Utilization pattern and indigenous knowledge of wild medicinal plants among three ethnic groups in Makawanpur district, Central Nepal

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: In Nepal, wild plant resources play an important role in local communities' health care. However, this role and its patterns are poorly studied in many regions of the country. This study aimed at documenting the indigenous knowledge on the use patterns of medicinal plants of three ethnic groups from Makawanpur district, Central Nepal.

Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical information was collected through interviews with 165 respondents from the Bankaria, Newah and Tamang ethnic groups across five locations of different altitude levels. Botanical voucher samples were collected for scientific identification. Informant consensus factor (ICF) and relative frequency of citation (RFC) were calculated and relationships between knowledge on medicinal plants and location, ethnic group, gender and age of the respondents were analysed.

Results: Altogether, 189 plant species were reported by the respondents. Medicinal plants were mostly collected from forest (130 spp.) and fallow land (49 spp.). Only few species such as Acorus calamus L., Cheilocostus speciosus (J. Koenig) Sm. and Mentha spicata L. were cultivated in homegardens. ICF values highlighted that common diseases treated were disorders of the digestive system, the skin and the respiratory system. Highest RFC values were found for Urtica dioica L., Terminalia chebula Retz. and Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex Fleming) Karsten. Gender of the respondent had no influence on medicinal plant knowledge while a higher knowledge was detected in rural than urban locations and in those located in the lowlands. Respondents from the Newah ethnic group had significantly lower knowledge on medicinal plants than those from the Bankaria and Tamang ethnic groups. Age of respondents was significantly positively correlated with the reported use number of medicinal plants (r = 0.450; p < 0.001), species number (r = 0.468, p < 0.001) and number of illnesses treated (r = 0.468, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The knowledge and use patterns of medicinal plant species were related to the location as well as to the ethnic group and age of the respondents. This shows that it is important to cover a wide range of respondents in such a study to cover the different socio-cultural backgrounds and age classes. The presented study can help to identify those medicinal plant species with the highest importance and the highest utilization potential by integrating ethno-botanical information from the different ethnic groups and age classes. The most important medicinal plant species should be considered for pharmacological testing and for domestication.

Keywords: Ethnobotany; Influencing factors; Informant consensus factor; Relative frequency of citation; Traditional knowledge.