Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants of Kashmir Valley, India Having Anticancer Properties

Kashmir valley is inhabited by various tribes living in close vicinity of enriched forests. These tribes have always used medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases by traditional methods. Utilization of medicinal plants is directly linked to their culture and history. There are many tribes and villages that are repositories of indigenous knowledge and practice. With due attention to rapid progress in the phytochemical study of plants, they are becoming popular because of their anticancer effects. Documentation of such knowledge is required in view of day to day disappearing knowledge in the new generations. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to document some locally available plants utilized traditionally by the inhabitants of the valley and are having anticancer properties. These plants are likely to provide effective anticancer agents. The aim of this study is to investigate the effective medicinal plants in the treatment of cancer and study their mechanism of action.