title: Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in Afghanistan with Respect to the Kabul and Parwan Regions
Creators: name: Karimi, Abdul Ghani
Publisher: name: Philipps-Universität Marburg
Year: 2023
Subjects: Pharmacology &amp; therapeutics, prescription drugs
Pharmakologie, Therapeutik
Medicinal plant,
Traditional Medicine
Kabul
Parwan
Afghanistan

description: Afghanistan is a mountainous country located in the middle of the Eurasiatic continent. It has
a rich flora and has always been an area of controversy and conflict between different emperors
since ancient times. This background resulted in rich culture and traditions that include the use
of medicinal plants. However, the flora of the country is not well investigated and research on
medicinal plants used in traditional medicine is limited until now. The now-presented
ethnobotanical study has been designed to document the use of medicinal plants in the Kabul
and Parwan provinces. Field research was conducted by collecting ethnobotanical data via
interviews with knowledgeable local people using structured questionnaires. Herbarium
specimens were deposited in the herbarium of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kabul University. The
results of this survey show that a total of 270 medicinal plant species belonging to 76 families
were used in the study area. Most of these species were members of the plant families
Asteraceae (10%), Fabaceae, Lamiaceae (&gt;8% each), Apiaceae (8%), Rosaceae (&gt;7%),
Solanaceae, Poaceae, and Brassicaceae (4% each). Out of all the plants we reported,
approximately 32% (87 species) were very frequently used, cited by more than 10 informants;
21% (56 species) were frequently used (recorded 5-10 times) and 47% (127 species) were less
frequent use (recorded 4–6 times). It was found that Cichorium intybus L., Achillea wilhelmsii
K. Koch, Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Althaea officinalis L., Plantago major L., Berberis
integerrima Bunge, Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl, Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Artemisia
absinthium L., Mentha longifolia (L.) L., Artemisia alba Turra, Anethum graveolens L., Alhagi
pseudalhagi (M. Bieb.) Desv., Prunus cerasus L., Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague, Urtica
dioica L., Artemisia sieberi Besser, Ephedra gerardiana Wall. ex Klotzsch &amp; Garcke, Malva
neglecta Wallr., Juglans regia L., Peganum harmala L., Borago officinalis L., Hymenocrater
sessilifolius Benth., and Levisticum officinale W.D.J.Koch, were the most often used species
in the area. These medicinal plants were mainly used for the management of gastrointestinal
diseases (&gt; 28%), muscle-skeletal problems (&gt; 21%), cardiovascular diseases (&gt; 12%), urinary
tract diseases (&gt; 10%), and respiratory tract diseases (10%). The most frequent forms of
administration were infusions (21%), powders (20%), decoctions (18%), fresh consumption
(11%), and maceration (7%). This study reveals that the utilization of medicinal plants is
frequently practiced for the treatment of different, typically minor disorders, in the area of
interest. Even though some medicinal plants are commonly used throughout the area, they own
regionally different uses. In the meantime, some of the plants cited by our informants have no
bibliographic record in terms of traditional medicinal use until now.