Assessment of Ethnomedicinal Plant Diversity of Una and Hamirpur District of Himachal Pradesh, India: An Ethno-ecological approach

Abstract

The present study was conducted to explore ethnobotanical diversity and importance of local plants harnessing for medicinal purposes by the local people of Una and Hamirpur district which lies at Shivalik hills or outer Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh, India. We recorded total 159 plant species of 138 genera belonging to 68 families which were used to cure more than 33 different types of ailments. Across family-wise distribution, most important useful plants were recorded from ten families: Asteraceae, Euphorbaceae, Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Ceaselpiniaceae, Moraceae, Solanaceae followed by Anonaceae, Convolvulaceae and Liliaceae. Therefore, these families accounted 43.7% plants of the total and exhibited most acclamatized plants within local environmental conditions. Further, fifty percent of the total recorded plants revealed as herbs contributed the major proportion followed by trees (29%), shrubs (11%), climber (9%), creeper and khumb (<1% each). It was observed that most utilized plant parts were leaves recorded from 55 plant species to cure different ailments followed by other components viz: whole plant (43), bark and seed (34 species each), root and fruits (32 each), flower (18) and other remaining were stem shoot, bulb, rhizome and tubers, respectively. People living to the adjoining area of the forests have the direct influence to utilize those local plants for different ailments; therefore, they have good practices and vast information of traditional knowledge. Thus, aim of the present study was to collect information about ethno-medicinal plants which were not clearly documented earlier in the literature as well as to investigate the plant-human interactions to understand the socio-ecological relationships.

Harnessing of local plant species by indigenous people of Hamirpur district for ethno-veterinary purposes

“…In general, there are many evidences given in the earlier literature as well as from scientific documents that combined form of a plant species can be a better and effective remedy for the treatment of ailments (Chand et al, 2016). In present study, Powder of dried aerial whole part of Aloe vera plant is mixed with equal amount of Phyllanthes emblica, Terminalia bellarica and Terminalia chebulla fruit powder and required amount of black salt to cure the constipation and stomach disorder.…”

“…17 Page | 1900 -----------------------(iv) NC is = Total citations of ith species given by each informant, TI n = Total number of informants involved during the survey for all plant species.…”

“…In general, Ethno-veterinary is a sub-discipline of ethno-ecology that pertains to ecological wisdom of local people regarding animal health care (Martin, 1995). Interest in this area has grown significantly leading to many publications in recent years (Chand et al, 2016, AliShtayeh et al, 2016, Parthiban, 2016. However, this field has not gained desired recognition so far.…”

Quantitative determination of macroelement and microelement content of fresh and processed bamboo shoots by wavelength dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry

“…Therefore, diversifying the food chain to include these neglected species could be an effective tool to improve overall human nutrition and health . Bamboo is one such neglected plant, which has great potential to combat malnutrition and improve health due to its nutritious and health‐enhancing properties . Freshly harvested bamboo shoots are good source of water, proteins, fiber, vitamins, and amino acids .…”

Plant-Based Remedies for the Management of Diabetes

“…Himachal Pradesh is blessed with rich plant diversity including medicinal and other useful plants (Sharma, 1976;Uniyal and Chauhan, 1982;Chauhan, 1999 andGulati et al, 2004). Previous ethnobotanical studies had revealed indigenous knowledge of medicinal species used by the people in different parts of the state (Singh, 1999;Thakur, 2001;Sood et al, 2001;Sharma et al, 2003;Samant et al, 2007;Kaur et al, 2011;Chand et al, 2016). However, a specific report on anti-diabetic medicinal plants from Una district has not figured in any earlier text.…”