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Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in Afghanistan with Special Respect to Faryab, Jowzjan and Sar-e Pol Provinces
Afghanistan is located in the south west of the Asian continent with an area of 652,089 km2 between 29°30'-38°30' N latitude and 60°30'-74°50' E longitude. This country is very mountainous with snowy peaks of the Hindu Kush up to ca. 7000 m and other high mountains, deeply eroded...
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| Format: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Philipps-Universität Marburg
2023
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| Online Access: | PDF Full Text |
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| Summary: | Afghanistan is located in the south west of the Asian continent with an area of 652,089 km2 between 29°30'-38°30' N latitude and 60°30'-74°50' E longitude. This country is very mountainous with snowy peaks of the Hindu Kush up to ca. 7000 m and other high mountains, deeply eroded valleys, inter-montane basins, high plateaus and wide pediments characterize the general topography. The mountains are surrounded by deserts in the south and north of the country. These geomorphological features (“geodiversity”) are responsible for a wide variety of ecological different sites leading to a high plant species diversity of both bryophytes and vascular plants. Estimates show about 5,000 species and c. 25% of endemism in the country.
The traditional use of medicinal plants in Afghanistan has a long history. Afghanistan traditional medicine (ATM) includes a wide variety of therapeutic methods and medicinal preparations that can be attributed to the influence of Persian, Arab, and Indian Ayurvedic, medicine. The local use of wild-collected plants as food, medicine and/or cosmetics is also common. But information on the uses of plants as traditional medicines has not been documented from various areas of the country such as the selected provinces. Due to the lack of modern health facilities, dependence on plants for medicine is very high; hence there is need to document medicinal plants used in traditional medicine. In Afghanistan, a lot of traditional and folk antimicrobial agents have been used, although the active compounds and their mechanisms still remain unclear.
According to the mentioned issues, this research project has been conducted with the objectives to identify and document medicinal plants which are used in traditional medicine and folk medicine of selected areas, and also to evaluate reports for traditional use and make a selection of the most important medicinal plants in the selected provinces. The provinces of Faryab, Jowzjan, and Sar-e Pol in the northern zone of Afghanistan were selected as the areas included in this study.
In order to achieve the expected objectives, information on the uses of plants as traditional and folk medicine from selected areas have been documented via structured ethnobotanical interviews with the informants by special questionnaire sheets regarding to the research. In total, this research includes 1228 questionnaires. The plants also have been photographed and collected for botanical description. The information has been entered in a specific data bank and has been statistically analyzed to gain significant results. Finally, the obtained results have been compared with reliable scientific references about the medicinal plants of Afghanistan and their traditional uses in Afghanistan and have been discussed.
The results and findings of this research show that the majority of the informants are men (88.11%) and elderly (77.45% ˃ 30 years old). Also, the majority of these people have permanent residence in that area (77.93%), and in terms of education, a significant percentage of participants are illiterate (31.60%) or have bachelor's degrees (23.45%) and twelve passes (12.54%). A large percentage of participants are farmers/gardeners (20.59%), herbal medicine practitioners (18.41%) or sellers of medicinal herbs (16.40%).
In this research, after analyzing the collected information by the questionnaires, I found that the participants traditionally use 239 species of medicinal plants. Among these species, the most important medicinal plants that are commonly used by participants are; Achillea filipendulina Lam., Achillea wilhelmsii K. Koch, Aerva javanica (Burm.f.) Schult., Allium cepa L., Allium sativum L., Althaea officinalis L., Alcea rosea L., Anethum graveolens L., Anthemis tinctoria L., Apium graveolens L., Armeniaca vulgaris Lam. (Prunus armeniaca L.), Arnebia euchroma (Royle) I.M. Johnst., Artemisia spp., Berberis integerrima Bunge, Borago officinalis L., Brassica napus L., Centaurea behen L., Chamaecrista absus (L.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby, Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert (Matricaria recutita L., M. chamomilla L.), Cichorium intybus L., Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume, Citrus limon L., Coriandrum sativum L., Crocus sativus L., Cucurbita pepo L., Cuminum cyminum L., Curcuma longa L., Descurainia sophia (L.) Prantl, Dorema aucheri Boiss., Ephedra spp., Ferula assa-foetida L., Ferula sp., Ficus carica L., Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Fumaria parviflora Lam. (+F. vaillantii Loisel.), Glycine max L., Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Helianthus annuus L., Hordeum vulgare L., Juglans regia L., Lactuca sativa L., Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Linum usitatissimum L., Medicago sativa L., Mentha spp. (M. longifolia (L.) L. & M. pulegium L.), Mentha spp. (M. x piperita L. & M. spicata L.), Mix (Carum copticum L.+ Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), Morus alba L., Nigella sativa L., Ocimum basilicum L., Olea europaea L., Orchis mascula (L.) L., Papaver somniferum L., Peganum harmala L., Pistacia vera L., Plantago psyllium L., Plantago spp. (P. lanceolata L. & P. major L.), Portulaca oleracea L., Prunus cerasus L., most likely Rheum sp., Rosa x damascena Herrm., Salvia officinalis L., salvia rhytidea Benth., Sesamum indicum L., Solanum tuberosum L., Spinacia oleracea L., Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg., Terminalia chebula Retz., Urtica dioica L., Vicia faba L., Vitis vinifera L., Zea mays L., Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Ziziphus jujuba Mill.
Based on this research, the mentioned plants belong to 78 families with the main families being Fabaceae (23 spp.), Asteraceae (19 spp.), Apiaceae (17 spp.), Lamiaceae (16 spp.), Rosaceae (15 spp.), Brassicaceae (8 spp.), Solanaceae (8 spp.), Poaceae (8 spp.), Cucurbitaceae (7 spp.), Malvaceae (7 spp.), Polygonaceae (5 spp.) and Zingiberaceae (5 spp.).
Most of the medicinal plants used by the participants are native/endemic (75.98%) and some others are imported. Most of the plants used are collected from wild sources (48.86%) rather than from agricultural sources.
The use of plants’ leaves is in the first degree, thus the seeds, flowers, roots, fruits, stems and other parts of the plant are in the next degrees by the informants. The main preparation method of medicinal plant parts for remedy is decoction/cooking followed by powdering/grinding, infusion and other methods. The most important time of usage is postprandial, and thus, with meal and pre-prandial are in the next degrees.
The findings of this study show that the participants use most medicinal plants for digestive system disorders, and thus the use of medicinal plants for cardiovascular problems, skin/mucosal illnesses, nervous system disorders, musculoskeletal ailments, urinary/genital system diseases, respiratory system problems, liver/biliary diseases, microbial infections and fever is located in the next degrees. Some of those medicinal plants are also used for cancerous diseases or tumors by the participants.
In summary, traditional use of medicinal plants in the areas under study is extensive and the informants are traditionally used 239 species of medicinal plants, which belong to 78 families, in various diseases and problems, especially gastrointestinal disorders. |
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| DOI: | 10.17192/z2023.0682 |