Revista de Biodiversidade, Bioprospecção e Desenvolvimento

Biodiversity and Biochemical Study of Medicinal Plants Collected from Swat Valley of Pakistan

Abstract

Inam Ullah Khan, Saleem Ullah, Muhammad Noor, Habib Ullah, Aftab Alam and Yousaf Jamal

Being a precious gift from all Mighty Allah medicinal plants are of crucial importance in modern era. Medicinal plants including A. calamus, P.specie, C. serrata, P.Oweta, M. longifolia T. aficianali, B. implexical, S. specie, and F.volgare were analyzed for proximate composition and mineral content to explain their medicinal properties with their chemical composition. The crude protein content of wild medicinal plant was in the range of 1.7% to 2.7%.The minimum protein was observed in C. serrata followed by B. implexical (1.8%) while the maximum was found in M. longifolia and F. volgare which was 2.7% each. The fiber content of the plants was in the range of 3.2 to 7.3%. The least amount (32%) of fiber was present in M. longifolia and the highest amount of fiber was possessed by P. oweta which contained 7.3% of fiber. The mineral content showed that all the plants were contained lower amount of sodium (Na) and nickel (Ni). However they contained all other mineral in considerable or even in greater amount. Na content of the plants was present in the range of 1.1 to 8.0ug/g. The highest amount was observed in S.specie which contained 8.0 ug/g of the Na. The range of calcium (Ca) content was 234.0 to 408.4. Magnesium (Mg), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), Ni and zinc (Zn) were present in the ranges of 72.5 to 95.0, 2.0 to 14.0, 4.85 to 90.45, 1.20 to 209.25, 18.8 to 81.2, 0.8 to 5.7 and 6.60 to 24.2ug/g respectively. The higher iron and copper contents showed that plants might be helpful in restoring the Fe and Cu deficiency in the body when consumed regularly. The appreciable amount of Zn, Mg and Mn showed that the plant curing effect might be related to their mineral composition. However the presence of Cr and Ni might endanger their used in regular diets, which might cause accumulation of these minerals in the body which are considered as heavy metals when present in large amount.