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Abstract

Abstract Background: Native plant species have long been used in traditional healthcare systems, particularly in regions with harsh weather and scarce water supplies. Numerous indigenous knowledge systems and therapeutic plants can be found in the semi-arid plains and hills of Pakistan's District Mianwali. Heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and thromboembolic disorders are among the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) that continue to be the leading cause of death worldwide. The current study's objective was to evaluate the ethnopharmacological significance of medicinal plants used to treat cardiovascular diseases in District Mianwali using quantitative ethnobotanical and multivariate statistical analyses. Methodology: An ethnopharmacological survey was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires and in-person interviews with local informants. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices such as Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use Value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL), and Family Importance Value (FIV) were calculated. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis, clustered heat map, and network analysis were used to study species similarity, ethnobotanical patterns, and the structure of traditional medicinal knowledge. Spearman's rank correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between the ethnobotanical indices. Results: It has been reported that 79 species of medicinal plants from 49 families can be used to treat cardiovascular conditions. Leaves were the most commonly used plant part (27%), herbs were the most common life form (65.27%), and decoction was the most common preparation method (44%). Numerous species with high RFC, UV, FL, and FIV values were found through quantitative ethnobotanical analysis, indicating strong cultural significance and high informant consensus. All ethnobotanical indices showed positive correlations according to Spearman's correlation analysis; the strongest correlations were found between RFC and UV (r = 0.668), UV and FL (r = 0.661), and RFC and FL (r = 0.636) FIV and FL (r = 0.529), FIV and UV (r = 0.476), and RFC and FIV (r = 0.405) showed moderate correlations. Conclusion: The integration of quantitative ethnobotanical indices with multivariate statistical analyses provided robust evidence for identifying culturally important medicinal plant species and established a scientific basis for their phytochemical characterization, pharmacological validation, conservation, and future development of plant-derived therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases.

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