Traditional use of plants as medicine and poison by Tagin and Galo Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh

The tribal communities concealing Arunachal Pradesh, India, uses medicinal plants for treating ailments and poisonousplants for fishing and hunting. The study was conducted with an objective to explore the important medicinal andpoisonous plants of the Upper Subansiri district. Data were collected using standard questionnaires and groupinterviews. The data were analysed to find out the Use value and Fidelity level of the collected medicinal plants.The plants were identified referring various flora and herbaria. A total of 36 plants belonging to 26 families werereported, of which 26 were medicinal and 10 were poisonous plants. Leaves (53%) were the most commonly usedplant part in herbal therapy, while 33% of the plants were used in paste form. Among the poisonous plants, score forthe harmful part was maximum (36%) for the whole plant. The commonly observed reactions caused by these plants,include allergy, nausea, itching, fever, and death, in severe cases. According to the quantitative data collected fromthe informants, medicinal plants Clerodendrum glandulosum (96%), Ageratum houstonianum (94%), and Centellaasiatica (92%) were reported with the highest Fidelity Score. As the villages are situated in the remote hills, most ofthe rural people of this region still depend on herbs and toxic plants for treatment, hunting, and fishing, respectively.However, biochemical investigation of these traditional medicines may unveil new direction in the modern health caresystem.

Screening of Antimicrobial and Antioxidative Potential of Selected Eastern Himalayan Mosses.

The present study was aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of some mosses [Octoblepharum albidum, Hyophila involuta, H. perannulata, Campylopus introflexus, Syrrhopodon subconfertus, Erythrodontium julaceum and Sematophyllum subhumile] collected from different altitudes of Eastern Himalaya on Gm+ and Gm- bacteria. The antioxidative potential of these genera against 2, 2-Diphenyle-1-pycril-hydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) was also measured to assess their pharmacological importance. Antimicrobial assay was carried out by considering the zone of Inhibition (ZOI) through agar well diffusion method after extraction with two solvent systems (aquous and hydro-ethanol). Bacillus subtilis (B), Staphylococcus aureus (S), Escherichia coli (E) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K) were used for experimentation. The percent inhibition of methanolic DPPH by plant extracts was measured spectrophotometrically. The free radical scavenging activities were examined and expressed in comparison with Vitamin C. Among seven genera studied, S. subconfertus showed antimicrobial activity both on Gm+ and Gm- bacteria although their percentage of DPPH reduction was quite less in all the tested concentrations. In contrast, E. julaceum exhibited dose-dependent-antimicrobial activity on Gm+ and E. coli bacteria and also had appreciable antioxidant property. Therefore, it can be concluded that the antimicrobial potential is not indicative of the antioxidative potential of the respective genera. However, the presence of an important species-specific active compound or ensemble of many active compounds or their relative concentrations might be responsible for their efficacy against bacteria. Thus, survey on Himalayan bryoflora was the primary effort on the way to understand their therapeutic application and for formulation of nutraceuticals.