Ethnomedicinal survey of medicinal plants use from Narmada, Gujarat ...

doi : 10.5958/0975-6892.2016.00021.6

M edicinal Plants Vol. 8 (3), September 2016, 233-237 Resear ch Ar ticle

Ethnomedicinal survey of medicinal plants use from Narmada, Gujarat, India Ruchi Bansal a1* , R.S. Jat a, Sandip K umbhani b and J.H. Rathodb a Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand 387310, Gujarat, India b Krishi Vigyan Kendra Dediyapada-393040, Narmada, Gujarat, India 1 Present address: National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi-110012, India Received: March 7, 2016; Accepted: September 2, 2016

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ABSTRACT The present study was conducted to document the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used for management of diseases and ailments in Narmada, Gujarat Province, India. The qualitative data was collected through semi structured questionnaires and personal interviews from 50 informants. The informants revealed the use of 23 medicinal plant species belonging to 19 families to cure 9 groups of diseases. Among the recorded plant species, trees (39.13%) and herbs (39.13%) were the most common life forms. Leaf (66.66%) was the most widely used plant part in the preparations and leaf decoction/ extract (56.56%) was the most commonly used practice. Azadirachta indica with the maximum use value of 0.84 was mainly used to cure fever by the tribal people. Informant consensus factor was highest for diabetes (0.97) followed by lactation in women (0.96). Gymnema sylvestre and Aegle marmelos were used to cure diabetes, while, Asparagus racemosus and Alstonia scholaris were used to increase lactation in women. The study showed that that most of the tribal inhabitants were dependent on traditional medicines for primary healthcare. Further, efforts are being made to popularize cultivation of medicinal plants in the studied area. Keywords: Ethnomedicines, gujarat, medicinal plants, survey, traditional knowledge, tribes

INTRODUCTION Traditional medicines are an integral part of healthcare practices since time immemorial. These traditional medicines are based on the indigenous knowledge about different medicinal plants. Indigenous knowledge is necessary for conservation of cultural heritage, biodiversity as well as for healthcare services. This traditional knowledge has also contributed to the subsistence of many cultures (Toledo et al., 2009). Though medicinal plants driven traditional practices are safe, economical and easy to administer as compared to the modern healthcare practices, but with globalization, our indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is f ast disappearing. Therefore, the documentation of traditional knowledge is necessary not only for conservation and uti l i zati on of bi ol ogi cal resources and drug development, but also for understanding the ecological

* Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]

relationships between human and environment (Pradhan and Badola, 2008). India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. It is endowed with the 3 out of 25 hot spots of origin and diversity of different plant species in the world, while, Gujarat represents 9.33% (4320 plant species) of total plant species present in the India (GOI, 2006). In recent years, the documentation of ethnomedicinal information has increased, but only few quantitative ethnobotanical studies have been done to document the traditional use of medicinal plants in Kachh, Dhahod and Dangs regions of Gujarat (Mistry et al., 2003; Gavali and Sharma, 2004; Maru and Patel, 2012; Patel et al., 2013). Most of the areas in Gujarat are unmapped for documentation of the indigenous knowledge, which is our cultural heritage and base of healthcare. Keeping it in view, the present study was conducted to document the information on medicinal plants use in the

234

Ruchi Bansal et al.

treatment of various ailments and diseases by the tribal people in Narmada district of Gujarat. The main objective of the study was the documentati on of the i ndi genous knowledge of medicinal plants use by the tribal people located in the selected study area. MATERIALSAND METHODS




Study ar ea Narmada is located in the south eastern part of Gujarat lying between 21.24° and 22° North (latitude) and 72.4° and 73.15° East (longitude) (Figure 1). It has a geographical spread of 2755 square km including 1147.69 Sq km forest area representing 41.66% of the total area. The district has four talukas namely Nandod, Sagbara, Tilakwada and Dediyapada. According to consensus 2011, Narmada district is one of the most backward districts in the Gujarat. The district has 89.5% rural population, out of which 81.6% is the tribal population. The main tribal communities in the area are Bhil, Gamit, Chodhara, Halpati, Kotvalia, Kukana, and Dhodia (DES, 2013).

Figur e 1: M ap of the study ar ea

M ethodology To document the knowledge of medicinal plants use, survey was carried out during the year 2014-15. A total of 50 inhabitants (31 male and 19 females) were interviewed and information regarding the use of medicinal plants to cure different ailments was collected. The informants included the local people belonging to different age groups and tradi ti onal herbal medi ci nal practi ti oners havi ng the knowledge of traditional healing practices. Before the ethno botanical data collection, a brief discussion was held with the informants to get their consent for their valuable contribution for documentation of their inherited knowledge. The information was collected through interview and using semi structured questionnaires. The questionnaires inquired from the informants about the use of medicinal plants species to cure diseases and the different methods of use. Besides the questionnaires, one to one discussion was also made to gather the information on their socio-economic status.

To determine the awareness of the informants about the use of medicinal plants to cure a particular ailment, the informants consensus factor (ICF) was calculated by using the following formula: ICF = (nur-nt)/ (nur-1), where nur is the number of use citations in each category and nt is the number of plant species used (Heinrich et al., 1998; 2009). The use value (UV) was calculated by the following formula: UV = U/n; where U is the number of citations per species, and n indicates number of informants (Phillip et al., 1994). The UV shows the relative importance of a species with respect to its use in treating single or multiple ailments. Frequency of citation (FC) was the number of times the plant species was cited. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Diver sity of medicinal plants In the surveyed area, a total of 23 plant species were recorded, which were used to cure 9 types of ailments (Table 1). There was signif icant diversity in the plant species in the surveyed area, which belong and the recorded plant species belong to 19 f ami l i es namel y; M el i aceae, Rutaceae, L i l i aceae, A sparagaceae, A canthaceae, A pocynaceae, Fabaceae, Chenopodi aceae, A steraceae, A pi aceae, Poaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Verbinaceae, Lamiaceae, Moringaceae, Santalaceae, Menispermaceae, Zingiberaceae, Sterculiaceae (Figure 2A). No family predominated among the medicinal plant species used by the tribals. It showed that the different plant families are almost equally distributed in the studied area. The medicinal plants were used to cure fever, cough and bronchial problems, lactation, diabetes, eye disorders, skin problems and wounding, diarrhea, gastric problems, stomach ache, ear ache, rheumatic pain, body pain, memory, bone fracture and snake bite (Table 1). Regarding the life forms, trees as well as shrubs were the most commonly used (Figure 2B). Since, the studied area was rich in forest cover, more tree species and herbs were available in their peripheral environment for their primary use (Chandrakar, 2014). Plant par ts use and mode of pr epar ation The informants revealed that different morphological plant parts were used to cure different ailments (Figure 2C). Plant parts used were leaf, stem, root/rhizome, flower, bark and whole plant, but in most of the preparations, leaves were used. Leaves were widely used to cure fever, stomach ache, skin problems, memory loss, bronchial problems, cough, diabetes, eye disorders, rheumatic pain, diarrhea, body pain, piles and ear ache. It was easy for the local people to collect leaves due to easy accessibility as compared to any other plant part. It has also been reported that the concentration of bioactive compounds is more in the leaf tissue than any

Medicinal Plants, 8(3) September 2016

Ethnomedicinal survey from Narmada, Gujarat

Verbinaceae

Meliaceae 2

Sterculiaceae

235

Liliaceae 10

Apiaceae 1.5

Lamiaceae

Poaceae

Chenopodiaceae

Lamiaceaea

0.5

Asteraceae

0

Asparagaceae

Moringaceae

8

Number of species

1

6

4

Acanthaceae 2

Zingiberaceae

Asclepiadaceae

Apocynaceae

0

Menispermaceae

Santalaceae

Fabaceae Rutaceae

Herb

A

Climber

B A

10

Number of preparations

Number of preparations



Shrub Life forms

20


Tree

15

10

5

8 6 4 2 0

0

av Le

me oo d i zo W Rh m/ / t e t o S Ro

es

w Flo

er

Plant part

e n uic tio ct/J coc tra De x E

rk nt Ba pla ole h W

C

e n er ste abl wd Pa atio get Po p ar e Ve r ut p tho Wi Mode of preparation

D

Figur e 2: (A) Distr ibution of r ecor ded medicinal plants into differ ent families (B) life for ms (C) plant par ts used to cur e the ailments (D) Pr epar ation methods used in the pr esent study

other part (Verpoorte et al., 2005; Mukherjee and Vahile, 2006; Patel et al., 2013). Most of the medicinal plants were used as the mono herbal preparations (Table 1). The most commonly used method of herbal preparation was decoction/ extraction of the plant leaves (Figure 2D). Root powder was used to increase lactation, in fever and bone fracture, while, rhizome extract was used in the treatment of cough. Stem extract was used to cure gastric problems and fever. Flower extract was used to cure eye disorders. Decoction, infusion, extract, juice and powder were the common preparation previously reported in other parts of Gujarat (Maru and Patel, 2012; Punjani, 2010). Fruits and pods were used to cure diarrhea and rheumatic pain respectively. Wood paste was used in the treatment of skin problems and bark was used to cure cough, wounds and to increase lactation. Whole plant was used in snake bite. Quantitative analysis The highest use value (0.84) was reported for Azadirachta Medicinal Plants, 8(3) September 2016

indica followed by Asparagus racemosus (0.52) (Table 1). Other plant species being frequently used were Aegle marmelos (0.48), Alstonia scholaris (0.28) and Ocimum sanctum (0.28). Azadirachta indica had the highest use for the treatment of fever. Roots of Asparagus racemosus were used to increase lactation, while, Aegle marmelos leaves was primarily used in the treatment of diabetes and fruits were eaten during diarrhea. Alstonia scholaris was used to increase lactation as well as to cure wounds and Ocimum sanctum was used to cure cough and fever. Medicinal plant species like, Cymbopogon flexosus and Sterculia urens having low use values 0.04 and 0.08 respectively were used to cure bronchial problems and bone fracture. Observations on use value of different plant species were in accordance with earlier published reports from different regions of Gujarat (Ji et al., 2007; Maru and Patel, 2012). The ICF was recorded to assess the awareness among informants to cure different diseases and ailments (Table 2). Among these diseases, maximum ICF value was recorded


Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R. Br. ex Schult.

Gmelina arborea Roxb. Ex Sm.

Ocimum sanctum L.

Leptadenia reticulate (Retz.) Wight & Arn.

Moringa oleifera Lam.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

FC: Frequency of citation; UV: Use value

Stercularia urens Roxb.

Cymbopogon flexuosus Nees ex Steud. Lilicha

12.

23.

Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.

11.

Zingiber officinale Roscoe

Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.

10.

22.

Chenopodium album L.

9.

Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers

Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.

8.

21.

Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br.

7.

Santalum album L.

Andrographis paniculata (Burm f.) Wall. Ex Nees

6.

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb.

Adhatoda vesica Nees

5.

20.

Asparagus racemosus Willd.

4.

19.

Aloe barbadensis Mill.

3.

Ocimum basilicum L.

Aegle marmelos(L.)CorrŒa

2.

18.

Limda, Neem

Azadirecta indica A. Juss.

1.

Kadayo

adrakh

Galo

Chandan

Biyo

Damro

Sarguao

Dodi, Jivanti

Tulsi

Sewan

Dhubli, Madhunashini

Neer brahmi

Sevanti

Saag

Khakhro

Saptparna

Kariyatu

Ardusi

Satavar

Guarpathu

Bael

L ocal name

S.No. Scientific name

Sterculiaceae

Zingiberaceae

Menispermaceae

Santalaceae

Fabaceae

Lamiaceae

Moringaceae

Asclepiadaceae

Lamiaceaea

Verbinaceae

Asclepiadaceae

Poaceae

Apiaceae

Asteraceae

Chenopodiaceae

Fabaceae

Apocynaceae

Acanthaceae

Acanthaceae

Asparagaceae

Liliaceae

Rutaceae

Meliaceae

Family

Table 1: Medicinal plants used by the tribals for curing different ailments

4

7

11

8

5

8

12

15

14

8

12

2

12

11

9

8

14

12

20

26

10

24

42

FC

0.08

0.14

0.22

0.16

0.1

0.16

0.24

0.3

0.28

0.16

0.24

0.04

0.24

0.22

0.18

0.16

0.28

0.24

0.4

0.52

0.2

0.48

0.84

UV

Root paste is applied in bone fracture

Rhizome extract is mixed with honey and is used in the treatment of Cough.

Stem juice is used for gastric troubles and fever.

Paste of wood is applied in skin problems.

Bark decoction is used to cure cough

Leaf decoction is used in ear ache.

Leaf and pods are used to prepare vegetable and is used to reduce rheumatic pain.

Leaf extract is used in eye disorders. Roots are powdered and taken in fever.

Leaf juice is mixed with honey and is taken to cure cough and fever.

Plant decoction is used in snake bites

Leafs are chewed for diabetes.

Leaf decoction is taken in bronchial problems.

Leaf is chewed to increase the memory.

Leaves are chewed during cough and diarrhea

Leaf are used to cook vegetables to reduce body pain and in the treatment of piles.

Flower extract is used in eye disorders

Bark decoction is used to increase lactation and paste is used to cure the wounds

Decoction of leaves is used in treatment of cough and fever.

Leaf juice is used in cough and fever.

Root powder is given to ladies to increase the lactation.

Leaf juice is used in stomach ache and gel is used to apply in burns and skin problems.

Leaf extract is used to cure diabetes and fruits are eaten in diarrhea.

Leaf decoction is used for treatment of fever.

M ode of administr ation



236 Ruchi Bansal et al.

Medicinal Plants, 8(3) September 2016

Ethnomedicinal survey from Narmada, Gujarat

Table 2: Diseases with Informant’s consensus factor Ailments

Species No. of use citations

I CF

Fever

6

48

0.89

Cough and Bronchial problems

7

31

0.80

Diabetes

2

40

0.97

Eye disorders

2

15

0.93

Skin problems and wounds

3

20

0.89

Diarrhea and gastric problems

3

26

0.92

Aches and Body pain

4

36

0.91

Lactation

2

28

0.96

Others

4

28

0.89




ICF: Informant’s consensus factor

for diabetes (0.97) followed by lactation (0.96), eye disorders (0.93), diarrhea and gastric problems (0.92) and body pain (0.91). Thus, it was found that diabetes and lactation in women were the major problems in the area. The inhabitants were using Gymnema sylvestre and Aegle marmelos to cure diabetes, and Asparagus racemosus and Alstonia scholaris to increase lactation in women. Results showed that there was the common consent among the informants for the use of Gymnema and Aegle species to cure diabetes. The informants were well aware of the use of asparagus root powder in lactating mothers. Previous reports are available on use of Gymnema, Aegle and Asparagus species for medicinal purposes from north eastern and north western parts of Gujarat (Maru and Patel, 2012; Patel et al., 2013). CONCLUSION The present study gave the information on 23 medicinal plant species used as herbal remedies to cure different ailments and diseases by the tribal people of Narmada, Gujarat, India. The plant species (Azadirachta indica and Asparagus racemosus) with high UV indicated that these species are being effectively used by the people in the treatment of different ailments. The plants are therefore very important in the folk herbal culture of the area. Most of the rural people in the area belong to the schedule tribes and agriculture is their main occupation. Therefore, these inf ormants should be encouraged to domesticate and cultivate some of the most useful medicinal plants for their sustainability. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The study area was covered under the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) programme of the Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR) which was focused on the “Promotion of medicinal plants cultivation in tribal areas of Medicinal Plants, 8(3) September 2016

237

Gujarat for livelihood and health security” in this region. The authors are extremel y gratef ul to tri bal f armers (informants) who provided valuable information on the use of medicinal plants. REFERENCES Chandrakar AK (2014). Conservation of medicinal plant diversity in Gujarat. Int. J. Environ. Natural Sci., 1: 44-64. Directorate of economics and statistics (2013) State, district and taluka wise salient features of population statistics (2001 and 2011) Gujarat, 1-59 Gavali D and Sharma D (2004). Traditional knowledge and biodiversity conservation in Gujarat. Indian J. Tradit. Knowl., 3(1): 51-58. Government of India (2006). India’s Third National Report to Convention on Biological Diversity, Ministry of Environment and Forests, India. Heinrich M, Ankli A and Frei B et al. (1998). Medicinal plants in Mexico: Healers’consensus and cultural importance. Soc. Sci. Med., 47: 1863-1875. Hei nri ch M , Edward S, M oerman DE et al . (2009). Ethnopharmacological f ield studies: A critical assessment of their conceptual basis and methods. J. Ethnopharmacol., 124: 1-17. Ji NK, Kumar RN, Patil N et al. (2007). Studies on plant species used by tribal communities of Saputara and Purna forests, Dangs district, Gujarat. Indian J. Tradit. Knowl., 6(2): 368374. Maru RN and Patel RS (2012). Ethno-medicinal plants used to cure different diseases by tribals of Jhalod taluka of Dhahod district, Gujarat, India. Int. J. Sci. Res. Publ., 2(9): 1-4. Mistry N, Silori CS, Gupta L et al. (2003). Indigenous knowledge on animal healthcare practices in district Kachchh, Gujarat. Indian J. Tradit. Knowl., 2 (3): 240. Mukherjee PK and WahileA (2006). Integrated approaches towards drug development from Ayurveda and other Indian system of medicines. J. Ethnopharmacol., 103: 25–35. Patel R, Roy Mahato AK, Kumar VV et al. (2013). Status of the medicinal plants in Tharawada- Gandher Reserve Forest of Kachchh, Gujarat and the ethno-medicinal practices of local community. J. Med. Plants Studies, 1(4): 1-10. Phillip O, Gentry AH, Reynel C et al. (1994). Quantitative ethnobotany and amazonian conservation. Conserv. Biol., 8: 255-248. Pradhan BK and Badola HK (2008). Ethnomedicinal plant use by Lepcha tribe of Dzongu valley, bordering Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, in North Sikkim, in India. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed., 4: 22. Punjani BL (2010). Herbal folk medicines used for urinary complaints in tribal pockets of Northeast Gujarat. Indian J. Tradit. Knowl., 9(1): 126-130. Toledo BA, Galetto L and Colantonio S (2009). Ethnobotanical knowledge in rural communities of Cordoba (Argentina): the importance of cultural and biogeographical factors. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed.,5:40. Verpoorte R, Choi Y and Kim H (2005). Ethnopharmacology and systems biology: a perfect holistic match. J. Ethnopharmacol., 100: 53–56.