present study, 221 medicinal plants belonging to 105 families have been reported through 580 respondents (385 males, 138 females and 57 local health healer) from the Swabi and Hazara region. The main sources of herbal medicines were leaves (21%) followed by fruits (21%), seeds (17%), whole plants (14%), roots (9%), bark (9%), flowers (7%) and gum (2%). Mentha spicata L. and Berberis lycium Royle were reported with highest UV (UV) i.e. 0.92 and 0.68 in Razzar tehsil and Gadoon valley of Swabi, whereas Mentha longifolia L and Geranium wallichianum D were reported with highest UV i.e. (0.65) and (0.88) in Allai and Tanawal valley of Hazara region, respectively. It was concluded that Swabi and Hazara region is rich in medicinal plants species and associated traditional knowledge. Moreover, ethno-medicines have played significant role in the indigenous healthcare system of the study area. However, uprooting the entire plant for ethno-medicine is a big threat to conservation of medicinal plants diversity in the study area.


Introduction
Ethnobotany is the systematic study of the relations among people and plants (Sheng-Ji, 2001;Dubey and Sao, 2018). For the first time in 1896, a US botanist John Harshberger coined the word 'ethnobotany', although the history of ethnobotany began long before that (Cox, 2000;Awan et al., 2013). Ethnobotany plays a crucial role in studying the effective link among biodiversity, social, and traditional systems (Panhwar and Abro, 2007;Mahmood et al., 2011a. A plant that possesses some remedial properties for healthy pharmacological effects on the human or animal body is commonly called "medicinal plant" (Ahmad et al., 2009a, b;Ahmad et al., 2010;Ullah et al., 2013). According to report of the World Health Organization (WHO) 80% of the people in developing countries depend on indigenous medicinal plants for their basic healthcare because of insufficiency or absence of modern healthcare services (Calixto, 2005;World Health Organization, 2002). The total flowering plants in the world are 422,000 (Govaerts, 2001), out of which, about 50000 flowering plants have been used for medicinal purposes globally (Hostettmann et al., 2000;Schippmann et al., 2002). More than 25% medicines and drugs are prepared from medicinal plants globally (Malik et al., 2010). According to WHO about 252 drugs are crucial for essential healthcare and out of these 11% are obtained from medicinal plants (Rates, 2001).
People use medicinal plants for ailment treatment according to their cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge (Vandebroek and Thomas,20 03). Medicinal plants are natural asset of great significance and play a crucial role in the primary healthcare system of remote, developing and under-developed regions of the world (Shinwari and Gilani, 2003;Bhardwaj and Gakhar, 2005). For instance, medicinal plants in the Himalayas and adjoining regions (Khan et al., 2011) are the major source of ethno-medicines based on indigenous knowledge of the elderly persons (Singh and Lal, 2008). Thus, the indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants has been transmitted from generation to generation through oral conversation (Shinwari, 2010). This oral conversation although promotes transmission of indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants but also alters with the passage of time while passing from one person to another (Balick and Cox, 1996). Through ethnobotanical surveys, indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants from local elderly persons and professionals is compiled and documented in a manner to describe plants, which can be a source of medicines to cure diseases (Sarwat and Ahmad, 2012).
Pakistan has a variety of plants that are being utilized by local people as medicine to cure different ailments (Bukhari, 1994;Zandial, 1994;Pie and Manandhara, 1987;Ibrar et al., 2007;Bibi et al., 2008;Mahmood et al., 2013). According to Raj and Toppo (2014) plant diversity estimation and documentation is the first step before the second step of conservation of these natural resources. Thus, documentation is fundamental aspect for sustainability, consumption and management of medicinal flora. Many research studies have been conducted on the documentation of indigenous knowledge of native medicinal plants for healthcare purposes by the local communities of Pakistan (Shehzad and Qureshi, 2001;Saghir et al., 2001;Dar, 2003;Qureshi et al., 2007;Ajaib et al., 2010. However, there is dearth of information on ethno-medicinal uses of plants from Swabi and Hazara regions of Pakistan. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore and document indigenous knowledge of medicinal flora of selected sites of Swabi and Hazara region of Pakistan and to propose or recommend a better management and conservation plan for medicinal plant diversity in these regions.

Study Area
The study area consists of district Swabi (Razzar and Gadoon valley) and district Hazara (Allai and Tanawal valley) regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The coordinate of Swabi is 34.1241° N, 72.4613° E. The total area of District Swabi is 1,543 km 2 (595.8 sq. mi) and it lies between the River Indus and River Kabul. The climate is sub-tropical and semi-arid and summer season is extremely hot. From May to June, temperature reaches up to 41.50 °C (Naveed et al., 2019). Winter is cold and mean monthly temperature is 4 to 10°C. The annual rainfall varies from 60 cm to 145 cm. The present study was conducted in two selected sites of district Swabi i.e. Gadoon valley, which is the only mountainous valley of district Swabi popular for Mahaban forest and Razzar which is a tehsil of district Swabi having most of the area with plain relief. Similarly, the total area of Hazara division is 18,013 km 2 . It lies between 33° 44´ and 35° 10´ N. and 72° 33´ and 74° 6´ E. Because of high altitude, temperature in Hazara are cooler than in the plains; though Abbottabad at 1,200 metres still has highest temperature around 32°C with high humidity in June and July. In winter, temperatures are cold with lowest in January around 0 °C (Ullah et al., 2019) and in minus in the higher mountainous areas of Hazara region of Pakistan. The present study was conducted in two selected sites of Hazara division, i.e. Allai valley of district Batagram and Tanawal valley of district Haripur as can be seen in Figure 1.

Data Collection
The data about medicinal plants were collected from selected sites of Swabi (Razzar and Gadoon valley) and Hazara (Allai and Tanawal valley) regions of Pakistan. In Tehsil Razzar of Swabi region, this research study was conducted during the year 2016-2017 and data were collected from 22 sub-sites including Karnal Sher Kalli, Sheikh Jana, Asota, Shewa, Parmoli, Ghulama, Naranji, Mehershai, Pamano Cheni, Gedare, Khalil, Sher Dara, Shera ghund, Kalu Khan, Adina, Tarakai, Rashakai, Dagai, Managi, Chaknoda, Mansabdar, and Akbar Abad. A total of 55 medicinal plants belonging to 34 families were noted for their native medicinal use. The noted plants were comprised of herbs, shrubs and trees as shown in Table 1. Several systematic field visits were made to different locations of the study area to acquire area. It is concluded from our questionnaire surveys that indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants and their usage was less with young generation (age limit was <30) as compare to old people (age limit was >40 year) because the young generation was interested in the use of pharmaceutical medicines.
Ethnobotanical surveys were also conducted in the Allai valley of district Batagram, Hazara division, Pakistan during 2018-2019. Information regarding medicinal plants was collected through field visits, personal observations and questionnaire surveys. Data was collected through random sampling in each Union Council (UC) of Allai valley. The study area was divided into different sub-sites to facilitate the data collection process. The data was collected from different sub-sites including Banna, Bateela, Koshgam, Gantar, Rashang, Biari, Karg, Rabat, Pashto, Skargah, Asharbang, Lond Khwar, Kund, Bojri and Gangwal. A total of 110 informants were interviewed during data collection ( Figure 2). Likewise, the data was collected from Tanawal valley of Hazara division during 2018-2019 through questionnaire surveys to obtain information about ethnomedicines used in local healthcare system in the study area. Questions about the value or importance of medicinal plants, variety based on plants used for ethno-medicines, quantity of utilization of plants, availability, economic/ information regarding parts of medicinal plants such as seeds, fruits, leaves, stem, and even whole plants used as medicine. Rapid assessment method was followed for data collection by interviewing people having enough knowledge of medicinal usages of flora in the study area. A total of 200 respondents were interviewed in the Razzar tehsil as can be seen in Figure 2. Through questionnaire surveys local name, plant parts used, remedial uses and method of preparation were documented from the elderly knowledgeable people of the study area. Similarly, in Gadoon valley of district Swabi the study was conducted in the year 2017-2018 and data were collected from 15 villages including Gandap, Chanai, Bada, Besak, Malak Abad, Kabgani, Takill, Dewal, Sandawa, Dagai, Gabasnai, Amrai, Ganichatra, Utla, and Bir Gali. A total of 57 medicinal plants belonging to 39 families were documented for their local medicinal use. A lot of regular field visits were made to the selected sub-sites to get information regarding the use of seeds, fruits, leaves, stem, and whole plants as medicine for ailment treatment in the study area. Around 150 respondents were interviewed in Gadoon valley of district Swabi ( Figure 2). During questionnaire surveys local name, plant parts used, remedial uses and mode of preparation were documented from the local community of the study

Morus alba
Spin toot Moraceae Fruits, leaves It is used for treatment of flu and fever treat prematurely grey hair, to "tonify" the blood, and treat constipation and diabetes cough, wheezing, enema, and to promote urination. It is also used to treat fever, headache, and red dry and sore eyes. market value of medicinal plants were asked from the elderly well-informed people in the study area. A total of 150 informers were randomly interviewed as can be seen in Figure 2. The informers were comprised of male and female including the herbalists (hakims; indigenous physicians of eastern structure of healthcare system) and Pansaries (medicinal plants traders in the local market). Phillips et al., (1994) used a formula to calculate the relative significance of medicinal plant species . The Equation 1 to determine the UV (UV) is given below.

Method Use for Data Analysis
In the above Equation 1, UVi represents UV of individual medicinal plant species, Ui represents specific plant species declared pharmaceutically important by the informers and Ni represents the total number of individual species interviewed or reported.  the medicinal plants were recorded from the inhabitants and informants of the study area.

Relative Importance of medicinal plants
To assess the relative importance of medicinal plants used in the Razzar tehsil of district Swabi use value (UV) was calculated by the formula described by Phillips et al. 1994 with minor modification. Medicinal plants used frequently exhibited higher UV as compared to the least used medicinal plants as can be seen in Table 1. Relative importance of UV showed the importance of medicinal plants in terms of their traditional use in the study area. Therefore, in Razzar tehsil of district Swabi, Mentha spicata L. exhibited the highest UV i.e. 0.92, followed by the Isodon rugosus

Discussion
Pakistan has diverse climatic parameters and its soil is rich with medicinal plants and herbs, which are growing naturally in different period of the year. In rural society of Pakistan, almost 75% of the people are still dependent on traditional medicines for their primary healthcare system L, Geranium wallichiana O, Justicia adhatoda L, Aconitum chasmanthum L, Acacia nilotica L, Amaranthus caudatus L, Verbascum thapsus L, Calotropis procera A, Adiantum capillus L and Morus nigra L Even though medicinal plants are grown in this region, many people still purchase medicinal plants/herbs from herbal shop locally called Pansari shops or herbal stores whereas some medicinal plants are also harvested from natural forests, which could cause threats to their survival and conservation. The present study reported that more than 20 types of ailments including hepatitis, jaundice, diabetes and cardiac problems have been treated using medicinal plants, because the selected sites  anthelminthic activities of Chenopodium album has been assessed by different pharmacists and further work is being carried out (Jabbar et al., 2007. Antifungal and antibacterial activities of different extracts of Datura stramonium have also been assessed and it was found to be a potential plant from KP, Pakistan (Gul et al., 2012). Kusari et al. (2013) assessed Cannabis sativa for its potential effects against fungal and bacterial ailments and found best activities against targeted diseases. However, majority of medicinal plants of the present study area are not subjected to the detailed pharmacological screenings.

Conclusions
The present study emphasized on exploration and documentation of the indigenous knowledge of medicinal flora from the knowledgeable people of Swabi and Hazara regions of Pakistan. In district Swabi, 54 medicinal plant species were recorded at Razzar tehsil whereas 57 species were reported at Gadoon valley. Similarly, in Hazara region, 60 species were recorded at Allai valley and 50 medicinally important plant species were identified in Tanawal valley. Lack of attention towards medicinal plants and their traditional uses were found amongst young generation because of numerous reasons. The findings of this study clearly indicated that these areas need much attention for medicinal plants documentation, conservation and protection by the government, non-government organization and most local communities. The present study suggested that cultivation of high valued and most wanted medicinal plants is very essential. Trainings for awareness may be organised for the collectors of medicinal plants on cultivation, collection, processing and postharvest treatment. Harvesting of medicinal plants should be done at the right season. Local people should also be encouraged to participate in conservation and management of threatened and endangered medicinal plants to ensure their sustainability. Therefore, these medicinal plants should be focused for detail phytochemical and safety evaluations. (Ullah et al., 2013), because new amenities of modern healthcare system are not accessible and/or provided to them. Therefore, huge populations are dependent on herbal treatments and native herbalists perform a dynamic role in the healthcare system and ailment treatment of the society in the study area. Easy approachability of herbs or medicinal plants, useful treatment action and reasonable price of healthcare facility are the main factors for the advancement and preference of herbal medicines in the rural and poor communities (Konno, 2004). More than 5,700 medicinal plants are present in Pakistan, out of which, about 372 medicinal plants frequently exist and 350 formulated drugs are manufactured from those medicinal plants (Ahmad and Husain, 2008). History on this planet shows that without medicinal plants' application, human healthcare is not possible (Mahmood et al., 2011c. Therefore, it is in great benefit of the future generations and they will possibly benefit from this treasure of medicinal plants, which is a gift, and blessing of nature for humanity however, in the present period it is alarming that the understanding of ethnobotany is declining very quickly (Mahmood et al., 2011b. Therefore, present young generation does not have enough knowledge about indigenous medical plants and their mode of application for different ailments' treatment. Thus, it is very crucial to transfer this valuable ethno-botanical knowledge from the elderly and resourceful persons to the young generation and document it as well, because through proper documentation of this knowledge we will not lose this unlimited natural wealth, which is going to vanish quickly. Hence, this study provided significant information about the ethno-botanical use of medicinal plants (leaves, bark, roots, fruits, seeds, gum, etc.) in selected remote and hilly regions of Pakistan for treatment of different ailments such as diarrhoea, diabetes, hepatitis, narcotic, coughing, fever, asthma, stomach, tonic, liver, abortification, rheumatism, laxative and other bacterial and fungal infections. However, detailed screening for such medicinal plants should be focused on discovering new pharmacological ingredients because few plants have been screened for their pharmacological and phytochemical belongings in Pakistan. Seeds, fruits and leaves were the most preferred parts in herbal remedies, as these comprise of extraordinary bioactive ingredients. Srithi et al. (2009) also documented that leaves, roots, tubers, seeds and fruits are the most favoured plant parts in the traditional medicines. The use of aerial parts such as leaves and flowers etc. for treatment of different ailments are harmless and sustainable (Giday et al., 2003). During the current study, it was discovered that aerial parts such as leaves, and shoots were used in most of the cases while gum was used in least. However, entire plant is not preferred to be used for ailment treatment because removal of plants will lead to plant species loss. Therefore, the use of aerial parts of plants as medicine is more suitable for sustainable management of medicinal flora (Ghimire et al., 2008). Awaad-Amani et al. (2006) screened the Alhagi maurorum for the ulcer due to its antiulcergenic properties. Likewise, Ismail (2007) conducted a detailed research on pharmacological and pharmacognostic investigations of Geranium wallichianum from the KP, Pakistan. Details of phytochemicals and