Content area
The present study was aimed at documenting the wild medicinal plants used by the sholaga tribes of Kathri hills in their traditional healthcare system. The study resulted in the enumeration of 31 plant species belonging to 20 families and 29 genera treating 14 different types of ailments. More number of plants were enumerated for treating poisonous bites followed by skin diseases and wound healing. Most of the plants used were herbs and the herbal remedies were usually prepared from leaves. The study revealed that the sholagas possess rich wealth of medicinal knowledge and would provide ideas for further phytochemical research.
ABSTRACT:
The present study was aimed at documenting the wild medicinal plants used by the sholaga tribes of Kathri hills in their traditional healthcare system. The study resulted in the enumeration of 31 plant species belonging to 20 families and 29 genera treating 14 different types of ailments. More number of plants were enumerated for treating poisonous bites followed by skin diseases and wound healing. Most of the plants used were herbs and the herbal remedies were usually prepared from leaves. The study revealed that the sholagas possess rich wealth of medicinal knowledge and would provide ideas for further phytochemical research.
KEYWORDS: Sholagas, Kathri hills, Ethnobotany, Western ghats, Karayan.
INTRODUCTION:
India is rich in ethnic diversity where there are about 67.37 million tribal people belonging to 537 tribal groups living in different geographical locations with various subsistence patterns. These tribal groups living in diversity rich areas possess a wealth of knowledge and skills on the utilization and conservation of food and medicinal plants1,2. Information based on long-term use of plants by humans (ethnomedicine) likely helps to isolate safer active compounds from plants than from plants with no history of human use. Thus instead of relying on trial and error, as in random screening procedures, traditional knowledge helps scientists to target plants that are medicinally useful3.
The knowledge on the use of medicinal plants was transmitted from generation to generation but younger generations are not interested to follow these traditional medicinal practices from their ancestors and are migrating to lucrative jobs in more developed nearby urban areas4. Hence, the present study was aimed at documenting the wild medicinal plants used by sholaga tribes who inhabit this area.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Study area:
The study area, Kathri hills is located in the North Bargur Reserve Forest, Chennampatti range, Erode district. It is located in the Western ghats of Tamil nadu and lies between 11° 87' - 11° 90' N latitude and 77° 67' - 77° 65' E longitude with an altitude ranging from 324m - 1027m. It covers a total area of 12.55 hectares. The major forest types of this area include mixed dry deciduous forest, scrub forest and semi evergreen forest. Sholagars, the tribal people of Kathri hills live at an altitude of 1027m as settlements. They are said to be the descendants of Karayan who lived in Geddesala hills a long ago and their staple food is ragi5. Malaiyampatti and Madhampatti are the two villages in Kathri hills and is inhabited by 74 families with a population of 245 including 54 children. The main occupation of the people is agriculture and they also use to sell some forest produces like honey, tamarind, etc. They are very poor economically and there is one tribal school. The nearest hospital is at kolathur but they show more interest in traditional method of healing.
Methodology:
The field study was conducted comprehensively during the period of 2016 - 2017 to collect and document the ethnobotanically important plant species. The sholagar families were frequently visited including a traditional healer and the information was collected from them using scheduled interviews. Questionnaire method was avoided since the people were not more educated. All the specimens were identified using flora6 and the plants are arranged alphabetically with their botanical names.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
A total of 31 plant species belonging to 20 families and 29 genera treating 14 different types of ailments have been enumerated in the present investigation (Table 1). Out of these, 36% were herbs followed by 32% of trees, 19% of shrubs and 13% of climbers. The frequent use of herbs among the indigenous communities is a result of wealth of herbaceous plants in their environment7. Leaves (37%) were used in most cases for treating diseases followed by whole plant (20%), roots (17%), flowers, fruits and seeds (17%) and bark (9%). Similar practices were also followed by many other indigenous communities8,9. The reason why leaves were used mostly is that they are collected very easily than underground parts, flowers and fruits etc. and in scientific point of view leaves are active in photosynthesis and production of metabolites10. In the present study, more number of plants were used to treat poisonous bites (19%) followed by wound healing (16%) and skin diseases (16%).
Right from the beginning, the documentation of traditional knowledge especially on use of medicinal plants has provided important information for modern drugs11. This study revealed that the medicinal plants continue to play an important role in the healthcare system of this tribal community. However, Sholagas refuse to talk and share their knowledge other than their community members and similar condition was also reported in case of Paliyans12 Also the knowledge about the traditional medicine among them is dwindling which indicates an immediate need for further studies aimed at conserving the knowledge about the traditional medicine in that unique region.
CONCLUSION:
The study revealed that the sholagas possess rich wealth of medicinal knowledge and would provide ideas for further phytochemical research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The authors wish to thank officials of the Forest Department, Chennampatti range for the help rendered by them during the study and also the Sholaga tribal people who shared their valuable knowledge.
REFERENCES:
1. Bosco FG and Arumugam R. Ethnobotany of Irular tribes in Redhills, Tamilnadu, India. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical disease. 2(Supl. 2); 2012: S874-S877.
2. Shanmugam S, Rajendran K and Suresh K. Traditional uses of medicinal plants among the rural people in Sivagangai district of Tamil Nadu, Southern India. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. 2(1); 2012: S429-S434.
3. Sathiyaraj K, Sivaraj A, Thirumalai T and Senthilkumar B. Ethnobotanical study of antifertility medicinal plants used by the local people in Kathiyavadi village, Vellore district, Tamilnadu, India. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. 2(3); 2012: S1285-S1288.
4. Silambarasan R and Ayyanar M. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Palamalai region of Eastern Ghats, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 2015: doi:10.1016/ j.jep.2015.05.046.
5. Thurston E. Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Government Press, Madras. 1909.
6. Gamble JS. Flora of the Presidency of Madras. Neeraj Publishing House, Delhi. 2014.
7. Ragupathy S, Steven NG, Maruthakkutti M, Velusamy B and Ulhuda MM. Consensus of the 'Malasars' traditional aboriginal knowledge of medicinal plants in the Velliangiri holy hills, India. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 4(8); 2008: 1-14.
8. Karuppusamy S. Medicinal plants used by Paliyan tribes of Sirumalai hills of southern India. Natural Product Radiance. 6(5); 2007: 436-442.
9. Francis Xavier T, Kannan M, Lija L, Auxillia A, Rose AKF and Senthi kumar S. Ethnobotanical study of Kani tribes in Thoduhills of Kerala, South India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 152(1); 2014: 78-90.
10. Ayyanar M, Ignacimuthu S. Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commonly used by Kani tribals in Tirunelveli hills of Western Ghats, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 134(3); 2011: 851-864.
11. Thirumalai T, David BC, Sathiyaraj K, Senthilkumar B and David E. Ethnobotanical study of anti-diabetic medicinal plants used by the local people in Javadhu hills, Tamilnadu, India. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine. 2(2); 2012: S910-S913.
12. Maria Francis Jeffrey Bose N, Aron S and Mehalingam P. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the Paliyars aboriginal community in Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu, India. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 13(3); 2014: 613618.
Copyright A&V Publications Apr-Jun 2018