An in-depth investigation of the nutraceutical value and medicinal perspectives of wild medicinal plants in Ojhor Valley, Hindukush Range, Chitral, Pakistan

The sole aim is to evaluate the traditional uses of 10 plants frequently used in the region and to evaluate the proximate component analysis of these medicinal plants in terms of their nutritional and medicinal value using standard food analysis techniques and in combination with current statistical methods, and to make recommendations for the conservation and production of their use in medicinal and/or value-added foods. For this purpose, the traditional uses of 10 medicinal plants have multiple therapeutic applications in the study area. Proximate study revealed that total of nine phytochemical constituents were studied such as dry weight, crude protein, crude oil, crude fiber, ash, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid-detergent fiber (ADF), nitrogen free extract (NFE) and lignin of the leaves, stems and flower/fruit parts of these plants were investigated. The obtained datasets were visualized using statistical analysis methods such as principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), K-means clustering plot and triangular heatmap with correlation matrix. It was found that the species and their traits, characterized by their nutrient content, were grouped and clustered in the created equilodramas, and that the traits thus formed were significantly correlated with each other in triangular heatmap with correlation matrix analyzes. The results of the experiment are very important as each of these plants with their unique high nutrient composition could be suitable not only for medicinal purposes such as pharmacological drug discovery, food and sustainable livestock production, but also for supplementary nutrition.