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Abstract
The present study aimed to highlight the new or lesser known medicinal uses of plant
bioresource along with validation of traditional knowledge that is widely used by
the tribal communities to cure four common ailments in Lahaul-Spiti region of western
Himalaya. The study area inhabited by Lahaulas and Bodhs (also called as Bhotias),
is situated in the cold arid zone of the state of Himachal Pradesh (HP), India. During
the ethnobotanical explorations (2002-2006), observations on the most common ailments
like rheumatism, stomach problems, liver and sexual disorders among the natives of
Lahaul-Spiti were recorded. Due to strong belief in traditional system of medicine,
people still prefer to use herbal medicines prescribed by local healers. A total 58
plant species belonging to 45 genera and 24 families have been reported from the study
area to cure these diseases. Maximum use of plants is reported to cure stomach disorders
(29) followed by rheumatism (18), liver problems (15) and sexual ailments (9). Among
plant parts used, leaves were found used in maximum herbal preparations (20) following
flowers (12) and roots (11) respectively. Most of these formulations were prescribed
in powder form, whereas juice and decoction forms were also used. Plants having more
than one therapeutic use were represented with 24 species, however 34 species were
reported to be used against single specific ailment. Validation of observations revealed
38 lesser known or new herbal preparations from 34 plant species, where 15 species
were used to cure stomach disorders, 7 for rheumatism, 10 for liver disorders and
6 for sexual problems. Mode of preparation, administration and dosage are discussed
along with the family and local names of plants and plant parts used.