Ethnobotanical study on traditional medicinal plants of Gelon village, Kashkadarya, Uzbekistan

The utilization of plants as traditional medicine has been a long-standing practice among the inhabitants of Gelon village, Shahrisabz district, Kashkadarya region, Uzbekistan. This study aims to identify the diversity of such medicinal plant species including the plant parts, processing methods and their application as traditional remedies in selected geographical boundary. The research employs qualitative, quantitative and descriptive approaches via direct interviews with purposefully selected traditional medicine practitioners. Relevant information on plant species, regional names, Latin names, utilized parts, application methods and the diseases treated were collected from 41 informants, including traditional healers, farmers, teachers and medicinal plant users. The study resulted to identify 95 species of medicinal plants belonging to 43 families in Gelon village. The most used plant families by traditional medicine practitioners were Asteraceae (14.74 %), Rosaceae (10.52 %), Apiaceae (9.47 %), Lamiaceae (7.36 %), Polygonaceae (6.31 %) and Fabaceae (5.26 %). In most cases, leaves, stems and roots were the most frequently used parts, followed by fruits, bark and flowers. The main preparation methods were boiling and crushing, which were the most common techniques. Medicinal plants were primarily used to treat respiratory diseases (cough, bronchitis, asthma, tonsillitis), hypertension, stomatitis, liver diseases (hepatitis, cholecystitis), gallbladder disorders, rheumatism and as haemostatic agents.