INTRODUCTION:

Jaundice is one of the most common diseases affecting a large portion of citizens throughout the whole world. It is very much common disease especially in the developing countries. Jaundice is actually some sign and symptoms which are occurred due to various other diseases. During Jaundice the concentration of bilirubin in the blood becomes very high which may be due to haemolysis¹. Yellowish eyes and vomiting with yellowish fluid are commonly found to be the initial symptoms of Jaundice. Bilirubin is biosynthesized in the body. Liver cells produce bilirubin through a process called hemolysis. Jaundice may result due to different types of liver diseases which includes various types of hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, hemolytic anaemia, etc.²

Depending on the bilirubin concentration the skin colors are different. Jaundice is also very much common among newborn babies. The immature liver of newborn babies cannot control the amount of bilirubin like an adult³.

Medicinal plants are found to have great role in the healthcare systems⁴. Human beings are depended on nature for different purposes throughout the ages. In the development of human society plants have played an important role⁵. Medicinal plants can be considered as a gift of nature to humans⁶. Mainly there are two types of use of medicinal plants; those are used for traditional herbal folk medicines by local physicians, and also plants can be used by various pharmaceutical industries for the development of modern medicines from their active ingredients⁷. Plants have potential use as traditional medicine. A large number of important drugs, used in modern medicinal practice, have been isolated or derived from medicinal plants⁸. Herbal plants have a great role in the area of traditional healing systems⁹. Plants have been found to be the source of many traditional medicine systems throughout the whole world¹⁰. In Assam many people depend on herbal folk medicines to fight against jaundice. The present investigation was carried out in some of the districts of lower Assam with the aim to document the information of traditionally used medicinal plant resources used for the treatment of jaundice.

Herbal medicines have been used for the treatment and management of jaundice and currently these are considered as an alternative therapy for jaundice treatment. Plants have always been considered as important source of drugs¹¹. Medicinal plants have yielded directly or indirectly a large number of important medicines in the past¹². Assam is found to be a land of very rich biodiversity. Different plants commonly used in jaundice treatment are reported to be found in Assam. Many of these medicinal plants have not yet been completely explored experimentally.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Regular field trips were conducted in some selected districts of Assam. In the present investigation mainly we have focused on locally available plants used for the management and cure of jaundice and hepatitis. To collect data systematically different methods like questionnaires, a series of interviews and discussions were applied. During the survey various data and information like name of the plant used for jaundice, local names, plantʼs parts, procedure of herbal preparation, duration of the treatment, effectiveness of drugs, frequency and quantity of dose, duration of treatments were collected. The present investigation was conducted covering different village areas. For conducting interactions some standard questionnaires were prepared and authentic information was collected as well as properly documented.

Study area:

Assam (24°-28° N; 90°-96° E) is located in the North Eastern region of India. Assam is rich in medicinal plant wealth. A large variety of medicinal plants and herbs are found in Assam. Some of these plants are totally native to Assam and many of them have outstanding medicinal applications. Assam is one of the seven states of North East India. The climate of Assam is subtropical having temperature range from 7°C to 40°C. During monsoon heavy rainfall takes place in Assam. Geographically, Assam is divided into Brahmaputra and Barak valley. A major portion of the area of Assam is covered by forests. The climatic condition of Assam is mainly hot and humid. In Assam more than thirty ethnic groups are there. The people of Assam ethnically diversified. Bodos, Ahom, Karbi, Tiwa, Kachari, Rabhas, Motok, Moran, Dimasha, etc. are some of the major ethnic groups of Assam^6,7. The districts included in the present field study are Nalbari, Baska, Barpeta, Darang, Kamrup, Udalguri and Goalpara.

Table 1. Plants used for the management and cure of jaundice by the local communities in the study areas.

Sl. No	Botanical name & family	Local name	Habit	English name	Part used	Mode of utilization of the herbal medicines
1	Aloe barbadensis (Xanthorrhoeaceae)	Chal-kunwari	Shrub	Barbados aloe	Leaf	Leaves paste is used
2	Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae)	Kalmegh	Herb	King of Bitters	Whole plant	Aqueous extracts of the whole plant at a dose of 2-3 tea spoon in empty stomach
3	Argemone mexican (Papavaraceae)	Siyalakata	Herb	Prickly poppy	Roots, seeds	Seed and root powder is taken with water
4	Ananus comosus (Bromeliaceae)	Anaras	Herb	Pineapple	Leaf	Leaves juice is take
5	Averrhoa carambola (Oxalidaceae)	Kardoi	Tree	Carambola	Fruit	Ripe fruits are eaten
6	Baliospermumsolanifolium (Euphorbiaceae))	Donti, Phuljelon	Shrub	Red physic nut, Wild castor	Root	The root powder is used
7	Bryophyllumpinnatum (Crassulaceae)	Duportenga	Herb	Air plant	Leaf	Water extract of fresh leaf is given orally
8	Boerhaaviadiffusa (Nyctaginaceae)	Punarnava	Herb	Nyctaginaceae	Whole plant	A decoction of the plant is consumed in empty stomach
9	Cajanus cajan (Fabaceae)	Rahar-mah	Shrub	Pigeon pea	Leaf	A decoction of leaves is used
10	Costusspeciosus (Zingiberaceae)	Jomlakhuti	Herb	Crapeginger	Leaf	Leaf consumed raw
11	Carica papaya (Caricaceae)	Amita	Woody herb	Papita	Fruit	Ripe fruits are eaten
12	Curculigoorchioides (Amaryllidaceae)	Gorokhiyatamul	herbs	Black musale	Rhizome	Rhizome paste taken orally
13	Cyperus rotundus (Cyperaceae)	Koyaban	Herb	Coco-grass	Whole plant	Plant juice is taken orally
14	Cynodondactylon (Poaceae)	Dubari ban	Herb	Green couch grass	Whole plant	Decoction are used
15	Centella asiatica (Apiaceae)	Bor-manimoni	Herb	Indian pennwort	Whole plant	Boiled plant parts are eaten
16	Eclipta alba (Compositae)	Kehraj	Herb	False daisy	Leaf, root	Leaf, root juice taken orally
17	Euphorbia nerifolia(Euphorbiaceae)	Siju	Shrub	Common milk hedge	Leaf	Young Leaf juice
18	Ficus religiosa (Moraceae)	Ahot	Tree	Peepal tree	Stem bark	Powder of stem bark is taken with water
19	Glycosmis pentaphylla (Rutaceae)	Chauldhowa	Shrub	Orange berry	Leaf	Leaf juice with cow’s milk taken orally
20	Hemidesmus indicus (Asclepiadaceae)	Anantmool	Shrub	Indian Sarsaparilla	Root	Juice of fresh roots were used orally
21	Houttuynia cordata (Saururaceae)	Mesondori	Herb	Lizard tail	Whole plant	Boiled extract of the plant
22	Morus alba (Moraceae)	Nuni	Tree	White mulberry	Fruit	Fruit juice is used
23	Mentha arvensis (Lamiaceae)	Pudina	Herb	Field mint	Whole plant	Used as vegetable
24	Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae)	Sajina	Tree	Drumsticktree	Leaf, flower, fruit	Fresh plant parts are used as vegetable
25	Oxalis corymbosa (Oxalidaceae)	Bor-tengechi	Herb	Wood-sorrels	Whole plant	Boiled extract are used
26	Oroxylum indicum vent (Bignoniaceae)	Bhatghilla	Tree	Broken Bones Tree	Bark	Dried bark powder taken with honey.
27	Punica gratum (Punicaceae)	Dalim	Shrub	pomegranate	Fruit	Ripe fruits are eaten
28	Piper nigrum (Piperceae)	Jaluk	Climbing vine	Black peper	Fruit	Boiled extract is consumed orally
29	Terminalia citrine (Combretaceae)	Silikha, Haritaki	Tree	Black chuglam	Fruit	Fresh or dry fruit extracts
30	Tinospora cordifolia (Menispermaceae)	Saguni-lota	Climber	Gulanchatinospora	Stem bark, leaf	Boiled extract of stem bark and leaf are taken orally

Fig.1.:Natural habitwise distribution of antidiabeticplants in the study area

Fig. 2: Parts wise used plants in the treatment of jaundice in the study area

The description about the disease of jaundice was found in ancient Ayurveda¹³. Some of the symptoms of jaundice are weakness, loss of appetite, dark urine color, etc. Precautions for the disease require a low-fat healthy diet and proper nutrition¹⁴. Plant-based drugs are found to have relatively less side effects¹⁵. Approximately 54% currently used medicines were found to be prepared on the basis of various ethnobotanical information¹⁶. Herbal medicines are useful for the treatment and management of various chronic diseases as well as life-threatening illnesses^17,18. Jaundice is found to be one of the most common liver diseases. Under normal condition of metabolism, unconjugated lipid-soluble bilirubin gets converted into water-soluble conjugated bilirubin by the action of glucuronic acid. A large number of medicinal plants have been used by different tribal people of Assam to get relief from jaundice and other related liver disorder. Nowadays, importance of the information about the uses of medicinal herbs are gradually increasing^19,20. The medicinal plants, specially threatened and rare ones, should be properly cultivated in herbal gardens as well as home gardens to ensure their sustainable utilization and also for the conservation. Now a days a significant proportions of world’s population depend on these low cost herbal medicines^21,22. Various plant parts are used to cure jaundice, including flowers, leaves, seeds, roots, bark, stem, and in many cases even whole plant.

Through the present investigation 30 plant species were identified which are using by the local communities to fight against jaundice. All the information obtained from this field study has been compiled in Table-1. The survey has indicated that localities of these areas have sound and clear knowledge of herbal medicines. In the herbal treatment, plant parts were used in the form of juice, decoction, extract, infusion, fresh part, powder, paste, grounded, and cooked. Herbal preparations were mostly used through oral route. Among these, leaves were reported to be the mostly used part of the medicinal plants, constituting 33% of the total herbal preparations. This was followed by the fruit (26%), root (13%), stem (6%), bark (6%), rhizome (3%) and seeds (3%) (Figure 2). All ethnomedicinal plants are reported to contain various phytochemicals which may be the main bioactive ingredients for their medicinal activities. Traditional plant parts have shown high potential to form the basis of effective jaundice-curing drugs.

CONCLUSION:

The results of our investigation provide valuable information regarding the use of plants in jaundice treatment. The field study indicated that many medicinal plants effective against jaundice are available in the study area. In this field study, total 30 numbers of plant species effective against jaundice were reported and documented. The communities of the rural areas should be encouraged with advanced cultivation techniques of commercially valuable ethnobotanical species. These herbal plants may be potential sources for the preparation of various jaundice-curing modern drugs. The traditional knowledge of herbal medicines of different ethnic communities should be properly preserved to the future generations.

REFERENCES:

1. Annalakshmi R., Uma R., Chandran G.S., Muneeswaran A. Common plants used in the treatment of jaundice in southern India as a natural remefier-A review”. Indian J. Drugs Dis. 2012; 1(2): 47-50.

2. Wahab M.A., Yousaf M. and Hossain M.E. Some indigenous medicinal knowledge for treating jaundice in Chittagong hill tracts Bangladesh. Hamdard Medicus. 2004; 4(1): 55-58.

3. Jayachandra K., Devi V.S. Development of herbal drugs in the treatment of jaundice–An overview. Intl J Ayurvedic Herb Med. 2012; 2(4): 636-645.

4. ShamaliDange, Ravindra Jadhav, SunayanaVikhe. Phytochemical and Pharmacological Review of Sesbania grandiflora. Asian Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2022; 12(1):20-4.

5. Hosseinzadeh S., Jafarikukhdan A., Hosseini A., and Armand R. The application of Medicinal Plants in Traditional and Modern Medicine: A Review of Thymus vulgaris. International Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2015; 6(1): 635-642.

6. Habeeba S. Shaikh, Siddiqua S. Shaikh. Babchi (Psoralea corylifolia): From a Variety of Traditional Medicinal Application to its Novel Roles in Various Diseases: A Review. Asian Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021; 11(3):238-4.

7. Baqar S.R. Text Book of Economic Botany; Ferozsons Ltd.: Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 2001: 23–100.

8. Ruchika Sharma, Neha Kumari, M.S Ashawat, C.P.S Verma. Standardization and Phytochemical Screening analysis for Herbal Extracts: Zingiber officinalis, Rosc., Curcuma longa Linn., Cinnamonum zeylanicum Nees., Piper longum, Linn., Boerhaaviadiffussa Linn. Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2020; 10(3):127-133. doi: 10.5958/2231-5713.2020.00022.7

9. Sana Iqbal, Sehrish Khalid, Sammia Shahid. Pharmacological Properties of Rosa damascene. Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2020; 10(3):183-186.

10. Amiza, Ghazala Yaseen, Sammia Shahid. Comprehensive Review on Phytopharmacological Potential of Gymnemasylvestre. Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2020; 10(3):217-220.

11. Chikaraddy A., Maniyar Y., Mannapur B. Hypoglycaemic activity of ethanol extract of Lawsoniainermis Linn. (Henna)in alloxan induced diabetic albino rats. International Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences. 2012; 2(24): 287-292.

12. Buragohain J., Konwar B.K. Ethnomedicinal plants used in skin diseases by some Indo-Mongoloid communities of Assam. Asian J Exp. Sci. 2017; 21(2): 281-288.

13. Poduri C.D. Jaundice: A brief historical perspective. Ann. Intern. Med. 2016; 13(1): 76–79.

14. Janghel V., Patel P., Chandel S.S. Plants used for the treatment of icterus (jaundice) in central India: A review. Ann. Hepatol. 2019; 18(10): 658–672.

15. Maher Al-Absi, Abdu Faisal, Safwan Alagbarri, Mofeed Al- Nowihi. Development and Rheological Properties Evaluation of a Burn Healing Ointment Composed of Pomegranate peels and Beta-sitosterol Using Factorial Design. Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2021; 11(1):59-65.

16. Vani Mamillapalli, Ratna Harika Chapala, Tejaswi Komal Sai Sareddu, Latha Sri Kondaveeti, SanthiPattipati, PadmalathaKhantamneni. Evaluation of Phytochemical and in Vitro Anti-Inflammatory activity of Leaf and Fruit Extracts of Casuarina equisetifolia. Asian J. Pharm. Tech. 2020; 10(3):143-148.

17. Pankaj B. Satpute, Dattaprasad N. Vikhe. Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry of Tinospora cordifolia. Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2022; 14(3):195-3.

18. Budi AriefWaskito, DjangganSargowo, Umi Kalsum, AskandarTjokroprawiro. The Role of Ipomoea batatas Leaves Extract as a Potent Antioxidant and Anti-inflammatory in Rats Fed High-fat Diet. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2022; 15(6):2395-1.

19. Sable Akash, Jadhav S.L, Kamble S.C. Tinospora cordifolia, A Reservoir plant for Therapeutic applications: A Review. Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2022; 14(2):124-7.

20. Rajesh. R, Selvakumar. K. Evaluation of in vitro Anthelmintic activity of Lanneacoromandelica (Houtt.) Merr. against Pheretimaposthuma and Ascardiagalli. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2022; 15(6):2539-2.

21. TamtaArati, Tailor Chandra Shekhar. Hypericum oblongifoliumChoisy: A Pharmacognostic Review. Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2022; 14(2):103-6.

22. Swati S. Shete, Ravindra Jadhav, SunayanaVikhe. A Review on Pharmacognostical and Pharmacological Activity of Ougeiniaoojeinensis. Asian Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2022; 12(1):17-0.

Received on 25.07.2022 Modified on 15.10.2022

Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 2023; 13(3):191-194.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5659.2023.00033