Response of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants under Prevailing Air Quality in Subhumid Mid Hills Zone of Himachal Pradesh, India

The increasing atmospheric pollution have become a global problem threatening both human and ecosystems health. Therefore, the air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and the anticipated performance index (API) are evaluated in order to determine both the degree of tolerance or sensitivity of medicinal and aromatic plants to pollutants in mid hill subhumid zone of Himachal Pradesh. The commonly occurring thirty medicinal and aromatic plants comprised of seventeen herbs, six shrubs, three climbers and four trees were selected for the study. All the herbs, shrubs and trees under study behaved similar, whereas significant variation was observed in climbers for the APTI. The highest APTI was in Spilanthes acmella (10.40), Murraya koenigii(7.735), Tinospora cordifolia (8.530) and Terminalia arjuna (5.770) with respect to herbs, shrubs, climbers and trees. The anticipated performance index of the selected medicinal and aromatic plants ranged from very poor to very good. Among the herbs, Spilanthes acmella with the highest tolerance index and Cymbopogon citratus with very good and Acorus calamus and Valeriana jatamansi with good performance score and among the shrubs, Murraya koenigii with the highest tolerance index and Vitex negundo with a moderate performance score and among the climbers, Tinospora cordifolia with the highest tolerance index and moderate performance score and among the trees, Terminalia arjuna with the highest tolerance index and moderate performance score can be suggested for plantations to manage the harmful effect of air pollution in the mid hill sub humid zone in particular and in Himachal Pradesh in general.