Folk Formulations of Asteraceae Species as Remedy for Different Ailments in Lesser Himalayas, Pakistan

In spite of the remarkable achievements in healthcare sector over the recent decades, difficulties in accessibility and affordability of these facilities coexist throughout Pakistan. The aim of the present investigation was to explore and document the cultural knowledge of Asteraceae members used medicinally and apply multivariate approaches to gain insights into the traditional medication system of Manoor Valley, Lesser Himalaya, Pakistan. Field investigations were undertaken, and medicinal plant uses for treating various ailments were gathered. Ethnomedicinal insights of the medicinal plants used in the treatment of various diseases were gained, and the recorded data was assessed through statistical packages for evaluation of detrended correspondence analysis, principal component analysis, species response curve, species disease curve, two-way cluster analysis, and neighbor joining clusters. In the present study, 33 plant species of the family Asteraceae were identified and linked to the cultural drivers during semi-structured interviews with 77 participants. The species were used for curing 51 different diseases. Arthritis and inflammation were the most commonly treated ailments with three medicinal plant species. Leaves and flowers were the most widely utilized plant parts. The DCA plot illustrated a significant distribution pattern of plant species and their medicinal uses; similar position of both indicated positive and significant linkage between them. PCA revealed all plant species were positively correlated following their most frequent medicinal use citation. SRC analysis showed highly significant differences for Helianthus annuus, Cirsium falconeri, Cichorium intybus, and Leucanthemum vulgare with maximum response (62.8%, 41.4%, 40.8%, and 17.3%) as well as computed value (82.8, 34.8, 33.6, and 10.2) respectively. SDC revealed relation of plant species with diseases, and with new medicinal species cited, increase in number of ailments cured was observed. TWCA categorizes 51 ailments treated by 33 plant species into 22 clusters, while NJC classified 13 plant species as unbranched clusters and 20 species on branched clusters based on their medicinal use. Unless documented, the orally transmitted traditional knowledge is on the verge of extinction following death of the old practitioners. This documentation is providing the first insights of multivariate approaches in ethnomedicinal study.