Useful Folk Mediicnal Plants and Their Diversity Status in Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala
R. Murugeswaran, K. Venkatesan, P.K. Sagar, Kabiruddin Ahmed and Asiya Khanum
Hippocratic Journal of Unani Medicine
Hippocratic Journal of Unani Medicine January – March 2017, Vol. 12 No. 1, Pages 117-134
सार
Ethno-botanical leads are invaluable for the discovery of novel active compounds from natural sources. An ethno-botanical survey has been carried out in the tribal dominated areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala to document the uses and status of the folk medicinal plants among the tribal communities of Western Ghats region of Southern India. The information on folk medicinal plants used by the tribal communities and local inhabitants for various ailments are gathered from the tribal people and inhabitant of Coimbatore, Triunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu, Wayanad forest divisions in Wayanad district, Kerala and Chamarajanagar wildlife division, Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka State. The study mainly focused on the wild plants used by the tribal and local people to cure various health care ailments. It is also revealed that the analysis of floristic diversity of 148 folk medicinal plants species belonging to 120 genus which includes 53 families. Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants and indigenous use of plant material have provided the basis for many pharmaceuticals used today and there are still many potential pharmaceutical compounds yet to be discovered. In this context further extensive field studies may help in the discovery of new plant species used in the indigenous systems of medicine for the betterment of health care needs. Present work is based on this rationale and provides first-hand information on folk medicinal claims of the
area investigated.