Research Article - (2015) Volume 2, Issue 1
1Department of Zoology, Shri Sadguru Saibaba Science College, Ashti, Maharashtra, India
2Department of Botany, Shri Sadguru Saibaba Science College, Ashti, Maharashtra, India
This paper aims to investigate medicinal and other useful plants used traditionally by the Gond and Madiya community. Reports from plant informants were obtained during field studies in January 2013 to January 2014. For each species are given the botanical name, local name(s), medicinal uses, as well as plant part (s) used, and other uses with method of preparation. A total of 50 species of plants were recorded and collected during this surveys. The popularity of plants with traditional uses among the trible peoples is fading due to migration, restriction from religion and dependence on modern medicine for the therapy. Use of forests land for agricultural development and timber harvesting makes the resource scarce which is also contributing to the loss of knowledge. Awareness activities in Gadchiroli district among tribal peoples on the usefulness of medicinal plants have contributed significantly towards the preservation of old traditional knowledge of medicinal plants.
Medicinal plants, Markhanda. Ethnobotany.
Man has been using plants from ancient time and research workers are constantly brings to light additional information on the relationship between plants and man. The theme of ethnobotany or folkloric botany reveals interrelation of plants and man [18]. Plants have played a key role in day-to-day life support system of human beings from times immemorial [14]. The present demand to gather knowledge and information of natural resources for their scientific and economic exploitation for various uses, the need of assessing ethnobotanical information has received special attention and thus urgent need of afresh study to be conducted to know ethno medicinal practices. Plants are an important source of traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases3. It has been estimated that herbal medicines are used by more than 80% of the world’s population in developing countries to meet their primary healthcare needs [22]. In Gadchiroli district especially in backward areas the available modern healthcare services are either insufficient or inaccessible and unaffordable to the majority of people. In addition, due to illiteracy and economic status most of the population is dependent on traditional phytomedicine to cure various ailments. As the country has diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural areas, as well as unique biodiversity and knowledge of indigenous medicinal plants and their use in treating human ailments might reasonably be expected.
Gadchiroli district is situated on the North-Eastern side of the Maharashtra State in country India & is well known for dense forest; having State borders of Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The district is covered with hills and forests and is considered as a tribal area. The District falls under assured and heavy rainfall zone. The rains are mainly received from South-West mansoon. The average rainfall is 1562 mm 25. The climatic conditions are extreme with temperature reaching 47.3°C in Summer & 9.4°C in Winter. The District is blessed with huge forest and mineral resources. The forests are Predominantly in Etapalli, Aheri, Dhanora, Korchi, Kurkheda, Sironcha and Bhamraged blocks. The forests are rich inTeak, Ain, Tendoo, Dhavada, Anjan, etc. Ain and Anjan are suitable for rearing Tussar silk worms. Similarly various plants having great medicinal values is available in large quantity and the climatic condition supports the development of these plants. The present work has been undertaken to identify the medicinal plants and their part used as medicine and the method of preparation.
The present work was carried with the tribal community of Gond, Madiaya located in villages of Markanda, Rengewahi, Malera, Bamanpet, Adpalli, Chandankhedi and Rampur in Markanda forest region. The Gadchiroli district which covers the total area of about 14412 Sq. Kms.
Regular field surveys were carried out in the Markanda forest range from January 2013 through January 2014 in order to document the habitats and indigenous uses of ethnomedicinal plants of the forest valley. The surveys were carried out at different seasons so as to obtain identifiable plants and multiple information and also to cross-check the information provided by the local informants during earlier visits. We interviewed a small group of chiefly elder people of both Gond and Madiya tribes who were highly esteemed in their societies due to their sound knowledge of medicinal plants. Structured questionnaires, formal and informal interviews and participatory observations were used to inquire about vernacular names, used plant parts and the process of remedy preparation. This kind of information about medicinal plants indicates how a given medicine can be therapeutically efficient in terms of the right ingredients, the proper dose and right duration of medication. According to tribal peoples their knowledge of folk medicine was acquired mainly through parents and experience about medicinal value of plant to heal them. The scientific name and species were identified using relevant and standard literature [19].
The following is the list of some important medicinal plants found in the Markhanda forest range along with their Local name(s), family, distribution, parts used and ethno-medicinal uses. The present study records 50 species of ethno- medicinal plants representing 35 families. (See Table 1 & Fig 1).
Table 1. Some important medicinal plants found in the Markhanda forest
Figure 1. Pie graph showing the percentage of plant part used as medicine by tribal peoples
The present study was aimed to investigate the plants used by the local and tribal peoples of villages for their medicinal values. During the present investigation 50 different plants species representing 35 families used for a medicinal purposes by local and tribal peoples. Knowledge regarding the occurrence and availability of selected species was obtained from the local people through participation either by interview or workshop. Semi-structured interviews were carried out. A brief information including botanical name, family, local name, parts used and their medicinal value by the tribal peoples is given in Table No.1. The tribal villagers are using these plants to cure many diseases like Blood purifier, Anti-pregnancy, Urinogenital disorder, Menstrual disorder, Hypertension, Cough, Diarrhea, Dysentery, Wound healing, Diabetes, Jaundice, Sunstroke, Fever, Skin diseases etc. These people use to prepare the plant product as decoction, oral treatment, ointment etc. The extracts and the paste are the two main source of methods for treatments of diseases. However, the use of a particular plant part depends on the plant habit and user’s needs. The most frequently used plant parts in the preparation of herbal remedies were leaves (24%), followed by fruit (28%), roots (9%) rhizomes (1%), and whole plants (7%). Seeds (10%), flowers (6%), bark (10%), gum (2%), latex, culms and bulbs (1% each) have also been used. Fig. (1). The use of specific plant parts for the treatment suggests that these parts have strongest medicinal properties but it needs confirmation of biochemical analysis and pharmaceutical screening to cross-check the local information. Our findings of the frequent use of green leaves and fruit in the preparation of remedies corroborate the results of [12,15,4]. Liquids part such as water, juices, jaggery, tea, honey, mustard oil, ghee (butter) and milk are mixed with plants or plant parts during the preparation of the remedies. The prepared remedies are mostly administered orally (77%), less frequently dermally (10%) or both orally and dermally (12%). Only 1% is administered through ears or eyes. The number of researcher work and studied on ethnomedicinal plants in Maharashtra and other states of India. [1,2,5,7,8-11,13,16,20-22].
The ethnomedicinal plants are under threat due to deforestation, overgrazing and their neckless utilization. It indicates the urgent need of their conservation for sustainable development [6,4].
The Forest range in Gadchiroli district is very rich in commercially and pharmaceutically important ethnomedicinal plant species. The traditional healers have old knowledge regarding the uses of the plants, and the locals use these species in a traditional way for curing a wide spectrum of diseases. Few species were found to be under threat probably due to over collection. Especially perennial woodland herbs with rhizomes are of conservation concern. The local inhabitants depend on plants for the treatment of diseases but not all are familiar with the proper collection, parts to be used, preservation and storage. In contrast, local traditional healers are familiar with proper collection and use of medicinal plants, and they should be involved in efforts of conservation and sustainable use of ethnomedicinal plant resources.
Authors are thankful to the Forest officials of Markanda forest range and the local people of the village for the information.
