Mushtaq Ahmad

Quaid-i-Azam University | QAU · Department of Plant Science

Palyno-morphological microscopic study [light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)] of 12 salt-tolerant plant species (Heliotropiumcurassavicum, Heliotropiumeuropaeum, Euploca strigosa, Capparisdecidua, Capparisspinosa, Chrozophoratinctoria, Euphorbiaindica, Euphorbiaserpens, Alhagimaurorum, Tephrosiapurpurea, Polygonum aviculare,...

The urgent need to combat climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels has accelerated the global transition toward renewable energy. Consequently, waste-to-biofuel conversion offers a promising pathway to both sustainable energy production and circular resource use. This study investigates the potential of a novel feed-stock, Cupressus macro...

The current study focuses on the previous research on paleopalynology of existing plants from different regions of the Eocene strata of South Asia. This study was conducted for the first time in the study area to highlight the distributions, identifications, and abundance of the floral paleopalynological record of the Eocene in South Asia. The stud...

Pollen grains have long fascinated biologists who used their significant intra and inter-specific diversity as a marker to infer profiles of past and present vegetation and environment. Our study addresses the question of the diversity in pollen morphology at the intra and inter-specific level: how different are pollen grains of the same species sa...

Wheat faces significant challenges due to environmental stresses, particularly to drought, which can severely hinder plant growth especially at germination stage. One of the strategies to improve crops productivity is to explore genetic resources especially wild relatives of crops for osmotic stress tolerance. Hence, an experiment was conducted to...

Euphorbia L. includes 2055 species with native range of this genus being cosmopolitan. In the present study, we assessed pollen morphology of 18 species of this genus occurring mostly in northern Pakistan. Pollen morphology of Euphorbia species is poorly investigated for its taxonomic significance. Here, we examined quantitative characters, includi...

ABSTRACT – The current study was the fi rst report on pollen morphology of 17 species belonging to 11 different families that are particularly involved in nectar and pollen collection by honeybees from southern Pakistan using microscopic techniques. The plants were collected after being foraged by honeybees, identifi ed, and studied. Flowering pe...

This chapter aims to explore the latest advancements in biodiesel plant technologies and their implications for sustainable development. It will delve into the various stages of biodiesel production, from feedstock selection to processing techniques, highlighting innovations that enhance efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The chapter will...

Melissopalynology: Bee Flora, Pollen and Honey presents a comprehensive guide to the floral biology of honeybee plants. Critical for developing optimal management techniques for honey bee habitats, as well as for the growth and sustainability of the honey economy, this information is key to addressing the problem of predicting resource availability...

This study aims to investigate the honeybee’s flora in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A total of 16 species in the family Boraginaceae are involved in honeybee’s foraging activities namely Alkanna tinctoria, Anchusa arvensis, Arnebia decumbens, Arnebia griffithii, Arnebia hispidissima, Buglossoides arvensis,Gastrocotyle hispida, Heliotropium baccife...

Mountain communities are often defined by their distinctive flora and fauna, and the way local people utilize these natural resources. Our study aims to document the indigenous knowledge of wild flora among the local people of three valleys in Northern Pakistan. The ethnobotanical study was conducted in July and August of 2019 and 2020 in 21 hill v...

The pollen morphology of the Rosaceae was investigated using light microscopy, despite its systematic implications. The main aim of this study was to verify the taxonomic significance of the pollen traits studied in 25 species and collected from different localities in Swat district, northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. In the present study, we h...

The foliar epidermal, stomatal and trichome properties are frequently used as plant microscopic attributes from a taxonomic or ecological perspective. Among the angiosperm families, the Lamiaceae is one of the most taxonomically difficult, economically significant, and medicinally important families. To better understand the foliar microanatomy of...

The micromorphology of epidermal cells, different types of trichomes, and stomatal complex were used to describe leaf epidermal traits. Light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to thoroughly analyze the foliar anatomical features of 33 taxa of aromatic and medicinal plants of sub family Nepetoideae. To accurately ident...

The present study was carried out to investigate the palynoflora of Murree formation using microscopic techniques to understand the climatic changes and vegetation's evolution. In this palynological study, 31 samples were collected, analyzed, and then identified as palynomorphs using different previous published literature. The results of this stud...

Climate change has a significant impact on alpine habitats, putting unique plants at risk of extinction. Due to ongoing climate change, mountainous regions, especially alpine zones, are warming faster than the global rate. Extensive field visits were conducted in the alpine zone from 2022 to 2023 along the elevational range of 3000–4400 m. This stu...

The study, conducted in Kashmir, Western Himalayas, sheds light on the complex interaction of environmental variables and plant species diversity and distribution. The research area’s vegetation composition and distribution were thoroughly investigated, identifying 246 species from 69 families. Herbs comprised 70.7% of the flora, followed by shrubs...

Mallotus philippensis, a novel and mostly unexplored feedstock with a significantly greater oil content of 50%, serves as the foundation of a prospective and sustainable supply for biodiesel synthesis. The most notable aspect of this research is the development and application of a bio-based green nanocatalyst with ingenuity and environmental safet...

The genus Euphorbia L. characterizes a diverse and ubiquitous range of flowering plants across numerous habitats worldwide. The study aimed to resolve the taxonomic significance of seed morphology across 31 species within Euphorbia L. Qualitative and quantitative micro and macromorphological characteristics of seeds and caruncles were studied using...

The species of the subfamily Polygonoideae is an essential component of temperate forests as well as the flora of the western Himalayan region. The aim of this research was to explore the taxonomic diversity, distribution patterns, and associated flora of Polygonoideae in relation to edaphic factors in various ecological zones in the Muzaffarabad d...

This study provides taxonomic significance of palyno-morphology in context of identifying floral diversity and their pollen types in herbaceous plants of Lesser Himalayan region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Pakistan). The consideration of taxonomic correlations enhances the accuracy of plant identification and classification was crucial for biodivers...

Background Wild food plants (WFPs) play an important role in the traditional dietary habits of various indigenous communities worldwide, particularly in mountainous regions. To understand the dynamics of food preferences, cross-cultural studies on food plants should be conducted across diverse ethnic groups in a given area. In this context, the cur...

The taxonomic significance of both micromorphological and macromorphological features of nutlets within 20 species of Boraginaceae was studied through the utilization of a stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM) from Pakistan. The study aimed to determine distinct ultra-structural traits of nutlets with diagnostic value, contributin...

Ethnobotany Research and Applications 27:26 (2024)-http://dx. Abstract Background: Plants have long been a vital source for traditional medicine preparations used for livestock and humans, both for preventive and curative purposes. The rural population's ongoing relationship with their environment has led to the development of distinctive indigenou...

Oleaceae (olive family), includes 28 genera and about 700 species. Nevertheless, there remains a lot to uncover about the group’s historical development, the evolution of various reproductive and dispersal mechanisms, and polyploidization episodes appear to be linked to its diversification. In the current study, foliar epidermal anatomy of 13 plant...

This study aimed to investigate trichome diversity in alpine flora from the Hindukush Mountain range of Pakistan, and the possible taxonomic potential of trichome diversity in the identification of plant species. Plant specimens were collected from the alpine regions of Swat Pakistan. The present study explain micromorphological features of foliar...

The current study was carried out to describe the taxonomic microanatomical traits of petiole micromorphology of Euphorbiaceous species inhabited in desert rangeland. The petioles were sectioned using a Shandon Microtome and observed under a microscope to assess both qualitative features (shape, size, and arrangement of cells) and quantitative feat...

The current study is designed to explore the honeybee flora in district Lower Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. To study the honeybee’s foraging behaviors in study area, a total of 18 species belonging to 9 different families were identified, namely Carduus acnthoides, Mentha spicata, Phlomis spectabilis, Ranunculus repens, Rubus armeniacus, Sonch...

The application of advanced microscopic technique like scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been pivotal in offering phylogenetically informative and taxonomically significant insights into the spore characteristics of various pteridophyte groups. The spore morphology of seven Pakistani Athyriaceae taxa, phytogeographically Sino-Himalayan and W-H...

Palynology, a prominent field in plant systematics and biodiversity studies, plays a vital role in identifying and determining the plant species present in a specific region. The current study was performed to evaluate the micromorphological traits of pollen from flora of Lesser Himalaya. Pollen microstructural variations aid in the identification...

Pollen micromorphological traits with taxonomic implications are first reported from the study area for 50 Asteraceous taxa belonging to nine tribes. Cichorieae (21 taxa), Cardueae (11 taxa), Inuleae (six taxa), and Anthemideae (four taxa) are the leading tribes. The research included Cousinia haeckeliae, Himalaiella afghana, Pterachaenia stewartii...

This study presented the pollen micromorphology of some Caesalpinioideae species sampled from different geographical regions of Hainan Island south China and Pakistan and observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM). The multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) was performed by using five variables to show the relationship among the spe...

The pollen morphology of Brassicaceous taxa was analyzed to investigate their reliability as operational taxonomic units (OTUs) down to species level. The derived formula for all observed pollen was N3P4C3 based on NPC classification. Documentation of quantitative parameters via statistical analysis included dendrogram, correlation, and loading plo...

This study explores the sustainable production of biodiesel from nonedible Phyllanthus maderaspatensis seed oil (highest oil content of 35%, FFA 0.87 mg/KOH), utilizing an innovative green synthesis approach for chromium oxide nanoparticles derived from the waste fruit parts of Aubergine for the very first time in the current work. In pursuit of al...

In the present study, the petiole anatomy of 39 species from tribes Cichorieae (18), Cardueae (10), Anthemideae (5), Inuleae (4), Gymnarrheneae (1), Astereae (1), and Gnaphalieae (1) was investigated to determine their taxonomic significance. Leica Light Microscope (Model 1000) embedded with the Infinity 1–5 C-MEL (Canada) digital camera was used t...

The indigenous communities of the Kashmir region are exclusively dependent on medicinal plants for the treatment of various gynecological disorders. Due to the remoteness and unavailability of modern medications, indigenous communities still use traditional healthcare practices to cure various diseases related to women. The specific objective of th...

Indigenous knowledge provides insights into the therapeutic properties of medicinal plants used in local communities for basic healthcare. This research focuses on documenting the medical knowledge of rural communities that rely on medicinal plants in their traditional healthcare practices in district Muzaffarabad, Kashmir Himalayas. A field survey...

Indigenous knowledge provides insights into the therapeutic properties of medicinal plants used in local communities for basic healthcare. This research focuses on documenting the medical knowledge of rural communities that rely on medicinal plants in their traditional healthcare practices in the district of Muzaffarabad, Kashmir Himalayas. A field...

This study described the systematic classification of Rubiaceous species by investigating morpho pollinic traits, providing a comprehensive analysis of their diversity and relationships. The implications of this taxonomic approach extend to conservation efforts, offering valuable insights for the preservation and sustainable management. This resear...

This study describes a robust chromatographic authentication methodology for herbaceous pollen, employing gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high‐performance thin liquid chromatography (HPTLC) protocols. The comprehensive profiling of organic compounds not only distinguishes between diffe...