Ethnobotanical explorations of some anti-diabetic plants of District Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
Poonam Kumari1 , Dhiraj S. Rawat1* and Gayatri Deryan2 Sheetal3
1,1*,2,3Department of Biosciences, Himachal Pradesh University, Summerhill, Shimla–171005 (India) *Email: rawatdhirajhpu@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Ethnobotany investigates the intricate relationship of regional plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of local communities. The present study documents and analyze the ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal flora for the treatment of Diabetes mellitus (DM) in district Solan, Himachal Pradesh. A semi-structured survey was created to collect data about traditionally used antidiabetic plants. The collected data was evaluated through quantitative indices like fidelity level (FL) and use value (UV). A group of 74 native respondents (44 males and 30 females) were questioned about 42 plant species belonging to 34 families. Leaves (35%) were used predominantly for medicine, followed by fruits (23%), flowers (14%), whole plant (11%), root (7%), stem (4%) and seeds (2%) respectively. The maximum diversity of medicinal plants were recorded from the family Fabaceae (4 species), followed by Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae (3 species) and Rutaceae (2 species). The highest Fidelity level was reported for Cichorium intybus, Luffa aegyptiaca and Trigonella foenum-graecun. Similarly, the highest UV was found for Tinospora cordifolia (UV=0.87), Ocimum tenuiflorum (0.82) and Withnia somnifera (0.81). This investigation elucidates the ethnopharmacological knowledge and therapeutic application of antidiabetic flora traditionally employed by the indigenous communities, highlighting the need for their preservation and further pharmacological validation.