Ethnomedicinal Appraisal of Traditionally Used Wild Edible Plants of District Bagh, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study was aim to document the traditional knowledge about medicinal uses of wild edible plants in District Bagh Azad Kashmir. Ethnomedicinal data was gathered from 80 informants using open ended and semi structured interview, field observation and group discussion. A total of 51 wild edible plant species mentioned by informants’ as medicinal belonging to 42 botanical genera and 32 botanical families with Legumenaceae (6 spp.) and Rosaceae (5 spp.) being most frequently used. Herbs (45.09%) were most commonly used for prepration of herbal recipies. The preferably used plant part for herbal preparation are leaves (64.7%). The plant species with highest relative frequency of citation are Morus nigra (0.9) and Melia azedarach (0.9). The highest UV values was recorded for M. nigra (1) and Berberis lycium (1). The highest RI value was calculated for Urginea indica (90). Berberis lycium had 100% fidelity level. Wild edible plants species are under high anthropogenic pressure and need immediate conservation through community base management, public awareness and germplasm collection. There is dire need for reappraisal of traditionally knowledge on wild edible plants which not only conserve this traditional heritage but may also contribute in future drug discovery.

1. Introduction

Humans have quite complex relationship with plants extending far back from the beging of human civilization on the earth. Plants are intially used for food, medicine and shelter. However various other uses ared discover by human beging with the passage of time and the dependence of human being on plant incresaed many fold, and in this manner support various other aspects of human proseperity and walfare [1, 2]. Ethnobotany paly key role in understaning the past and present dynamic interrelationship between socioculture system and phytodiversity [3]. The term Ethonotany was first coined by John W. Harsberge in 1896 [4]. However Ford (1978) developed the ethnobotanical discipline which descirbed the collection, identifcation and uses of plants by the people [5]. In borader aspect, ethnobotany referes to the discipline which use various anthropolgical approaches to understand the knowledge systems. During the current era, the ethnobotany emerge as mutidisplinay subject which focus on people plant relationship not only by collection and documentation of plants and their potential uses but also invovle economy, anthorpology, botany, pharmacology, public heatlh and vaious other fields. Thus people palnt interaction is quite broader aspect encompassing religious, social, artistic, commerical and symbolic relationship.

Ethnobotanical survey play pivotal role in highlighing the important plant species of the particular area. These species may be quite significant in pharmaceutical, farming, medicine and nuraceutical industry. The documentation of tradiational knowledge provide the basis for development of various modern drugs. It has been estimated that about 25% of modern medicine are plant based and majority of allopatheic medicine are synthetic analogue to the natural compound isolated from various plant species [6]. About 70–80% population of developing countries still depend upon herbal remedies for curing various ailments. This may due their cost effectivness, less side effect, cultural acceptibility and lack of modern health facilites. Herbal remedies are even extensivly used in various developed countries e.g. 40–50% population in Germany, 30–50% in China, 42% in the USA, 49% in France and 48% in Australia used plant based medicine as supplementary health care [7, 8, 9].

Wild plants species grows in natural or semi natural ecosystem spontaneously and exist independently without any human intervention. In contrast cultivated or domesticated plants have grown under human intervention, such as collection or breeding, and rely on management for their continuing survival. Wild edibel plant are gathered throughout the world using tradiational practice from different habitats such as forests, wetlands cultivateable fields and roadside. Since ancient times, wild plants have played a pivotal role in survival and livlehood of number of ethnic communities across the world by providing medicine, food, colors, shelter, poisons, textiles and also used in cultruarl and religious cermonies [10]. They are preffered by the people because of their aromatic and fresh taste, growing in pollutant free envirnoment, rich mineral nutrients, strong vitality and number of health and medicinal benefits [11].

According to estimate there are about 20,000 wild plant species across the world [12, 13]. In the past, more than 7000 wild edible plant species have been used by the humans [14]. Out of total, only 3000 speccies have been ued as agricultural crop and 150 species are commercially cultivated. However 90% of our food is obtained from only 20 species [12, 15, 16]. The usage of wild edible plant as food occur both in the time of food shortage and surplus and this usage has not completely disappeared even in the agricultural socities where people primarly depends upon crop plant [17, 18]. Throughout the contemporary world, about 200 million people full fill their food and livilehood requirments from frorest [12]. Previous reports also documented the theraputic potential and nturional value of wild edible plants [15, 16, 19].

The wild edible plants (WEPs) are an integral component of biodiversity and there in situ conservation offers various sociocultural, economic and agriculture benefits [10, 20]. The role of wild edible plants in folk tradiations is quite significant. However the most relevant and consistent reason for better management of wild edible plants are there use as food and medicine. Therefore, the ethnobotanical research is important in identifying new source for food and providing raw material for drug discovery. The presence of high amount of various micrnonutrients, minerals and vitamin increase the nutritional quality of wild edible as compared to domesticated varieties and hence prefered by ethnic communities [21]. Some areas of the world have particular diversity of plants and animals [15, 16]. District Bagh, is one of such area located in western Himalayan region of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The area harbored number of wild edible plants, which are use by local in variety of ways. Large numbers of wild edible plants are widely distributed throughout the District and consumed in various ways. Nutritionally, most of these plants are highly important because of presence of fiber contents, minerals and vitamins. Root, nut, tubers, fruit and bark are commonly consumed parts, which were analyzed for carbohydrate, protein, fats and minerals.

Previous epidemiological reports confirmed that diet have key role in curing various chronic ailments. This evidence suggest that change in behavior of diet such as high consumption of grains, fruits and vegetable is a practical strategy in minimizing or controlling the incidence of various chronic ailments. High consumption of wild fruits and vegetables have strong link with low risk of cancer, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, Aging, cataracts. The connection between food and health is becoming highly significant as people now demand tasty, healthy and natural functional foods which grow in uncontaminated environment. In different regions of the world the knowledge about such wild edible plants as medicine and food is disappearing. This is because it mainly transferred orally and vertically from generation to generation as a part of traditional knowledge. Hence it is very crucial to document the data about popular uses of such plants before this knowledge become extinct. Therefore, current study is design to (a) document ethnomedicinal knowledge about wild edible plants (b) quantitatively analyze the data by using various indices such as frequency of citation, use value, informant consent factor, relative importance and fidelity level.

2. Material and methods

2.1 Study area

District Bagh is one of the diversity rich area lies in western Himalayan region of Azad Kashmir. Its geographical coordinates are between latitude 33°53′–4°07′ N and longitude 73°30′ to 74° E. The altitude of the area varies between 600 and 3300 m. The total land area is 770 m² and total population is 0.397 illion. Map of the study area is given in Figure 1. The climate of the area is of Mediterranean type with annual precipitation of 1500 mm. January is coldest month with average minimum temperature fall below −2°C and June is warmest month where average maximum temperature remains close to 40°C.

Figure 1.

Map of study area.

The local inhabitant of the area belongs to diverse ethnic group mainly Maldial, Abbasi, Khawa, Rajpoot, Gujar and Sadaat. The whole population is Muslim. Commonly spoken languages include Hinko, Pahari, Kashmiri and Gojri. The vegetation of the area varies from subtropical to temperate type comprises a wide variety herbs, shrubs, trees and climbers. The people residing at higher altitude have poor socioeconomic condition and have a long abundant and tradition practices of eating wild plants. Due very limited access to modern health facilities, they still use these plants to cure various ailments. However, knowledge about medicinal and other use of plants are mainly confine to elder peoples and health Practionaire (hakims).

2.2 Ethnobotanical data collection

Ethnomedicinal data about wild edible plants was obtained from 80 informants (35 males; females) open ended and semi structured interviews, field observation and group discussion. The consent was verbally obtained from the participant before starting interview. Ethical codes of American society of Ethnobiology was followed strictly during survey. Ethical permission to conduct survey was obtained from ethical committee of university, while legal permission was obtained from members of municipality. Complete information about wild edible plants such as local name, medicinal usage, part used in herbal recipie, cooking recipe, mode of consumption, disease treated were carefully recorded.

2.3 Plant collection and identification

Field survey was conducted during March 2020 to February 2021. The wild edible plants specimens were collected in triplicate during different season throughout year. The specimens were properly dried, pressed and pasted on herbarium sheets. By using flora of Pakistan (https://http://www.efloras.org) the specimens were identified. APG IV (2016) system was adopted for taxonomical verification of families while the correct botanical nomenclature was given by using The Plant List (2013). The identified specimens were further confirmed at Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council (PARC), Islamabad. The finally idenetified speciemen were submitted finally in herbarium of Botany Department of Women University.

2.4 Quantitative ethnobotanical indices

The collected ethno medicinal data of wild edible plants was quantitatively analyzed by using following indices:

2.4.1 Relative frequency of citation (RFC)

The local significance of particular plant species as cited by the informants was determined by using relative Frequency of Citation. It was figured out after Vijayakumar et al. [22] by given formula:

$$\mathrm{RFC}=\mathrm{FC}/\mathrm{N}$$E1

whereas, FC is informant who reported specific wild edible plant species and N is total informants. Its value range between 0 and 1.0 when no informant cited use of species as useful and 1 when all the infsormant cited the species as useful.

2.4.2 Use value index

The relative importance of particular specie in region is reflected by use value (UV) and determined by following Vijayakumar et al. [22] by given formula:

$$\mathrm{UV}=\frac{\sum \mathit{Ui}}{N}$$E2

Where, UV are use reports cited by each informant for given wild edible plant species and N are total informants.

2.4.3 Relative importance

It was figured out after Khan et al. [23] by given formula:

$$\mathrm{RI}=\left(\mathrm{Rel}\mathrm{PH}+\mathrm{Rel}\mathrm{BS}\right)\times 100/2$$E3

$$\mathrm{Rel}\mathrm{PH}=\frac{\mathrm{PH}\text{of}\mathrm{a}\text{given plant}}{\text{maximum}\mathrm{PH}\text{of}\mathrm{all}\text{reported species}}$$E4

Where PH is the pharmacological attribute of the selected plant, Rel PH = relative pharmacological attributes of a given plant.

$$\mathrm{Rel}\mathrm{BS}=\frac{\mathrm{BS}\text{of}\mathrm{a}\text{given plant}}{\text{maximum}\mathrm{BS}\text{of}\mathrm{all}\text{reported species}}$$E5

Where BS is body systems healed by given species and Rel BS is relative body systems healed by that species.

2.4.4 Informant consensus factor (ICF)

The consensus among the informants about usage of wild edible plants for treating different disease categories will check by using ICF. It was determined after Heinrich et al. [24] using given formula:

$$\mathrm{ICF}=\frac{\mathrm{Nur}-\mathrm{Nt}}{\left(\mathrm{Nur}-1\right)}$$E6

Where, Nur is use reports in given diseases category, Nt are species numbers used for curing various diseases of that category.

2.4.5 Fidelity level (FL)

It reflect weigtage of particular plant species by informants to heal given ailment and was figured out after Alexiades and Sheldon [25] using given formula

$$\mathit{FL\%}=\mathit{Np/N}\times 100.$$E7

Where Np are informants citing use of specific wild plant species for a particular ailment and N are the total informants mentioning uses for a particular wild plant species for all disease category.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Demography and knowledge variation

A total of 80 informants (35 males; 45 females) were selected to gathered knowledge about usage of wild edible plants from District Bagh. The informants were divided into four groups i.e. gender, age, education and profession (Table 1). The informants were first classified on the base of gender. Women informants were more in number as compared to men because the interviewee was female and women do not hesitate to share information with her. Besides, the women had high traditional knowledge (average cited species 3.90; average cited uses 5.15) about usage of wild edible plants as compared to male (average cited species 4.56; average cited uses 6.73) This may because the women generally mange the indoor and domestic activities while the males mostly engage in earning and field works. The other reason may be strongly connected network among the women and greater knowledge sharing with high number of central individual. These findings are strongly supported by Kayani et al., Aziz et al., Shaheen et al., Farooq et al. and Amjad et al.

Variables	Informants category	Numbers	Percentage	ANSCI	ANUCI
Gender	Male	35	43.75	3.90	5.15
	Female	45	56.25	4.56	6.73
	Total	80
Age class	20–40	21	26.25	3.44	3.67
	41–60	46	57.5	8.16	7.31
	60–80	13	16.25	11.32	12.91
Education	Illiterate	26	32.5	7.46	5.35
	Elementary education	19	23.75	10.56	9.67
	Secondary education	16	20	6.33	7.23
	Bachelors degree	11	13.75	5.34	3.42
	Higher education	8	10	3.94	2.37
Profession	Traditional health practionaires	9	11.25	20.48	13.98
	House wives	23	28.75	5.95	7.56
	Teachers	12	15	4.22	4.95
	Farmers	3	3.75	5.25	4.75
	Mid wives	10	12.5	8.15	8.67
	Herders	5	6.25	5.95	7.10
	Doctor	1	1.25	3.34	4.15
	Student	6	7.5	2.30	2.77
	Others	11	13.75	4.58	3.45

Table 1.

Demographic characteristic of informants.

Key: ANSCI, average species cited by each informant; ANUCI, average N use cited by each informant.

Age was second criteria used for classification of informants. Base on age the informants were categorized into three categories i. e. 20–40, 41–60 and 60–80. The older age people (between 60 and 80) had more knowledge (average cited species 11.32; average cited uses 12.91) about wild edible followed by elder (average cited species 8.16; average cited uses 7.31) and younger (average cited species 3.44; average cited uses 3.67). The older age people had vast experience of practicing wild plants. While the younger had limited interest in learning and practicing traditional knowledge due to change in lifestyle and modernization. Similar trend were also observed by Qaseem et al. in Kotli, Shaheen et al. in Pearl valley and Umair et al. [26] in Hafizabad.

The third significant factor was education. Educated peoples had less knowledge about wild edible plants as compared to educated people. This is due to frequent utilization and direct attachment of uneducated informants with wild edible plants species. Beside they mostly contact with traditional healers during illness. The modern education and culture mostly detach the people from nature. Likewise, the traditional health practitioner (hakim) had more knowledge about wild plants because they remain in touch with them. They have strong academic knowledge about usage of herbs for curing various ailments. Previous reports from other areas of Pakistan and other world also report similar findings.

3.2 Taxonomic diversity of wild edible plants

A total of 51 wild edible plant species distributed among 42 genera and 32 families were documented from District Bagh. Maximum plant species were herbs (24 spp.; 45.09%) followed by shrubs (14 spp.; 27.45%) trees (12 spp.; 23.52%) and climber (2 spp.; 3.92%) (Figure 2). The dominance of herbaceous flora is due to location of study area in dense forest at higher altitude where there is high rainfall and moisture content.

Figure 2.

Life form distribution of wild edible plants.

Legumenaceae is a dominant family in the area having 6 species followed by Rosaceae (5 spp.) and Moraceae (4 spp.) (Figure 3). The dominance of these families in the study area might because the habitat and environmental conditions of the area are favorable for the member of these families. The local inhabitants of the area had great familiarity to the member of these families. The presence of high amount of active ingredients in its members might be another reason for their dominance. Previous reports from other areas of Pakistan and world support our findings [7, 27, 28].

Figure 3.

Top ranked families of wild edible plant species.

3.2.1 Plants parts used

Local inhabitant of study area used various plants part to prepare different herbal recipes. Leaves were most frequently used plant part (64.7%) for herbal preparation followed by whole plants (5.88%) root (9.8), fruit (27.4), seed (19.6), flowers (7.8) bark (11.7%) bulb (3.92%) bark gal (1.96%)and petals (1.96%) as shown in (Figure 4). The high efficacy of leaves in phytotherapy might be due to presence of extractable crude drugs, phytochemicals and many other mixtures. This studies conducted with different regions of Pakistan Bano et al. and Ahmad et al.

Figure 4.

Plant used in prepation of herbal recipes.

3.2.2 Mode of consumption

Wild edible plants were consumed in different ways by local inhbatiant to cure various ailments. Maximum species (species; 41.1%) were used in cooked form, followed by raw (15 species; 29.4), extract (6 species; 11.7%), soup (6 species; 11.7%) paste (4 species; 7.8%), powder (1 species; 1.9%) chewed (1 species; 1.9%) and poulite (1 species; 1.9) as shown in (Figure 5). Our findings are supported by previous documentation [7, 29, 30, 31]). Cooking and eating raw snakes are common practice in food anthropoglogy as descibed in various previous reports. The specific parts of wild edible plants are diectly cooked as a vegetable by mixing with water, soup and milk friuts are eat in raw form. Paste and poulite are apply on skin for various diseases treatment like scabies, skin worms.

Figure 5.

Mode of consumption of wild edible plant species.

3.2.3 Quantitative etnobotanical indices

3.2.3.1 Use value (UV)

The relative importance of plant species associated with the use of particular species reported by the informants is reflected by use value. The use value of document species ranges from 0.1 to 1. The maximum UV values was reported for Berberis lycium Royle (1) and Morus nigra (1). Other species with high use value are Melia azedarach (0.9), Ficus palmata (0.9) and Dryopertis racemose (0.8) (Table 2). The high usage of the reported species indicates a strong association and dependence of local communities on surrounding flora, specifically for the treatment of various diseases [32]. Moreover, the plant species which are used excessively are assumed to be biologically more active; therefore, these should be subjected to phytochemical and pharmacological screening to increase sustainable utilization and conservation of plant resources [33].

Sr. no.	Botanical name/Voucher number	UI	UV	FC	RFC	PH	BS	Rel PH	Rel BS	RI
1.	Berberis lycium	80	1	68	0.9	4	3	0.4	0.43	21.43
2.	Ficus carica	60	0.75	50	0.6	1	2	0.1	0.29	14.29
3.	Olea ferruginea	52	0.65	32	0.4	7	3	0.7	0.43	21.43
4.	Oxalis corniculata	44	0.55	22	0.2	6	4	0.6	0.57	28.57
5.	Phyllanthus emblica	32	0.4	20	0.2	2	3	0.2	0.43	21.43
6.	Pimpinella diversifolia	64	0.8	54	0.6	3	3	0.3	0.43	21.43
7.	Pistacia chinensis	12	0.15	6	0.1	7	2	0.7	0.29	14.29
8.	Rosa abietina	36	0.45	28	0.3	2	1	0.2	0.14	7.14
9.	Rumex hastatus	56	0.7	16	0.2	3	2	0.3	0.29	14.29
10.	Solanum americanum	40	0.5	20	0.2	2	5	0.2	0.71	35.71
11.	Zanthoxylum armatum	60	0.75	44	0.5	2	3	0.2	0.43	21.43
12.	Ziziphus nummularia	20	0.25	34	0.4	5	2	0.5	0.29	14.29
13.	Ziziphus oxyphylla	30	0.35	56	0.7	2	3	0.2	0.43	21.43
14.	Rumex dentatus	30	0.35	70	0.8	1	2	0.1	0.29	14.29
15.	Taraxacum officinale F.H.Wigg./SS-15	34	0.43	60	0.7	1	5	0.1	0.71	35.71
16.	Dryopertis racemose	71	0.88	67	0.8	5	2	0.5	0.29	14.29
17.	Lathyrus aphaca	66	0.82	50	0.6	1	5	0.1	0.71	35.71
18.	Portulaca quadrifida	46	0.58	23	0.2	4	2	0.4	0.29	14.29
19.	Trigonella gracilis	22	0.28	45	0.5	2	4	0.2	0.57	28.57
20.	Vicia faba	42	0.53	54	0.6	2	4	0.2	0.57	28.57
21.	Pinus roxburghi	68	0.85	67	0.8	10	3	1	0.43	21.43
22.	Punica granatum	26	0.33	54	0.6	6	4	0.6	0.57	28.57
23.	Melia azedarach	75	0.94	77	0.9	4	6	0.4	0.86	42.86
24.	Morus alba	66	0.83	53	0.6	3	7	0.3	1.00	50.00
25.	Morus nigra	80	1	78	0.9	4	5	0.4	0.71	35.71
26.	Ficus palmata	79	0.99	64	0.8	2	6	0.2	0.86	42.86
27.	Urginea indica	74	0.93	56	0.7	6	3	0.6	0.43	21.43
28.	Rubus fruticocus	56	0.7	45	0.5	8	2	0.8	0.29	14.29
29.	Artemisia maritima	48	0.6	58	0.7	2	2	0.2	0.29	14.29
30.	Allium sativum	63	0.79	46	0.5	5	1	0.5	0.14	7.14
31.	Rosa rubiginosa	61	0.76	58	0.7	3	3	0.3	0.43	21.43
32.	Asystasia gangetica T.Anderson/SS-32	79	0.99	21	0.2	11	1	1.1	0.14	7.14
33.	Elaeagnus umbellata	72	0.9	48	0.6	4	2	0.4	0.29	14.29
34.	Robinia pseudoacacia	65	0.81	33	0.4	5	3	0.5	0.43	21.43
35.	Amaranthus caudatus	50	0.63	25	0.3	8	2	0.8	0.29	14.29
36.	Amaranthus viridis	45	0.56	20	0.2	5	1	0.5	0.14	7.14
37.	Urtica dioica	49	0.61	54	0.6	3	3	0.3	0.43	21.43
38.	Quercus incana	33	0.41	49	0.6	2	2	0.2	0.29	14.29
39.	Diospyros lotus	53	0.66	28	0.3	4	4	0.4	0.57	28.57
40.	Zanthoxylum alatum	23	0.29	70	0.8	5	3	0.5	0.43	21.43
41.	Nasturtium officinale	36	0.45	30	0.3	4	5	0.4	0.71	35.71
42.	Canabis sativa	67	0.84	56	0.7	4	1	0.4	0.14	7.14
43.	Justicia adhatoda	12	0.15	14	0.1	8	3	0.8	0.43	21.43
44.	Capsella bursa-pastoris Medik./SS-44	27	0.34	36	0.4	6	2	0.6	0.29	14.29
45.	Melilotus albus	39	0.49	21	0.4	6	1	0.6	0.14	7.14
46.	Veronica arvensis	40	0.5	13	0.1	2	3	0.2	0.43	21.43
47.	Vicia sativa	21	0.26	19	0.2	2	2	0.2	0.29	14.29
48.	Medicago polymorpha	37	0.46	20	0.2	1	1	0.1	0.14	7.14
49.	Duchesnea indica	26	0.33	60	0.7	1	6	0.1	0.86	42.86
50.	Ziziphus sativa	13	0.16	50	0.6	3	2	0.3	0.29	14.29
51.	Prunus domestica	37	0.46	34	0.4	1	3	0.1	0.43	21.43

Table 2.

Quantitative ethnomedicinal data of wild edible plants.

Key: UV, use value; Ui, the number of uses that account for each species through every number of informants; FC, frequency of citation; RFC, relative frequency of citation; PH, relative number of pharmacological properties attributed to a single plant, BS, Number of body systems treated by a single species; Rel, relative number; RI, relative importance.

3.2.3.2 Relative importance (RI)

Relative importance reflect diversity of particular species for curing various ailments in area. The relative importance of the documented species ranges between 12.14 and 90.00. The highest RI value was calculated for Urginea indica (90.00) followed by Elaeagnus umbellata (77.86), Pimpinella diversifolia (73.57) and Oxalis corniculata (68.57) [34] (Table 2). The speies having high relative importance are used in excess by the native and have strong pharmacological potential [2] and their significance increases when used for curing number of ailments [35].

3.2.4 Informant consensus factor

The consensus of informants on wild edible plants to cure various diseases was determined by using ICF. To develop this consensus, all the treated aliments are categorized into 10 diseases groups. The value of ICF varied between 0.4 and 0.94. (Figure 6). The highest value of ICF (0.94) is digestive system and liver disease categoreis. The most frequently used plants for this category are Berberis lycium, Dryopertis racemose, Ziziphus oxyphylla, Melia azedarach, Ficus palmata, Allium sativum, Zanthoxylum alatum, Medicago polymorpha, Ziziphus sativa, Prunus domestica, Taraxacum officinale, Rubus fruticocus, Amarantus caudatus, Elaeagnus umbellata, Morus nigra. Previous reports from other study area also reflect high ICF for this disease category [2, 36, 37, 38]. The prevalance of diestive system disorder might be due to unavilabilty o clean drinking water and poor hygenic condition in the area. The secound highest ICF value was recorded for skin diseases.

Figure 6.

Diseases categories treated by wild edible plant species in District Bagh. Key: RST, respiratory system diseases; EED, eye and ear diseases; MTD, mouth throat diseases; D, diabetes; DSLD, digestive system and liver diseases; MJD, muscular and joint diseases; SD, skin diseases; URSD, urinary and reproductive system diseases; CSD, circulatory system diseases; F, fever; C, cancer; HP, hair problems; BLSD, blood and lymphatic system diseases; A, antidote; O, others.

3.2.5 Fidelity level

The fidelity level of wild edible plants species for curing different ailments in the study area varies between 30 and 100%. The fidelity level of only Berberis lycium was found 100 FL% which was used for the treatment of various diseases like diabetes, jaundice, diarrhea and stomach treatment. It was followed by Rubus fruticocus (83.3%) used to cure sore thorat, Ziziphus oxyphylla (83.3%) used to cure Jaundice and Rumex dentatus (80%) used to cure jaundice. Other species with high FL value are Urginea indica (76.7%), Artemisia maritima (76.5%), Ziziphus nummularia (76.0%), Rosa abietina (75%) and Trigonella gracilis (75%) (Figure 7). These spp. are mostly use to cure the digestive respiratory skin diseases like cold, dyscentery, diarrhea, fever and ulcer. Some other reserachers also recoded high fidelity level of these species in their investigated area [39]. These results reflect the dominance of particular disease in the investigated area, which are cured by using medicinal plant species with high fidelity level [7, 40]. The species with high FL are highly used in the investigated area as compared to the species with low FL value. The species having low FL values are not most important by the native of the study area [36]. The species with high FL value should be subject to further phytochemical and pharmacological investigation to validate the traditional knowledge.

Figure 7.

Top ranked species with high fidelity level of wild edible plants.

4. Conclusion

The present study revealed that the rural communities of District Baghs still use wild edible plants for medicne, food and other purposes. But this indigenous knowledge on plant usage is disappearing rapidly due to moderanization, which should be conserved before it extinct. Ther use pattren of wild edible plants mainly infulenced by socio ecnomic factor instead of climatic factors. Study of the results showed that in the study area, most of the wild edible plants are used by poor families during difficult and normal time. However ther is rapid decline in use of several species which may lead to the extinction of this tradiational knowledge. The citation and use reports of wild vegetables verified that cultural heritage and cultural worth regarding collection of wild edible palnts is analogue because most of cited species are same. The majority of the plants were employed to treat digestive system and liver disorders, skin diseasess and respiratory tract diseases. The plant species with high RFC, UV, RI and FL should be subjecte to further pharmacological and phytochemical studies to verify this tradiational knowledge which can be used in future for novel drugh development. The current study also revlead that wild edible plants species are under high anthorpogenic pressure and need immidate conservation thorugh community base management, public awaness and germplasm collection. Besides, The conribution of ethnic communities for diversification of medicine and food sources should be recognize at the national and international level. There is dire need for reappraisal of tradiational knowledge on wilde edible palnts which not only conserve this tradiational heritage but may also contribute in furture drug discovery.

Pictures of wild edible plants reported from study area.

Ethnomedicinal uses of wild edible plants of District Bagh.

Sr no.	Botanical name/voucher number	Vernacular name	Family	Habitat	Part used	Mode of consumption	Mode of administration	Diseases treatment
1.	Berberis lycium Royle/SS-01	Sumbal	Berberdaceae	Shrub	Root	Extract	Internal	Jaundice
					Bark	Powder		Diabetes, stomach disorder
					Leaves	Raw		Diarrhea
2.	Ficus carica L./SS-02	Jangli ingeer	Moraceae	Tree	Leaves	Cooked	External	Throat
3.	Olea ferruginea Wall.ex Aitch/SS-03	Kao	Oleaceae	Tree	Seed	Extract	Internal	Toothache, Stomach disorder, diarrhea, heart diseases, High cholesterol, high blood pressure
4.	Oxalis corniculata L./SS-04	Khatti booti	Oxalidaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Influenza, fever
					Seed	Cooked	Internal	urinary tract infection, wash to rid children hookworms
					Bark	Paste	External	Insect bites
5.	Phyllanthus emblica L./SS-05	Amala	Phyllanthaceae	Tree	Seed	Extract	External	Hair care, skin care
6.	Pimpinella diversifolia DC./SS-06	Sonf	Apiaceae	Herb	Seed	Soup	Internal	Respiratory tract diseases, urinary tract infection, kidney stone
7.	Pistacia chinensis Bunge/SS-07	Karkatshringi	Anacardiaceae	Tree	Fruit	Soup	Internal	Cough, asthma, dysentery, liver, disorders, snake bite
8.	Rosa abietina Gren. ex H.Christ/SS-08	Jangli gulab	Rosaceae	Shrub	Leaf	Extract	Internal	Blood purifier, wound healing
9.	Rumex hastatus D. Don/SS-09	Chukhare	Polygonaceae	Shrub	Fruit	Soup	Internal	Asthma, cough
					Root			Fever
10.	Solanum americanum Mill./SS10	Kachmach	Solanaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Paste	External	Scabies, skin worms
11.	Zanthoxylum armatum DC./SS-11	Timber	Rutaceae	Shrub	Leaves	Paste	Internal	Asthma
					Seed		External	Toothaches
12.	Ziziphus nummularia (Burm.f.) Wight & Arn./SS-12	Karken ber	Rhamnaceae	Shrub	Leaves	Soup	Internal	Cold, dysentery
					Seed			Diarrhea, Fever
					Bark			Ulcer
13.	Ziziphus oxyphylla Edgew./SS-13	Phitni	Rhamnaceae	Shrub	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Diabetes, jaundice
14.	Rumex dentatus L./SS-14	Jungli palak, Hula	Polygonaceae	Herb	Fruit, Root	Cooked	External	Skin diseases
15.	Taraxacum officinale (L.) Weber ex F.H.Wigg./SS-15	Haund	Asteraceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Diabetes
16.	Dryopertis racemose/SS-16	Kunji	Dryopteridaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Diarrhea, headache, heart diseases, respiratory disorder, uterus disorders
17.	Lathyrus aphaca L./SS-17	Jungli matter	Leguminosae	Climber	Seed	Cooked	Internal	Toothache
18.	Portulaca quadrifida L./SS-18	—	Portulacaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Extract	Internal	Diuretic, fever, urinary disorders, dysentery
19.	Trigonella gracilis Benth./SS-19	Not Known	Leguminosae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	diabetes, decreasing blood, cholesterol.
20.	Vicia faba L./SS-20	Faba bean	Leguminosae	Tree	Flowers	Cooked	Internal & External	Diuretic, removal of wards
21.	pinus roxburghi/SS-21	Cheer	Pinaceace	Tree	Fruit	Poultice	External	TB
					Resin			Wound healing
22.	Punica granatum L./SS-22	Daru	Lythraceae	Shrub	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Sore throats, coughs, urinary infection, digestive disorders
							External	Skin disorder
23.	Melia azedarach L./SS-23	Darkh	Meliaceae	Tree	Fruit	Soup	Internal	Malarial fever, purify blood, diabetes
						Raw		Gas trouble
24.	Morus alba L./SS-24	Shatoot	Moraceae	Tree	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Dizziness, liver, kidney disorder
25.	Morus nigra L./SS-25	Khaa shattot	Moraceae	Tree	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Cough, bronchitis
					Leaves			Diuretic, Asthma
26.	Ficus palmata Forssk./SS-26	Pagwara	Moraceae	Tree	Fruits	Cooked	Internal	Constipation
					Leaves	Latex	External	Warts
27.	Urginea indica (Roxb.) Kunth/SS-27	Jungli piazz	Asparagaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Cooked	Internal	Diuretic, cough, asthma
28.	Rubus fruticocus/SS-28	Pahunay/black berry	Rosaceae	Herb	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Anticancer, dysentery, diarrhea, whopping cough, toothache, sore throat, mouth ulcer, mouthwash
29.	Artemisia maritima L./SS-29	Chahu	Compositae	Herb	Leaves	Chewed	External	Toothache
						Cooked	Internal	Flavoring
30	Allium sativum L./SS-30	Jungli lashun	Amaryllidaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Cooked	Internal	Diabetes, fever, intestinal worms, dysentery, high blood pressure
31.	Rosa rubiginosa/SS-31	Chal	Rosaceae	Shrub	Flowers	Cooked	Internal	Headaches, dizziness, blood purifier
32.	Asystasia gangetica (L.) T.Anderson/SS-32	Aheer	Acanthaceae	Climber	Fruit	Extract	Internal	Hypertension, asthma, fever, epilepsy, stomach, heart pain, urethral discharge, nose bleeding, dry cough, irritated throat, chest infection
33.	Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb./SS-33	Kankoli	Elaeagnaceae	Shrub	Seed	Raw	Internal	Respiratory diseases, cough, pulmonary infection
34.	Robinia pseudoacacia L./SS-34	Kiker	Leguminosae	Tree	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Calms stomach, burns, eye aliment
35.	Amaranthus caudatus Linn./SS-35	Rata ganayar	Amaranthaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Eyes diseases, diuretic, diabetes, Malaria, ulcer,
					Seed			Diarrhea, swelling of the mouth, high cholesterol
36.	Amaranthus viridis L./SS-36	Chetta ganayar	Amaranthaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Ulcer, Throats, headaches, tumors
						Paste	External	Warts
37.	Urtica dioica L./SS-37	Kengi	Urticaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Diabetes, urinary, tract infection,
					Seed			Kidney stone
38.	Quercus incana Bartram/SS-38	Reeyun	Fagaceae	Tree	Leaves	Raw	Internal	Diuretic
					Seed			Diarrhea
39.	Diospyros lotus L./SS-39	Kala amlook	Ebenaceae	Tree	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Fever, diarrhea, constipation, dysentery
40.	Zanthoxylum alatum/SS-40	Timber	Rutaceacae	Shrub	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Asthma, bronchitis, indigestion, diarrhea, cholera
41.	Nasturtium officinale R.Br./SS-41	Tara mera	Brassicaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Cooked	Internal	Urinary, tract infection, cough, bronchitis, muscular pain
42.	Canabis sativa/SS-42	Bang	Cannabaceae	Herb	Leaves	Extract	Internal	Control nausea, vomiting, Cancer, muscles spasms
43.	Justicia adhatoda L./SS-43	Bhikar	Acanthaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Bronchitis, asthma, TB, control bleeding from gums
					Flowers			Cough, diarrhea, dysentery, chest infection
44.	Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik./SS-44	Berg e bansa, bakar	Brassicaceae	Herb	Whole plant	Cooked	Internal	Nose bleeding, menstrual cycle, headache, heart problems, Diarrhea, urinary problems
45.	Melilotus albus Medik./SS-45	Sag	Leguminosae	Herb	Leaves	—	Internal	Inflammation joint pain, fever, cold, diuretic, wound healing
46.	Veronica arvensis L./SS-46	Honey colve	Plantaginaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Skin infection, blood purifier
47.	Vicia sativa L./SS-47	—	Leguminosae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	Internal	Kidney pain, eye infection
48.	Medicago polymorpha L./SS-48	Jungli phali	Fabaceae	Shrub	Leaves&	Raw	Internal	Dysentery
					Fruit
49.	Duchesnea indica (Jacks.) Focke/SS-49	Sinjii	Rosaceae	Herb	Leaves	Cooked	External	Skin problems
50.	Ziziphus sativa/SS-50	Budi meva	Rhamnaceae	Herb	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Skin problems, liver disease, ulcer, weight loss
51.	Prunus domestica L./SS-51	Barr	Rosaceae	Shrub	Fruit	Raw	Internal	Constipation