Ethnobotanical investigations among tribes in Madurai District of Tamil Nadu (India)
Open Access
- 11 May 2006
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
- Vol. 2 (1), 25
- https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-25
Abstract
Background An ethnobotanical survey was carried out to collect information on the use of medicinal plants in Southern Western Ghats of India (Madurai district, Tamil Nadu). Information presented in this paper was gathered from the paliyar tribes using an integrated approach of botanical collections, group discussions and interviews with questionnaires in the years 1998 – 1999. The informants interviewed were 12 among whom 4 were tribal practitioners. Results A total of 60 ethnomedicinal plant species distributed in 32 families are documented in this study. The medicinal plants used by paliyars are listed with Latin name, family, local name, parts used, mode of preparation and medicinal uses. Generally, fresh part of the plant was used for the preparation of medicine. Conclusion We observed that the documented ethnomedicinal plants were mostly used to cure skin diseases, poison bites, stomachache and nervous disorders. The results of this study showed that these tribal people still depend on medicinal plants in Madurai district forest areas.Keywords
This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ethnomedicinal botany of the Apatani in the Eastern Himalayan region of IndiaJournal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2005
- Traditional knowledge of Kani tribals in Kouthalai of Tirunelveli hills, Tamil Nadu, IndiaJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2005
- Plant Biodiversity and Ethnobotany of Borana Pastoralists in Southern Oromia, EthiopiaEconomic Botany, 2005
- Ethnomedicobotany of Uttara Kannada District in Karnataka, India—plants in treatment of skin diseasesJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 2003
- Ethnobiology of the Nilgiri Hills, IndiaPhytotherapy Research, 2002
- Herbal Ethnomedicine Of The Gwalior Forest Division In Madhya Pradesh, IndiaPharmaceutical Biology, 2000
- An Ethnopharmacological Study from Kulu District, Himachal Pradesh, India: Traditional Knowledge Compared with Modern Biological SciencePharmaceutical Biology, 2000
- An ethnobotanical study of plants used for the treatment of wounds in the Eastern Cape, South AfricaJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 1999
- An Ethnopharmacological Study from the Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India: Traditional Knowledge Compared With Modern Biological SciencePharmaceutical Biology, 1999
- Ethno-medico-botanical investigations in Kerala I. Some primitive tribals of western ghats and their herbal medicineJournal of Ethnopharmacology, 1984