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BackgroundThis explorative study was undertaken for the first time in Kel village located in the Upper Neelum Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The purpose was to document the indigenous knowledge of the native people used in the preparation of herbal medicines.MethodsTo get the data on traditional uses of medicinal plants, 20 informants were interviewed. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices, i.e., use value (UV), relative frequencies of citation (RFC), informant consensus factor (Fic), fidelity level (FL), data matrix ranking (DMR), preference ranking (PR), and jaccard index (JI), were calculated for the recorded medicinal plants.ResultsA total of 50 medicinal plants belonging to 33 families used in 13 disease categories were documented. Leaves were the frequently used plant parts, and decoction was the commonly used method for herbal medicine. Plants with high use value were Berberis lycium (2.05), Impatiens glandulifera (1.95), Artemisia scoparia (1.75), Ageratum conozoides (1.75), and Achillea millefolium (1.7). The highest RFC value was calculated for Berberis lycium (0.75), Cynoglossum lanceolatum (0.65), and Impatiens glandulifera and Achillea millefolium (0.60 each). The maximum informant consensus factor was for urinary system, cardiac diseases, baldness, and abortion and miscarriage (1.00). Berberis lyceum (95%) used in jaundice, hepatitis, typhoid, fever, and tuberculosis disorders. Plants with maximum fidelity level (FL) were Berberis lycium (95%) followed by Dioscorea bulbifera, Impatiens glandulifera, and Artemisia vulgaris (90%). Olea ferruginea was the most multipurpose plant and exports (21.2%) was the leading threat in the area. The pearson correlation coefficient (0.500) showed a positive correlation between the use value and relative frequency of citation.ConclusionThe present study provides useful information about traditional uses of medicinal plants used by local communities in different ailments. The plants with the highest use values could be employed in pharmacological research and biotechnological approaches in order to achieve adequate revenue. Some of the plants in the study area are facing high threats of becoming rare, and conservation initiatives are needed to conserve them for sustainable management in the region.

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To examine anatomical adaptations in a potential forage grass, Imperata cylindrica (L.) Raeuschel, a population was collected from the natural salt-affected soils of the Salt Range, Pakistan. Using a hydroponic system, the degree of salt tolerance in terms of structural modifications in the Salt Range ecotype was compared with that in an ecotype collected from a normal non-saline habitat of the Faisalabad region. The Salt Range ecotype was superior to the Faisalabad ecotype in biomass production under saline conditions. High salt tolerance of the Salt Range ecotype was associated with increased succulence in root and leaf (mainly midrib), formation of aerenchyma in leaf sheath, increased vascular bundle area, metaxylem area and phloem area, highly developed bulliform cells on leaves and increased sclerification in root and leaf. Furthermore, both stomatal density and stomatal area were considerably reduced under high salinities in the Salt Range ecotype.

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Desert plants show specific mechanisms to thrive under prevailing harsh conditions. To study the survival mechanism(s) in native desert plant species, Lesser Cholistan desert in Pakistan was surveyed and two potential salt secretory grass species, Aeluropus lagopoides and Ochthochloa compressa, were selected from five saline sites. Both these grasses responded differentially to saline environments by showing specialized mechanisms of survival including excretion of toxic ions through trichomes, vesicular and glandular hairs through leaf surface. In A. lagopoides, salt tolerance was associated with excreted Na(+) concentration through leaf surface and accumulation of useful ions like Ca(2+) and K(+) in the shoot. Contrarily, O. compressa excreted all the ions through leaves without discriminating among toxic or beneficial ions. Results suggested that A. lagopoides was more successfully adapted to saline desert environments than O. compressa by excretion of excessive toxic ions and retention of Ca(2+) and K(+) in the shoot. This appears to be an adaptive character of the former species to successfully thrive in harsh desert conditions.