Ethnopharmacological studies of indigenous medicinal plants of Saravan region, Baluchistan, Iran.

BACKGROUND

This study was aimed to explore the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plant species of Baluch tribes in Saravan region, Baluchistan province, Iran.

METHODS

Rapid appraisal approach along with the semi-structured open ended questionnaire, interviews and personal observations were used to collect the indigenous medicinal information. Quantitative analysis including the informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV) was performed to evaluate the valued medicinal plants.

CONCLUSIONS

A total 64 medicinal plants belonging to 30 families were reported from the study area. Among families, Lamiaceae dominated over other families and leaves dominated with 31% over other plant parts used as herbal remedies. Rhazya stricta and Datura stamonium (0.35) attributed the higher UV, followed by Otostegia persica (0.33) and Teucrium polium (0.32). Results of the ICF showed that cold/flu/fever (0.71) and blood disorders (0.57) were the most common diseases of the study area.

CONCLUSIONS

The use value and informant consensus factor substantiated that the relative importance of plant species and sharing knowledge of herbal therapies between different tribal communities of this area is still rich.