Harnessing the Potential of Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of Diabetes in Rural Areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

This study was aimed to highlight the significance of medicinal plants, used for the treatment of diabetes from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. A total of 340 informants including 171 males and 169 females were interviewed through questionnaire. For reliability of medicinal knowledge, relative frequency of citation (RFC) and family importance value (FIV) were calculated. Novelty of the work was found out with the help of Jaccard index (JI). RFC and FIV were further analysed by multivariate cluster analysis. A total of 42 plant species belonging to 41 genera and 30 families were recorded during the survey. Leaves were the most commonly used plant part and decoction was the most recommended remedy preparation method. Momodica charantia, Berberis lycium, Syzygium cumini and Oxalis corniculata were the most cited species with relative frequency of citation 0.81, 0.72, 0.59 and 0.55 respectively. The highest consensus between informants and indigenous uses of family was shown by Lamiaceae with 97.44 FIV followed by Fabaceae (87.05) and Myrtaceae (85.88). Novelty index showed that Berberis lycium, Beta vulgaris, Coriandrum sativum and Oxalis corniculata were the newly documented species against diabetes. The results of present study could play vital role in conservation of traditional knowledge of study area.