Study of ethnobotany and indigenous use of Calotropis procera (AIT.) in Cholistan desert, Punjab, Pakistan

Calotropis procera is one of the most common shrub found in Cholistan desert and considered obnoxious due to its poisonous effects on livestock health. On the other hand, it is one of the most effective herbal medicinal shrub in the world. Present study was designed to assess the traditional use of this shrub by the local dwellers of Cholistan desert, Punjab, Pakistan and carried out during the year 2010 to 2012. A questionnaire was used to collect the ethnobotanical information from the locals (n=320) in sixteen randomly selected villages of Tehsil Yazman (part of Cholistan) in Bahawalpur district. Key informants, i.e., the local medicinal plant experts/ traditional herb healers (n=14) were interviewed. Data revealed that this shrub was used in 29 different ailments like wounds (75.9% by local dwellers & 50.0% by medicinal plant experts), snakebite (73.1% by local dwellers & 57.1% by medicinal plant experts), swellings (21.3% by local dwellers & 28.6% by medicinal plant experts) and veterinary ailments (13.8% by local dwellers & 14.3% by medicinal plant experts). Study also showed that medicinal plant experts use this plant in curing even more number of diseases. Different plant parts were also sampled from the study site and analyzed for different chemicals and medicinal attributes. All parts were rich in crude protein (maximum in flowers i.e., 21.69%), crude fibre (maximum in leaves i.e., 29.65%), carbohydrates as NFE (maximum in roots i.e., 67.88%), nitrogen (maximum in flowers i.e., 3.48%), ether extractable fat (maximum in leaves i.e., 7.61%), soluble phosphates (maximum in roots i.e., 0.06%) and potassium (maximum in flowers i.e., 0.86%). Presence of sufficient amount of secondary metabolite compounds (phenolics, flavonoids and alkaloids) enhanced its effectiveness as medicine.