Some phytotherapeutic claims by tribals of southern Rajasthan

Transcription

1 Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 4(3), July 2005, pp Some phytotherapeutic claims by tribals of southern Rajasthan Anita Jain*, S S Katewa and P K Galav Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Agrostology, Department of Botany, College of Science, M L Sukhadia University, Udaipur , Rajasthan Received 23 June 2004, revised 19 July 2004 A floristic survey of ethnomedicinal plants occurring in the tribal areas of southern Rajasthan was conducted to assess the potentiality of plant resources for modern system of medicine The survey is based on the exhaustive interviews with local physicians practicing Indigenous System of Medicine, village headmen, priests and tribal folks. Many tribes like Bhil, Garasia, Damor and Kathodia inhabit the southern part of Rajasthan. These people especially belongings to primitive or aboriginal culture possess a good deal of information about properties and medicinal uses of plants. In the present paper an attempt has been made to document the traditional phytotherapeutic uses prevalent amongst the aboriginals of southern part of Rajasthan. A list of plant species along with their plant part/s used and the mode of administration for effective control of different ailments is given. Keywords: Ethnobotany, Folk medicine, Phytotherapeutic uses, Tribals, Southern Rajasthan, Ethnomedicine IPC Int. Cl. 7 : A61K35/78; A61P01/04; A61P01/16; A61P11/00; A61P13/02; A61P15/00; A61P17/02; A61P35/02 The art of herbal healing is deep rooted in Indian culture and folklore. Even today in most of the rural areas, people depend on local traditional healing system for their primary healthcare. The tribals of remote areas of southern Rajasthan are totally dependent on herbs for their healthcare. Rajasthan is one of the largest states of the India located in the North western part of India (Fig. 1). Geographically it lies between 23º3 to 30º12 longitudes and 69º 30 to 78º 17 latitudes. The tribal dominated southern part of Rajasthan harbours vast diversity of vegetation. It includes sub-tropical evergreen forest of Boswellia serrata Roxb., Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb., Dendrocalamus strictus Nees, Bombax ceiba Linn., Madhuca indica J.F.Gmel., Tectona grandis Linn.f., Anogeissus latifolia Wall. ex Bedd. and Balanites aegyptiaca (Linn.) Delile. The major tribes of the state, viz. Bhil, Meena, Garasia, Damor and Kathodia inhabit these forests. The surrounding plants for these people form an integral part of their culture and the information about plants gets passed on from generation to generation only through oral folklore, although many times kept secret. Ethnobotanical studies on tribal dominated southern part of Rajasthan (Fig. 1) have been carried out 1-8, still some ethnomedicinal gap exists in this region. *Corresponding author Methodology The traditional knowledge of plant based remedies for the treatment of ailments rests with the medicine men, all of which belong to one family of hereditary indigenous practitioners. Skills and experience were passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth and are guarded like secrets. The medicine men collect the plants needed for a particular application either directly from the forest or from the local shops. Before launching the field work, rapport was established with one or two persons preferably the chief, guidance sought and contact was then established with other tribals of the locality. The linguistic fluency, personality and social standing are crucial in establishing rapport between the participants involved. Field sites were visited with the local medicine men. Generally, the herbalists do not want to give all the information about a plant. For this reason, selection of informants is an important aspect of ethnobotanical study in the field. Experienced people, such as elders, healers, medicine men, birth attendants, wood cutter, shepherds, headmen and Bhopa provide important information on useful plants. A discussion about a particular herb with different informants from different places tends to be more helpful to record various queries about the herbal drug. Also, personal observations are helpful

2 292 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 4, No. 3, JULY 2005 for verification of the data provided by the informants at different places. To determine the authenticity of information collected during fieldwork, repeated verification of data from different informants and in different times was done. Thus, only the specific and reliable information cross-checked with at least 13 informants has been incorporated in the present study. During the ethnomedicinal survey, some interesting herbal medicines have come to light, which are not mentioned in ethnomedicinal literature. The collected herbs were identified up to species level at the Herbarium of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. All the collected specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Agrostology, Department of Botany, College of Science, M L Sukhadia University, Udaipur for authentication of information and further reference. Ethnomedicinal properties of plants including their botanical name, local name, locality, part/s used and the mode of their administration have been enumerated. Result and Discussion The Traditional Knowledge System in India is fast eroding. There is an urgent need to inventorize and record all ethnobotanical information among the diverse ethnic communities before the traditional culture is completely lost. Ethnomedicinal uses of 20 plants (Figs 2-12) belonging to 15 families (Table 1) have been documented for their interesting therapeutic properties for various ailments such as sexual diseases, blood cancer, urinary diseases, skin diseases and ailments related to digestive system, respiratory system and liver complaints. The tubers of Eulophia ocherata Lindl. are used by the tribals to cure leukaemia. It is observed that some plants such as Eulophia ochreata Lindl., Costus speciosus (Koenig) Sm., Cocculus pendulus (Forsk.) Diels, Arisaema tortuosum Schott, Leea macrophylla Roxb., Tubiflora acaulis Kuntze and Curcuma amada Roxb. are used by them to cure more than one diseases. Hence ethnobotanical surveys are of crucial importance in finding some miraculous medicines for various diseases. The list of folk medicinal plants from the southern region of Rajasthan and their utilization will provide basic data for further studies aimed at conservation, cultivation, traditional medicine and economic welfare of rural and tribal population of the region. Acknowledgement One of the authors (AJ) is thankful to the CSIR, New Delhi for providing financial assistance and to the authorities of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun for permission to consult the herbarium for identification of plants.

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7 JAIN et al: SOME PHYTOTHERAPEUTIC CLAIMS OF SOUTHERN RAJASTHAN 297 References 1 Sebastian M K and Bhandari M M, Medicoethnobotany of Mt. Abu, Rajasthan, J Ethnopharmacol, (1984), 12, Sebastian M K and Bhandari M M, Medicinal plant lore of Udaipur district, Rajasthan, Bull Med Ethnobot Res, 1988, 5(3-4), Joshi P, Ethnobotany of the Primitive Tribes in Rajasthan, (Printwell, Jaipur), Singh V and Pandey R P, Medicinal plant lore of the tribals of eastern Rajasthan, J Econ Taxon Bot, 1980, 1, Katewa S S and Arora A, Some plants in folk medicine of Udaipur district, Rajasthan, Ethnobotany, 1997, 9, Katewa S S and Guria B D, Ethnomedicinal observation on certain wild plants from southern Aravalli hills of Rajasthan, Vasundhara, 1997, 2, Katewa S S and Sharma R, Ethnomedicinal observation from certain watershed areas of Rajasthan, Ethnobotany, 1998, 10 (1&2), Katewa S S, Guria B D and Jain A, Ethnomedicinal and obnoxious grasses of Rajasthan, India, J Ethnopharmacol, 2001,76, Katewa S S, Chaudhary B L, Jain A and Galav P K, Traditional uses of plant biodiversity from Aravalli hills of Rajasthan, Indian J Traditional Knowledge, 2003, 2(1), 27.