Volume 165, 13 May 2015, Pages 198–214
Observation on the traditional phytotherapy among the Malayali tribes in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, South India
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance
Traditional
medicine remained as the most affordable and easily accessible source
of treatment for many ailments. The Malayali tribes living in the Kolli
hills region of Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu has long history of
ethnomedicinal knowledge has been remained unexplored hither to. Hence,
this study was initiated with an aim to record the ethnomedicinal plants
of Malayali tribes and to document and analyse the local knowledge on
phytotherapy before environmental and cultural changes deplete the
resources.
Methods
In order to
document the phytotherapical knowledge, a field study was carried out
between August 2012 and February 2014. The ethnomedicinal knowledge was
recorded through interviews among the Malayali tribes, and traditional
healers. In addition a semi structure questionnaire was used to collect
information on the local name of the plant, plant part used for curing,
method of preparation in phytoremedies and any other plants/agents used
as ingredients. Factor of informant consensus (Fic), use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), relative importance (RI) and novelty index were employed in data analysis.
Results
Current
research work reports total of 86 medicinal plant species belonging to
76 genera of 46 different families. Herbs constituted the largest growth
habit (48 species, 56%) followed by trees (13 species, 15%) and shrubs
(9 species, 11%) etc. Leaf 43 (46%) is the plant part widely used
followed by whole plant 9 (10%), seeds and fruits 9 (10%) and root 7
(8%). Paste was the most common preparation method use in herbal
recipes. These plants were used to treat various human diseases and
ailments grouped under 19 disease categories with the highest number of
species (31) being used for dermatological infections/diseases followed
by gastro-intestinal ailments (28) and general health (15). Asystasia chelonoides (UV of 2.76) and Piper nigrum (UV of 2.12) are the most frequently and popularly used medicinal plant species in the study area.
Conclusion
The
result of the study revealed that there was high diversity of medicinal
plants and traditional knowledge about the use, preparation, and
application of which is still maintained in the study area. However, the
knowledge of herbal medicine was held by elders. The decline in the use
of plants by the younger generation may gradually lead to the fading
away of indigenous knowledge associated with the plants.
Graphical abstract
Keywords
- Traditional healers;
- Novelty index;
- Antidiabetic;
- New claims;
- Hepatoprotective;
- Herbal drugs
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