Abstract

ETHNOMEDICINAL PRACTICES AMOUNG A MINORITY GROUPS OF MALAYALI TRIBES RESIDING IN VATHAL HILLS OF EASTERN GHATS

Dr. Mariappan Senthilkumar* and Sivashankaran Pasupathi

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants have been used by the local peoples since ancient period for the treatment of various diseases. An ethnobotanical survey study was conducted to collect information about the medicinal plants used by Malayali tribes in Vathal hills of Eastern Ghats, Dharmapuri district Tamilnadu, India. The tribes are still depend on various medicinal plants for their primary health care needs and most commonly used to cure skin diseases, poison bites, stomachache and nervous disorders respectively. To document their indigenous knowledge on the utilization of medicinal plants particularly most common ethnomedicinal plants. Traditional medicinal knowledge is important not only for its potential contribution to drug development and market values, but also for the people’s healthcare. The tribal peoples used a total of 120 species of plants distributed in 86 genera belonging to 56 families were identified as commonly used ethnomedicinal plants. Maximum plants were present in Fabaceae followed by Apocyanaceae, Solanaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Acanthaceae, and Amaranthaceae. As a result, the present study clearly revealed that the malayali peoples possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants usage. Documentation of traditional uses of medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments by tribal people can open upon new avenues for research leading to discovery of novel compounds and new drugs.

Keywords: Ethnomedicinal plants, Herbal Medicine, Malayali tribes.