This document reports on an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by people in Thiruppachethi village, Tamil Nadu, India. Researchers interviewed 50 local people between ages 20-85 and documented 25 plant species from 19 families used to treat various diseases. The most commonly used plant families were Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part. Plants were used to prepare powders, decoctions, pastes, and juices to treat fever, cough, asthma and other ailments. The study helps document traditional medicinal plant knowledge but this knowledge is at risk of being lost to younger generations.
This document reports on an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by people in Thiruppachethi village, Tamil Nadu, India. Researchers interviewed 50 local people between ages 20-85 and documented 25 plant species from 19 families used to treat various diseases. The most commonly used plant families were Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part. Plants were used to prepare powders, decoctions, pastes, and juices to treat fever, cough, asthma and other ailments. The study helps document traditional medicinal plant knowledge but this knowledge is at risk of being lost to younger generations.
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this paper briefs all details about the ethnomedicinal plants of thiruppachethi
This document reports on an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by people in Thiruppachethi village, Tamil Nadu, India. Researchers interviewed 50 local people between ages 20-85 and documented 25 plant species from 19 families used to treat various diseases. The most commonly used plant families were Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part. Plants were used to prepare powders, decoctions, pastes, and juices to treat fever, cough, asthma and other ailments. The study helps document traditional medicinal plant knowledge but this knowledge is at risk of being lost to younger generations.
This document reports on an ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by people in Thiruppachethi village, Tamil Nadu, India. Researchers interviewed 50 local people between ages 20-85 and documented 25 plant species from 19 families used to treat various diseases. The most commonly used plant families were Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part. Plants were used to prepare powders, decoctions, pastes, and juices to treat fever, cough, asthma and other ailments. The study helps document traditional medicinal plant knowledge but this knowledge is at risk of being lost to younger generations.
47 J. Bio s c i. Re s ., 2012.Vol.3(1):47-51 Ethnomedicinal plants used by the Rural people in Thiruppachethi village of Sivagangai District, Tamil Nadu, India KURU SURESH *, *G. VIJI @ SENTHILMURUGAN, *P.PANDISELVAM, *S. KARUPPURAJA *PG Studies & Research Department of Botany, Thiagarajar college, Madurai-625009, Tamil Nadu, India. Abstract An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the local people in Thiruppachethi village of sivagangai District, Tamilnadu, India. A total of 25 plant species of ethnomedicinal plants belonging to 25 genera and 19 families were reported with the help of standardized questionnaires among 50 local people between the ages of 20-85. The study shows a high degree of ethnobotanical novelty and the use of plants among the local people reflects the revival of interest in traditional folk medicine. The medicinal plants used by Thiruppachethi village are arranged alphabetically followed by botanical name, family name, local name, parts used, mode of preparation and medicinal uses Key words: Ethnomedicine, Thiruppachethi Village, Sivagangai district
Introduction Globally, about 85%of the traditional medicines used for primary healthcare are derived from plants (Fransworth).Traditional medicine and ethno botanical information play an important role in scientific research, particularly when the literature and field work data have been properly evaluated (Awadh etal., 2004).India is one of the twelve mega-biodiversity countries of the world having rich vegetation with a wide variety of plants with medicinal value. In many countries, scientific investigations of medicinal plants have been initiated because of their contribution to healthcare. Herbal medicines have good values in treating many diseases including infectious diseases, hypertension etc. That they can save lives of many, particularly in the developing countries is undisputable (Patrick. 2004). Even today many local and indigenous communities in the Asian countries meet their needs from the product they manufacture and sell based on their traditional knowledge. Herbal drugs obtained from plants are believed to be much safer: this has been proved in the treatment of various ailments (Mitalaya et al., 2003). Rural people not only depend on plants as sources of food, medicines, fodder, and fuel, but have also developed method of resource management, which may be some of the worlds important habitats (Gemedo- Dalle et al.,2005). In this paper, we report on the information gathered from local people on the plants used for treatment of various diseases in Thiruppachethi village of sivagangai district, Tamil Nadu, India. Study area Tamil Nadu is situated in Southern end of India. The present study was carried ISSN 0976-2272 Dabgar and Dabgar JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES RESEARCH 3(1):47-51
48 out in Thiruppachethi village of Sivagangai district in Tamilnadu, India. Geographically, the entire area of Thiruppachethi village lies between 9 46 32 N latitude 78 20 44 E longitudes respectively. The village of Thirupachethi is spread over an area of about 8sq.km. This village monthly minimum and maximum temperature of 24 and 40 C respectively and annual rainfall is reaches 635-1000 mm. Materials and methods The fieldwork in Thiruppachethi village of sivagangai district was commenced from 2011 August to 2012 January. The local people settlements of Thiruppachethi village were located through a number of field surveys and there were 50 informants (30 males and 20 females) between the ages of 20 and 85 were consulted to gather medicinal information. Resource persons (informants or tribal practitioners or traditional healers) with the knowledge of medicinal plants were selected based on the experience in the preparation of medicines, whether he/she is a professional medicine man or women, their willingness to share their traditional knowledge and their way of acquiring knowledge as per the methodology suggested by (Jain, 1989) . The information was collected through questionnaire, interviews and discussions among the tribal practitioners in their local language (Tamil). The questionnaire allowed descriptive responses on the plant prescribed, such as part of the plant used, medicinal uses, detailed information about mode of preparation (i.e., decoction, paste, powder and juice), and form of usage either fresh or dried and method of application. The collected plant species were identified taxonomically using The Flora of Presidency of Madras (Gamble, 1935) and The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic (Matthew, 1983). Results and Discussion The present investigation reveled that the local people of the Thiruppachethi village were using 25 species of plants belonging to 19 families (Table 1) for medicinal use. Among them 19 were herbs, 4 were shrubs, 2were climbers. The most commonly represented families were Euphorbiaceae (4) and Lamiaceae (2). They were using this plants to cure diseases like fever, cough, asthma, disorders of tooth, diabetes, bronchitis, piles, stomach pain, rheumatism, jaundice,ear diseases, joints pains, inflammation, cold, cough, dandruff and blood purification. This is consistent with the general observations made earlier in relation to ethnobotanical studies on some of the other tribal and rural people communities of Tamil Nadu. Irular tribe (Karthikeyani, 2003), Kattunayaka tribe (Rajan et al., 2002), Valaya tribe (Rajendran et al., 2002), Malayali tribe (Viswanathan, 1997), Paliyar tribe (Alagesaboopathi et al., 1999), Gounda tribe (Masilamani, 1997), Kani tribe (Ayyanar et al., 2005, Medicines were prepared in the form of powder, decoction, paste and juice. It was also observed that some plants were used in more then one form of preparation. Several plants were used in the form of powder: Among different plants parts used by local people of Thiruppachethi village, the leaves are most frequently used for the treatment of disease. External applications and internal consumption are involved in the treatment of wounds, headache and skin diseases .In general, fresh part of the plants is used for the preparation of medicine. When fresh plant parts are unavailable, dried parts are also used. Conclusion The present investigation revealed that medicinal plants still play a vital role in the primary health care of the people. The information gathered from the local people is useful for further researchers in the field of ethno-medico-botany, taxonomy and pharmacology. This study offers a model for studying the relationship between plants and Dabgar and Dabgar JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES RESEARCH 3(1):47-51
49 people, within the context of traditional medical system. The purpose of standardizing traditional remedies is obviously to ensure therapeutical efficacy. The value of using ethnomedical information is to initiate drug discovery efforts. This study also generated a broad spectrum of information concerning medicinal plants used by local peoples. Due to lack of interest among the younger generation of local people we face the possibility of losing this wealth of knowledge in the near future. References Awadh, A.,Ali N.,Al-rahwi, I., K,Lindequist, U.,(2004).Some medicinal plants used in Yemeni herbal medicine to treat Malaria. Africal journal of Traditional,Complementry and Alternative Medicines,1:72-76. Alagesaboopathi, C., Dearakan, P., Balu, S., 1999. Plants used as medicine by tribals of Shevaroy hills, Tamil Nadu. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 23, 391-393. Ayyanar, M., Ignacimuthu, S., 2005. Traditional knowledge of Kani tribals in Kouthalai of Tirunelveli hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 102:246-255. Fransworth, N.R., Screening plants for new medicines.In Biodiversity Edited by :Wilson EO.National Academy Press,Washington,DC:83-97. Gamble, J.S.,1935. The Flora of the Presidency of Madras, London: Adlard & Son, Ltd. London. Gemedo-Dalle, T.,Maass B.L.,,Isselstein, J.,(2005).Plant biodiversity and Ethnobotany of Barana Pastoralists in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. Economic Botany, 43-65.
Jain, S.K., 1989 (Ed.) Methods and Approaches in Ethnobotany. Society of Ethnobotany, Lucknow, India. Karthikeyani, T.P., 2003. Studies on ethnogynaecological plants used by the Irulars of Siruvani hills, Western Ghats, India. Plants Archives 3 (2), 159-166. Matthew, K.M., 1983. The Flora of the Tamil Nadu Carnatic. The Rapinat Herbarium, St.Joseph College, Vol.1-3. Thiruchirapalli, India. Masilamani, G., 1997. Some of the useful herbs for snake-bite practiced by Gounda tribes of Tamilnadu. Bulletin of Medico-Ethnobotanical Research 18, 117-122. Mitalaya, K.D.,Bhatt, D.C.,Patel, N.K.,Didia, S.K.,(2003).Herbal medicines used for hair disorders by tribals and rural folk in Gujarat.Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge ,389-392. Patrick, O.E.,2002. Herbal Medicines: Challenges (Editorial).Tropical journal Pharmaceutical Research,1of (2):53-54. Rajan, S., Jayendran, M., Sethuraman, M., 2002. Medico-ethnobotany: a study on the Kattunayaka tribe of Nilgiri hills, Tamilnadu. Journal of Natural Remedies 3, 68-72. Rajendran, S.M., Chandrasekar, K., Sundaresan, V., 2002. Ethnomedicinal lore of Valaya tribe in Seithur hills of Virudhunagar districts, Tamil Nadu, India. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge 1, 59-71.
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Table 1. Ethnomedicinal plants used by the local people of Thiruppachethi village
S.No Plant name Family Local name Medicinal uses 1. Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet Malvaceae Thuthi Root extract taken orally to cure piles. 2. Acalypha indica L. Euphorbiaceae Kuppaimeni The herb paste applied for throat to cure cough, and the leaf paste applied for skin to cure bronchitis. 3. Aerva lanata (L.) Juss. ex Shultes Amaranthaceae Sirukanpeelai Root extract taken orally to cure diabetics. 4. Azima tetracantha Lam. Salvadoraceae Sangilai Leaf juice given to drink relief cough and cold. Leaf paste applied for skin to cure itch. 5. Boerhavia erecta L. Nyctaginaceae padarmookirattai Root decoction is taken 1 week to cure asthma. 6. Calotropis gigantea (L.) R.Br. Asclepiadaceae Yerukkam Leaf latex applied foot to cure thorn puncture pain. Root powder added coconut oil is poured ear to cure ear ache. Flower crushed inhale smell to cure cold. 7. Cardiospermum helicacabum L. Sapindaceae Mudakkathaan Leaf extract used for laxative, and anti inflammatory used for rheumatism and nerve disorders. 8. Cleome viscosa L. Capparidaceae Naaikadughu Leaf paste applied for inflammation. 9. Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt Cucurbitaceae Kovaikai Leaf extract taken orally to cure fever. 10. Cyanodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Poaceae Arugampull Leaf powder mixed with water to cure blood purifier and leaf extract taken orally to cure body heat. 11. Cyperus rotundus L. Cyperaceae Koraipullu Tuber powder applied for stomach to cure stomach-ache. 12. Datura metal L. Solanaceae Oomathai Fruit extract mixed with coconut oil to cure check hair fall. 13. Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. Asteraceae Karisalaangani Root paste applied for wound. Leaf extract applied for hair to remove dandruff. 14. Euphorbia hirta L. Euphorbiaceae Amman Pacharisi Herb extract taken orally to cure cold and cough. 15. Hybanthus enneaspermus (L.) F. Muell. Violaceae Oridhazhl thamarai Leaf and flower extract used for heart disease. Dabgar and Dabgar JOURNAL OF BIOSCIENCES RESEARCH 3(1):47-51
51 16. Ipomoea aquatica Forsskal Convolvulaceae veelaikeerai Flower juice applied eye to cure eye troubles. 17. Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link Lamiaceae Thumbai Leaf extract applied for skin to treat painful swelling. Flower eaten raw to cure cough. 18. Ocimum sanctum L. Lamiaceae Thulasi Leaves are eaten raw to cure cough and cold. Leaf crushed and applied hair to cure dandruff and remove lice. Leaf paste applied skin to cure bronchitis. 19. Hedyotis brevicalyx Sivarajan, Biju & P.Mathew Rubiaceae Muthukkaasul Leaf extract taken orally to cure asthma. 20. Phyllanthus amarus Schum.& Thonn. Euphorbiaceae Keelanelli Root and leaf extract taken orally to cure jaundice. 21. Solanum nigrum L. Solanaceae Manathakkali Leaf cooked taken and fruit eaten raw to cure stomach ulcer. 22. Stahytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl Verbenaceae Seemainayuruvi Root bark is taken to cure diarrhea and dysentery. Leaf extract given to drink to cure intestinal worms. 23. Tragia involucrata L. Euphorbiaceae Senthatti Root decoction mixed with pepper powder applied for skin to cure bronchitis.
24. Tribulus terrestis L. Zygophyllaceae Nerungil Leaf paste applied for stomach to cure stomach-ache. 25. Trichodesma indicum (L.) Lehm. Boraginaceae Kavizhthumbai Root paste is applied for swelling of joints.