Abstrakt

Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants in Kashmir: A Review

Shoib A. Baba

The beautiful valley of Kashmir harbors a diversity of medicinal plants that have been used in traditional health care systems for thousands of years. This knowledge, transmitted by oral tradition from generation to generation, has been eroding in recent decades due to rapid cultural change. Besides this, medicinal plants are being overexploited at an alarming rate. Untill now, the traditional uses of medicinal plants in Kashmir have not been reviewed and if reviewed, focus has been either on particular groups or on restricted regions. Here, we present a review of traditional uses of medicinal plants by the People of Kashmir valley in order to provide comprehensive documentation, diseases treated in traditional medicine and suggest perspectives for conservation and management of medicinal plants of Kashmir.