A multivariate and quantitative assessment of medicinal plants used by the indigenous Malayali tribes in the Javadhu hills of Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu, India.

The study of medicinal plants with their traditional uses and related pharmacological studies has received more attention during the past several decades around the world. The Malayali tribes of the Javadhu Hills in the Eastern Ghats rely heavily on a system of traditional medicine for healthcare. A qualitative ethnographic method with a semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview 52 people across 11 localities in the Javadhu Hills. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics such as Use reports (UR), frequency of citations (FC), relative frequency of citations (RFC), informant agreement ratio (IAR), fidelity level (FL), and informant consensus factor (FIC) were studied. In the current investigation, 146 species from 52 families and 108 genera were discovered to treat 79 diseases. Leguminosae and Apocynaceae were the dominant families (12 species each). The most frequently used life form was the herb and the plant part were the leaf. The majority were being harvested from natural resources. Most medicines were taken orally. The most frequently cited species are Moringa oleifera and Syzygium cumini. The illnesses were divided into 21 categories. The majority of the plants mentioned are utilised to increase human immunity and health. The principal ailment (general health) was revealed by two-way cluster analysis and PCA. The species Litsea decanensis, Phoebe paniculata, Commiphora caudata, etc., were new records for the Javadhu hills according to a comparison between the current study and previous local and regional research. Documenting novel ethnomedicinal species and their therapeutic applications will encourage more phytochemical and pharmacological research and may even result in the creation of new medications. Furthermore, the study's significant novelty is that principle component analysis and two-way cluster analysis clearly revealed that the species that are used to treat various diseases, as well as species that are closely associated with treating specific ailment categories, are distinct. Significantly, species recorded in this study rely on maintaining and improving general body health of humans.

Integration of traditional herbal medicines among the indigenous communities in Thiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu, India.

BACKGROUND: Ethnobotanical studies are recognized as effective methods of finding locally important plants for discovery of crude drugs. Siddha medicinal system is prevailed in south Indian states principally in Tamil Nadu and gaining recognition as alternative medicine among the indigenous communities for their primary healthcare needs. OBJECTIVES: The study was aimed to explore and document folk medicinal plant knowledge among the local people in Puliyankudi village of Thiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An ethnobotanical study was carried out during February 2016 to January 2017 among the local people in study area. Traditional healers, traders, local vendors and local people who are practicing herbal medicines were approached for documentation of folk medicinal uses. Acquired results were further analyzed with descriptive statistical methods such as use value (UV) and informant consensus factor (ICF). RESULTS: During the survey, a total 116 plant species from 49 families and 103 genera were recorded to treat 73 types of ailments. Among the plant parts used for preparation of medicine, leaves (73 reports) are often used and predominant method of preparation of medicine is paste (56 reports). Limonia acidissima was reported by all the interviewed informants with an UV of 0.98 and kidney problems have highest ICF value of 0.91. CONCLUSION: Plants with highest use values in the study indicates possible occurrence of valuable metabolites and should be investigated for associated pharmacological activities which leads to development of potential new drugs to treat various ailments.

A review on ethnomedicinally important pteridophytes of India.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Pteridophytes have been considered an excellent source of medicine since ancient times and remain underexplored in ethnobotanical aspects when compared to other vascular plants. Hence, an attempt has been made to compile medicinally important pteridophytes used by different ethnic minorities and local people in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Relevant information on the uses of pteridophytes was extracted from scientific journals (local, regional, and international), books, book chapters, conference proceedings, M.Sc. and Ph.D. dissertations, and other scientific databases. Recent and accepted names of plants were validated using standard nomenclature databases. RESULTS: In total, 283 species of pteridophytes are enumerated in this review which are used to treat 129 ailments. Ethnobotanical records from the states Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand revealed 59% of overall uses of pteridophytes from India. Pteridaceae was recorded with highest number of medicinally important species (57), followed by Polypodiaceae, Dryopteridaceae, Thelypteridaceae, and Aspleniaceae with 36, 27, 22, and 21 species respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The use of medicinal plants in the primary healthcare of humans and livestock has been documented since ancient times, and they offer a useful source of new therapeutics. While pteridophytes have considerable importance in traditional pharmacopoeias, scientific studies on pharmacology of this group are scanty. Hence, studies on the phytochemistry and pharmacology of medicinally important pteridophytes with more citations may reveal active principles that can be further developed into novel therapeutic agents. Records of indigenous medicinal knowledge about pteridophytes need to be given top priority to aid the protection of such knowledge before they vanish from present day traditional healers.

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Palamalai region of Eastern Ghats, India.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: During the last few decades there has been an increasing interest in the study of medicinal plants with their traditional use and related pharmacological research all over the World. This paper enumerated folk medicinal plants used by Malayali tribal people in an unexplored and biodiversity rich region of Eastern Ghats in southern India. AIM OF STUDY: The aim of this study is to collect and identify the plants used in medicinal therapy by the local people and professional traditional healers with quantitative analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An ethnobotanical survey was carried out during January to December 2014 among the Malayali tribal people in four villages of Palamalai region in Eastern Ghats, India. The information was obtained through open and semi-structured face-to-face interviews with the local knowledgeable people and professional traditional healers. The statistical analysis, use value, family use value, informants' consensus factor, fidelity level, frequency of citation, relative frequency citation and informants' agreements ratio were calculated for the quantitative study of ethnomedicinal data. RESULTS: A total of 118 plant species belonging to 95 genera and 55 families dominated by the families like Leguminosae, Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were enumerated with detailed information on parts used, method of preparation, mode of administration and ailments treated. Leaves were mostly used plant part and predominantly used herbal preparations were decoction and paste. Moringa oleifera Lam. was reported by all the interviewed informants and gives the highest UV of 3.9 with 78 use reports due to its diverse medicinal uses. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated the need for importance of documenting the traditional knowledge of forest dwelling people. As a result of the study, Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet., Andrographis echioides (L.f.) Nees., Bacopa monnieri (L.) Wettst., Canarium strictum Roxb., Centella asiatica (L.) Urban., Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb. and Tribulus terrestris (L.) were recommended for further ethnopharmacological studies since these plants were recorded with high UV, IAR, RFC and FL values.