Gastrointestinal (GI) tract in human body is the most important and vulnerable organ for the diverse type of diseases such as diarrhea, reflux, constipation and parasitic infections. To treat such ailments, inhabitants of Kishtwar plateau in Jammu and Kashmir (India) use the wild medicinal herbs growing in the valleys and on the hill-top of their region. Most of these medicinal plants are common in occurrence but not reported earlier for the GI disorders. The aim of this communication is to narrow down the list of the medicinal plant species on the basis of oral traditional knowledge (OTK) for treating GI disorders at Kishtwar plateau. This documentation and quantitative analysis will help the natural plant chemists to get the pure and efficacious molecules for the treatment of GI ailments. For this a semi-structured questionnaire study was used to document the OTK on use of different medicinal plants to treat GI ailments by the local people of Kishtwar plateau in Northwestern Himalaya. The information gathered during the questionnaire study has been quantified by calculating use value, family use value, factor informant consensus (F_ic) and fidelity level. A total of 40 plant species representing 27 families are reported to treat various GI ailments, where in Mentha longifolia has shown the maximum use value (UV)=0.87 and Carpesium abrotanoides has shown the minimum UV=0.03. Maximum F_ic (0.88) has been calculated for worm infection and constipations category, however, minimum F_ic=0.75 is calculated for dyspepsia. Maximum family use value has been calculated for Plantaginaceae (FUV=0.75) and minimum for Geraniaceae and Juglandaceae (FUV=0.08). Artemisia maritima (FL=20.25%) and Elwendia persica (FL=18.18%) accounts the maximum fidelity level, therefore, considered important for the treatment of diarrhea and stomachache. From calculated use value, it has been concluded that the use of M. longifolia for treating GI ailments is relatively higher than other investigated species. Further analysis revealed that uniformity in OTK homogeneity is prevailing in the area, which indicates that OTK has not been diluted over the period of time.

中文翻译：

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印度喜马拉雅山西北基什瓦尔高原居民用于胃肠疾病的植物植物

人体的胃肠道是腹泻，反流，便秘和寄生虫感染等多种疾病的最重要和最脆弱的器官。为了治疗这种疾病，位于查Jam和克什米尔（印度）的基什瓦尔高原的居民使用生长在山谷和该地区山顶的野生草药。这些药用植物大多数是常见的，但没有关于胃肠道疾病的早期报道。交流的目的是根据口服传统知识（OTK）来缩小基什瓦尔高原的胃肠道疾病的基础，以缩小药用植物的种类。该文献记录和定量分析将帮助天然植物化学家获得用于治疗胃肠疾病的纯净有效分子。为此，使用了一个半结构化的问卷研究来记录OTK，该OTK涉及喜马拉雅西北部基什瓦尔高原当地人使用不同药用植物治疗胃肠疾病的情况。问卷研究期间收集的信息已通过计算使用价值，家庭使用价值，要素告知者共识来量化（F_ic）和保真度级别。总共占27个科40种植物据报道治疗各种疾病GI，其中在欧薄荷已经显示出最大使用值（UV） = 0.87和天名abrotanoides已所示的最小UV = 0.03。对于蠕虫感染和便秘类别，已计算出最大F _ic （0.88），但是对于消化不良，已计算出最小F _ic = 0.75。已计算出桔梗科的最大家庭使用价值（FUV = 0.75），而菊苣科和菊科的最小家庭使用价值（FUV = 0.08）。滨蒿（FL）= 20.25％）和波斯芹（Elwendia persica）（FL = 18.18％）具有最高保真度，因此被认为对治疗腹泻和胃痛很重要。根据计算出的使用价值，可以得出结论，长叶蔓延藤蔓治疗胃肠道疾病的使用相对高于其他调查物种。进一步的分析表明，该地区盛行OTK均匀性，这表明OTK在一段时间内没有被稀释。