Ethnomedicinal assessment of Irula tribes of Walayar valley of Southern Western Ghats, India

The present study was aimed to explore the traditional knowledge of Irula tribal people who are practicing herbal medicine in Walayar valley, the Southern Western Ghats, India. A total number of 146 species of plants distributed in 122 genera belonging to 58 families were identified as commonly used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Saudi journal of biological sciences 2018-05, Vol.25 (4), p.760-775
Main Authors: Venkatachalapathi, Arjunan, Sangeeth, Thekkan, Ali, Mohammad Ajmal, Tamilselvi, Sulur Senniyappan, Paulsamy, Subramaniyam, Al-Hemaidc, Fahad M.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acorus calamus
Canarium
cough
Ethnobotanical surveys
herbal medicines
herbs
India
indigenous knowledge
Irula tribes
leaves
medicinal plants
medicine
Melia
Mimosa pudica
Sesamum indicum
trees
tribal peoples
الطب الشعبي
العشائر
القبائل
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Summary:The present study was aimed to explore the traditional knowledge of Irula tribal people who are practicing herbal medicine in Walayar valley, the Southern Western Ghats, India. A total number of 146 species of plants distributed in 122 genera belonging to 58 families were identified as commonly used ethnomedicinal plants by them. Interestingly, 26 new claims were also made in the present study. Through the data obtained from Irula tribal healers, the herbs were mostly used for medicine (40.4%) followed by trees (26.7%) and climbers (18.5%). In addition leaves were highly used for medicinal purposes, collected from 55 species (38%) followed by multiple parts from 18 species (12%). Acorus calamus is the species of higher use value (1.80) assessed to be prescribed most commonly for the treatment of cough. High informant consensus factor (1.0) obtained for insecticidal uses and cooling agent indicates that the usage of Canarium strictum and Melia dubia, and Mimosa pudica and Sesamum indicum respectively for that purposes had obtained high degree of agreement among the healers in using these species for the respective purposes. The most commonly used method of preparation was decoction (63%) followed by raw form (23%), paste (12%) and powder (2%). Therefore, it is suggested to take-up pharmacological and phytochemical studies to evaluate the species to confirm the traditional knowledge of Irulas on medicinal plants.
ISSN:1319-562X
2213-7106
DOI:10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.10.011