Ethnomedicinal Plant Resources of Tribe of Vindhyan Region of Madhya Pradesh

Prof. Skand Kumar Mishra

Head, Botany and Biotechnology, Govt. New Science College, Rewa (M.P)486001

*Corresponding Author E-mail: skandbt@gmail.com

1. INTRODUCTION:

Today, human beings, particularly the urbanites, are far removed from their plant, benefactors. But the rural and aboriginal folk are very much in harmony with nature for their various needs; they depend largely on plants. But due to rapid modernization, acculturation and resultant greatly enhanced needs; this environmental harmony is getting disturbed. Rural folk are often discarding their age old traditions and are getting absorbed into the process of modernization.

However, there still exist many ethnic groups and cultures that strive to maintain their age – old wisdom and cultures. Modern science has borrowed much of its basic knowledge from these cultures, particularly that relating to food and medicine from plants. But since these cultures too are getting influenced by the economic, scientific and technological changes, it is essential to study them before their knowledge is lost.

Vindhyan region in Madhya Pradesh located between 24⁰45' to 25⁰45' N latitudes and 75⁰38' to 82⁰50' E longitude. The total area of the region is 38370 sq.km. This area is known for natural forests and tribes. The tropical deciduous forests of the area are full of biodiversity. The Vindhyan region is the area of tribe according to 2011 census the tribe population of the region was 28.3%. The 30 types of tribe include mainly Gond, Baiga, Kol, Panika, Khairwar, Pao, Majhi, and Agaria etc.

The tribes and local forests are intimately correlated socially and economically the tribes depend on forest their behaviors working convention and agriculture practices are in relation to the natural protection. They have developed their own methods of conserving many species which they felt are at the verge of extinction. The present study, therefore, aim to investigate the uses of ethnomedicinal plants of Vindhyan region and priorities in conservation and management of these plants.

METHODOLOGY:

Ethnobotanical works on of Vindhyan region are not sufficient enough. The recent publications of Lal and Dubey(1992), Sikarwar and Maheshwari (1992), Dwivedi and Pandey (1992), Mishra et.al (1993), Verma and Khan (1993), Verma et.al. (1995), Jain (1996), Upadhyay and Singh (1998), Rai and Nath (2006), Mishra (2007),MishraandTiwari(2010) etc. give supplementary information on ethnobotany among the tribals of study area.

This work is the result of personal observations made after carefully planned field work among the tribals during August 2013 to August 2014.The major part of the field work was confined at the highest concentration of the tribals. Some villages of other localities were also studied. The local informants were of five types, picked up by selected and random sampling methods: 1.the medicinemen, 2.village headmen, priests and other prominent leaders, their wives and other women, 3.the interpreters, 4.men and women working in the field, and 5.men and women in weekly market and other common places. One or more medicine men were included in the team during data collection trips. Twenty medicine men and about 190 others, i.e. in all, about 210 people, have contributed to the information reported in this study. Each medicinal use was crosschecked with at least 10 informants.

During field work, personal observations on the environment and ecology, flora, agricultural practices and agro-economy, subsistence of food, plant resources management, conservational aspects, the people and their life, and so on were also noted in the field book. Reports of the interpreter, guide, medicinemen and other knowledgeable people were also recorded. At least 4-6 voucher specimens of each ethnobotanically important plant were collected and numbered. Their description, reported uses, and other details were entered in the field book on the spot. These specimens were kept in the field press as per standard procedure recorded in books of Field Techniques and Herbarium Methods (Jain and Rao, 1978). For comparison of ethnomedicinal uses, Dictionary of Indian Folk Medicine and Ethnobotany (Jain, 1991b) and Useful plants of India (Ambasta 2006) have been used. Uses of plants not mentioned in these books are treated as less-known.

DISCUSSION:

Medicinal Uses:

The tribes attribute most of ills of life to spirits and often seek the aid of magical practices to get rid of such ills (Griffith, 1946). Besides the spirits, there are other agents, like some animals, birds and even humans that can cast an 'evil-eye' on people, animals or crops and bring about unhappiness, illness, destruction and death.

But over the years, due to experience and tradition, they have learned that many of these evils can be corrected and illnesses can be cured by careful use of plants, magic and propitiatory sacrifices. Many of the ordinary illnesses, though basically believed to be due to spirits, are curable by herbal remedies. (Table-1)

In all about 347 medical prescriptions are assigned out of 202 plants used for human health care. Since the list of plants used for treatment of diseases is long, for our purpose, 50 most important ones are identified for this analysis. The table shows the names of plants, local name, number of prescriptions assigned to it in this study. (Table-2)

Table 1: Showing Group wise ethnomedicinally important prominent families

Group	Families	Species	Major families with no. of plants
Monocot	8	37	Liliaceae (7), Zingiberaceae (6)
Dicot	56	165	Fabaceae (15), Euphorbiaceae (10), Solanaceae (8), Caesalpiniaceae (6), Acantheceae (5), Asteraceae (5), Combretaceae (4).
Angiosperm	64	202

Table 2: Most important medicinal plants used by tribes of the region -

Name of Plants	Local Name	No.of prescriptions
Asteracantha longifolia	Tal makhana	7
Celastrus paniculatus	Mal kangani	7
Emblica officinalis	Aamla	6
Achyranthes aspera	Chirchiri	6
Aegle marmelos	Bel	6
Argemone mexicana	Ghamoya	6
Azadirachta indica	Neem	6
Asparagus racemosus	Satawar	6
Boerhaavia diffusa	Punarnava	5
Chlorophytum tuberosum	Safed musli	5
Gloriosa superba	Kalihari	5
Abrus precatorius	Ratti	5
Acorus calamus	Buch	5
Barleria cristata	Vajradanti	5
Curcuma angustifolia	Tikhur	5
Euphorbia nivulia	Sehurh	5
Helicteres isora	Morodphali	5
Justicia gendarussa	Jagat madana	4
Solanum surratense	Bhatkatiya	4
Sphaeranthus indicus	Gorakhmundi	4
Tinospora cordifolia	Guruch	4
Withania somnifera	Asgandh	4
Curcuma longa	Haldi	4
Cyperus scariosus	Nagarmotha	4
Datura metel	Dhatura	4
Eclipta prostrata	Ghamira	4
Terminalia bellirica	Bahera	4
Terminalia chebula	Harra	4
Tephrosia purpuria	Sarpoka	4
Vitex negundo	Nirgundi	4
Phyllanthus fraternus	Bhui amla	4
Ocimum gratissima	Vantulsi	4
Adhatoda vasica	Arus	4
Euphorbia hirta	Dudhi	4
Boswellia serrata	Salai	4
Semicarpus anacarellium	Bhilma	4
Pueraria tuberosa	Bidarikand	3
Evolvulus alsinoides	Sankhpuspi	3
Cleome viscosa	Hurhur	3
Ocimum sanctum	Tulsi	3
Dendrophthoe falcata	Vandha	3
Curculigo orchioides	Kali musli	3
Calotropis gigantia	Safedmadar	3
Aconitum roundifolium	Bachnag	3
Jatropha curcas	Banrendi	3
Allium sativum	Lahsun	3
Centella asiatica	Brahmi	3
Bauhinia variegata	Kachnar	3
Vetiveria zizaniodes	Khas	3
Zingiber officinale	Adrak	3

The plants and or other parts are used to cure different ailments. Consequent upon the study a total of 70 types of ailments (diseases) and the botanical plants have been described. The information about several plants and the methods of use to cure some of the ailments is available, but on certain cases (diseases) hardly one or two plants are used as medicine. On the basis of survey, 21 types of diseases are cured each by single plants, 15 by two plants, 8 by three plants, and other by 4-6 plants; 9 by 7-9 plants and the other 9 by 10-15 plants. Consequent upon the availability of several plants against each disease, the medicinal pressure on single plants for a particular disorder is automatically curtailed as the substitutes are equally effective. (Table-3 and 4)

Table 3: Showing list of diseases and number of plants available against each

No. of plants used as remedy (each)	Names of diseases against which used
1 Plant	Aphrodisiac, Bronchitis, Chest congestion, Contraceptive, Cooling, Diabetes, Dropsy, Filariasis, Goitre, Heart disease, Hydrocele, Hysteria, Induced fertility, Madness, Pneumonia, Shock, Spleen problems, Tonsilitis, Uraemia, Weakness, Whooping cough=21.
2 Plants	Asthama, Chest pain, Cholera, Gastric trouble, Impotency, Paralysis, Poision, Small pox, Strength, Sun stroke, Toothache, Tuberculosis, Ulcer, Urinary trouble, Vomiting= 15.
3 Plants	Abortion, Child birth, Ear complaints, Jaundice, Lactation, Nasal problems, Spermatorrhoea, Worms = 8.
4-6 Plants	Bite, Blood purification, Body pain, Bone and Joint pain, Headche, Maleria, Rheumatism, Snake bite = 8.
7-9 Plants	Antiseptic, Bone dislocation, Bone fracture, Cut and Wounds, Menstruation problem, Scorpion stings, Stomach trouble, Swelling, Veneral diseases = 9.
10-15 Plants	Burns / Boils / Blisters, Cough and Cold, Digestive trouble, Dysentery and Diarrhoea, Eye disease, Fever, Skin diseases = 9.
Total	70 Ailments

Table 4: Certain ailments and ethnomedicinal plants as remedy with their parts used

Ailments	Name of plants	Local Name	Parts used
Aphodisiac	Hygrophila auriculata	Talmakhana	Stem juice
Bronchitis	Aconitum rotundifolium	Bachnag	Root
Chest congestion	Jatropha curcas	Arand	Leaf juice
Contraceptive	Grewia asiatica	Phalsa	Leaf decoction
Cooling	Aegle marmelos	Bel	Fresh fruit juice
Diabetes	Syzygium cuminii	Jamun	Seed powder
Dropsy	Hygrophila auriculata	Talmakhana	Root
Filariasis	Cyperus scariosus	Nagarmotha	Rhizome
Goitre	Begonia picta	Amti	Wp paste
Heart disease	Cassia fistula	Amaltas	Fruit
Hydrocele	Madhuca longifolia	Mahua	Leaf
Hysteria	Sphaeranthus indicus	Gorakhmundi	Paste of Root
Induced fertility	Phyllanthus fraternus	Bhui-amla	Whole plant
Madness	Sphaeranthus indicus	Gorakhmundi	Root paste
Pnemonia	Vernonia anthelmintica	Kalijeer	Inflo. paste
Spleen problems	Albizia ororatissima	Kalisiris	Bark and leaves
Tonslitis	Ocimum gratissimum	Vantulsi	Leaf juice
Uremia	Asparagus racemosus	Satawar	Root decoction
Weakness	Curcuma angustifolia	Tikhur	Plant extract
Shock	Dendropthoe falcata	Bandha	Whole plant
Whooping cough	Barleria cristata	Vajradanti	Plant extract
Asthama	Adhatoda vasica Gloriosa superb	Arus Kalihari	Leaf and Flower Leaf paste
Chest pain	Pueraria tuberosa Evolvulus alsinoides	Bidarikand Shankhpuspi	Tuber Leaf paste
Cholera	Cajanus cajan Cyperus scariosus	Arhar Nagarmotha	Leaf decoction Root extract
Gastric trouble	Dalbergia emerginata Helicteres isora	Shisham Marodphali	Root decoction Fruit
Impotency	Semecarpus anacardium Terminalia arjuna	Bhilma Bahera	Root decoction Bk decoction
Paralysis	Abrus precatorius Euphorbia hirta	Ratti Dudhi	Seed Root paste
Poision	Calotropis procera Lantana camara	Madar Bansahru	Root Seed paste
Small pox	Boswellia serrata Gloriosa superba	Salai Kalihari	Resin Root paste
Strength	Asparagus racemosus Tephrosia purpurea	Satawar Sarpoka	Root Leaf
Sun stroke	Begonia picta Curcuma angustifolia	Amti Tikhur	Leaf powder Root powder
Toothache	Achyranthus aspera Boswellia serrata	Chirchiri Salai	Twig, leaf Bark
Tuberculosis	Barleria cristata Celastrus paniculatus	Vajradanti Malkangni	Plant extract Oil
Ulcer	Bauhinia variegata Moringa oleifera	Kachnar Munga	Bark decoction Leaf
Urinary trouble	Boerhaavia diffusa Locculus hirsutus	Punarnava Cheretta	Bark decoction Leaf
Vomiting	Allium cepa Terminalia bellirica	Piaz Bahera	Bulb Leaf
Abortion	Abrus precatorius Boerhaavia diffusa Dendrocalamus strictus	Ratti Punarnawa Bans	Seed Root paste Young shoot
Child birth	Achyranthes aspera Ocimum sanctum Sterculia urens	Chirchiri Tulsi Kulu	Root Branch Root powder
Ear complaints	Allium sativum Cleome viscosa Tagestes erecta	Lahsun Hurhur Genda	Bulb decoction Leaf decoction Leaf decoction
Jundice	Hygrophila auriculata Phyllantus fraternus Tridax procumbens	Talmakhana Bhui amla Phulni	Leaf Whole plant Whole plant
Lactation	Asparagus racemosus Dendrophthoe falcata Eupherbia hirta	Satawar Vandha Dudhia	Root decoction Leave Whole plant
Nasal problem	Allium cepa Chlorophytum tuberosum Tinospora cordifolia	Piyaz Safed musli Guruch	Bulb Tuber paste Stem extract
Spermatorohoea	Gardenia turgida Smilax ovalifolia Sida cordifolia	Dikamali Ramdatoon Pharendibuti	Root Root Root bark
Worms	Azadiracta indica Butea monosperma Curcuma longa	Neem Chhola Haldi	Leaf Seed Rhizone

On the contrary where hardly one or two plants are used to cure a particular disease and its substitute antidote is unknown to the local people, the pressure is bound to prevail on such plants. Following as a natural effect, due to excessive medicinal pressure on certain plant species, such plants are becoming hardly available or extinct and thus their plantation and conservation has become of utmost importance.

Less Known Uses:

Various uses reported by tribes were compared with those mentioned from other parts of India and elsewhere, as reported in ethnobotanic literature. Total 76 uses reported by the tribes do not seen to be recorded in the literature.

CONCLUSION:

The data and analysis presented so far led to the following conclusions:

· The tribal plant-use is essentially subsistence-oriented and it needs modern and scientific approach for sustainable development.

· The tribals have inherited a certain sense of conservation, but the demand and exploitation of plant resources is inversely proportional to the conservation and regeneration efforts.

· For the economic-uplift and improvement in quality of life, an organised plant-use strategy is to be developed. If their resources are pooled together and harnessed properly, the tribes can come up in life, preserving their culture, traditions and also natural resources.

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Received on 22.05.2015 Accepted on 23.06.2015

© Asian Pharma Press All Right Reserved

Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 5(2): April-June 2015; Page 86-90

DOI: 10.5958/2231-5659.2015.00015.6