More than 5700 species of plants are found in Pakistan; about 400–600 have been identified as beneficial for medicinal use, most found only in the northern areas (Noor, Khatoon, Ahmed, & Razaq, 2014). More than 10% of the national flora of Pakistan (600–700 plant species) is used to treat different diseases (Z. K. Shinwari, 2010). Gilgit–Baltistan is famous for its biodiversity and is located at the junction of three great mountain ranges, Karakoram, Himalaya & Hindu-Kush (Z. Shinwari, Gilani, Kohjoma, & Nakaike, 2000). 70% of the medicinal plants in the Karakorum-Himalayan mountain ranges are wild species, and 70 to 80% of the local population uses traditional medicines for health care (Pie & Manadhar, 1987).
Fagopyrum esculentum originates from Southwest China and has been spread worldwide. At the same time, Fagopyrum tataricum is found in mountainous regions of Southwest China (Sichuan), northern India, Bhutan, and Nepal. Tartary buckwheat has grown in some areas of Northwest Europe (Bonafaccia, Marocchini, & Kreft, 2003). Trigonella foenum-graecum is an annual flowering plant. It is cultivated in Iran, China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Ukraine, Greece, and Turkey (Ghorbanpour, Mami, Ashournezhad, Abri, & Amani, 2011). In Tunisia, it is cultivated in the north (Marzougui, Ferchichi, Guasmi, & Beji, 2007). It has been used to treat different diseases, including diabetes (Eidi, Eidi, & Sokhteh, 2007). Ocimum basilicum is an ornamental and medicinal herb cultivated in other regions under various growing conditions (Lal, Gupta, Chanotiya, & Sarkar, 2018). Ocimum tenuiflorum belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is found in different world areas (Upadhyay et al., 2015).
Salinity is one of the most critical problems for many crop species in different world regions (Cheeseman, 2016). Salt stress decreases plant growth and yield, but this reduction depends on the type of salinity, the level of salinity stress, and the plant genotype (Shrivastava & Kumar, 2015). Salinity stress causes extensive oxidative damage, affecting several physiological processes, which results in a significant reduction of different parameters such as germination capacity, radicle, and plumule lengths, fresh and dry mass, yields, seed nutritional quality, productivity, chlorophyll, protein, and sugar content, antioxidative enzyme activity as well as modulation (Asaadi, 2009; Ghorbanpour et al., 2011; Kapoor, Arif, & Pande, 2013; Pour, Farahbakhsh, Saffari, & Keramat, 2013; Ruuml, veyde, TUuml, & RK, 2011; Talukdar, 2012). The germination of buckwheat seeds and the growth rate of sprouts were significantly affected by NaCl treatment. Salinity stress decreases the germination ratio, weight, and height (Mhadhbi, Jebara, Limam, & Aouani, 2004). People are trying to explore and cultivate herbs that can cure different diseases, but unfortunately, in Pakistan, a large area of cultivated land is affected by salinity (Inam, Adamowski, Halbe, & Prasher, 2015). This study attempts to understand the effect of salt at morphological and biochemical levels on common herbs of Gilgit-Biltistan so that these plants can grow in salt-stress areas and use for the treatment of various diseases. This study observed a decline in seed germination, seedling length, biomass, and total protein in response to increased NaCl concentrations. We can find out which plant can better survive on salt-stressed land and can be cultivated for pharmaceutical companies.