Ethno-botanical Uses of Some Plant Roots Used By Gondu Tribes of Seethagondi Grampanchayath, Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abstract

An ethnobotanical study on the medicinal plants of Seethagondi grampanchayath of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, India, was conducted with the aims to identify and document plants traditionally used for medicinal therapy by the Gonds and to find out the method used for preparing and administering the drugs. The survey reported 11 plant species belonging to 11 genera and 9 families. The detailed botanical name, local uses, local names, preparation and administration for diseases treated were recorded for each species. Information was obtained through conversations with traditional healers with the aid of semi-structured questionnaires. Considering the widespread use of these medicinal plants to treat various ailments, it therefore becomes crucial to scientifically validate the therapeutic uses and safety of these plants through phytochemical screening, different biological activity tests and toxicological studies. Therefore, an ethnobotanical study was conducted on medicinal plant species used to manage human ailments at the study area. The study revealed other hitherto undocumented medicinal plant species that may be new records for treating various ailments. Most medicinal plant species reported in this study were found to be under threat and this calls for urgent conservation measures so as to maximize the sustainable use of these vital resources in the study area.

Keywords

Gondu tribes, Ethnobotany, Indigenous, Seethagondi, Adilabad,

Introduction

Plants contribute a lot to our lives mainly due to their extra ordinary array of diverse classes of biochemicals with a variety of biological activities [1]. Even today almost 25% of all prescribed medicines in the developed world contain ingredients derived from medicinal plants [2]. In recent years, the interest in folk medicine from different cultures, also known as Traditional medicine, has increased significantly in industrialized countries, due to the fact that many prescription drugs worldwide have originated from the tropical flora [3] . Since these plants usually occur in wild form and have been collected from the forest for decades [4], their cultivation/ex-situ management has been neglected in the past; hence no nurseries or protected areas for commercially exploited medicinal plants exists. A cooperative approach by ethnobotanists, ethnopharmacologists, physicians and phytochemists is thereby essential to spur the progress of medicinal plants research [5].The most serious threat to local medicinal plant knowledge, however, appears to be cultural change, particularly the influence of modernization and the western worldview [6]. The objective of the present study is to mainly focus the hidden, unexplored, valuable knowledge with the tribal people. Secondly to aware the mankind about the value of vegetation and lastly to give further research scope in the field of ethnobotany and pharmacognosy to the next generations.

Study Area

Adilabad is the northern most district of Andhra Pradesh State. This District is situated between 77°46’ and 80° of the eastern longitudes and 18°40’ and 19°5 of northern latitudes. Agriculture is the main occupation of the district with a geographical area of 16,01,616 hectares. Forest occupy about 43.18 per cent of total. The normal rainfall of the district is 1044 mm as against 634 mm of the state.

Seethagondi grampanchayath has a geographical area of 1913 hectares out of which cultivable area is 1296 hectares (67.77%). It comprises 575 households having 1983 (970:1013) population. It consists of two revenue villages i.e., Seethagondi and Peda Malkapur with a total number of 6 hamlets i.e. Old Somvarpet, New Somvarpet, Garkampet and Arkapally (Seethagondi) and China Malkapur and Kotwalguda (Peda Malkapur). The Gonds are the tribal community mostly found in the Gond forests of the central India. They are widely spread in the Chhindwara District of Madhya Pradesh, Bastar district of Chattisgarh and also in the parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa. The name by which the Gonds call themselves is Koi or Koitur which means unclear.

Prior Consent

In order to collect the ethnobotanical details of the tribal group, I have started my work in the year 2009. In the starting days of the study It became very difficult to approach the tribal people as they are very rigid towards their customs, religion and set of their rules and regulation. I approached the old men, local quacks and religious head (priest) and made them to understand the wealth of the forests they are having and the immense knowledge of ethnobotany in them which need to be conserve for the future generation, they got convinced shared their knowledge and accompanied me to collect the samples from the forest.

Materials and Methods

A study on the Ethnobotanical evaluation of medicinal plants was conducted during 2009 to 2012 in various parts of Seethagondi grampanchayath, Adilabad District. The investigated area was divided into different altitudinal zones with the help of map, top sheet and GPS reading for the collected plants was recorded (table-1). Accordingly frequent visits were made to the area first in April - May, second in June - July and third in August 2009. Questionnaires were used [7] and devised to identify and document the traditional knowledge of local people and their immediate family about the collection of medicinal plants and their uses within the communities. A total of 26 traditional healers participated in the study revealed out there is a wide gap between generations, the majorities of the informants are elders (table-2) and said that they had learned about medicinal plants during their childhoods and the knowledge had been orally passed down from family members. The lack of systematic documentation for medicinal plant knowledge may contribute to the loss of medicinal plant knowledge, particularly for plants that are neglected or non-preferred. This situation appears to occur in many parts of the world [8, 9]. Purposive sampling was used in the field survey where elders were used to identify medicinal plant practitioners (prior informed consent was obtained). The data collected in the field were formatted and preserved carefully. Voucher specimens were prepared (table-3) following conventional methods of Jain and deposited in the Department of Botany. Osmania University.

Table 1: Showing GPS readings of the collected medicinal plant in the study area

Table 2: Showing the details of the informants

Table 3: Showing the details of the informants

Results and Discussion

The study showed that plants play an important role in the traditional system of medicine of local population. Some plants are used singly and sometimes with items such as wheat flour, sugar and ghee, etc. The detailed description of local medicinal uses long with local names, part used, family and botanical name, preparation and administration of medicinal plants in the area is given (table-4). The medicinal use of plants leaves and roots in the management and treatment of diseases has been an age long practice [10]. Plant derived medicines are widely used because they are relatively safer than the synthetic alternatives, they are easily available and cheaper [11]. Roots were the mostly used plant part since these normally have a high partitioning for the photosynthates or exudates [12]. Prescriptions of remedies were distinctive to all the practitioners interviewed. Non-the-less, as noted in a similar line of study by [13-14], inconsistency of dosage of medicaments was a marked feature. But generally, 10ml to 50ml of the prepared drug was taken 2-3 times a day depending on the nature of complication of the ailment and efficacy of the drug.

Table 4: Showing the ethnobotanical details of plants used by Gondu tribes.

Figure 1: Author documenting the information from the Gond tribal healer.

Figure 2: Author observing the underground bulb of Momordica dioica.

Figure 3: Acalypha indica. – Habit.

Figure 4: Fruits of Solena amplexicaulis.

Figure 5: Underground tuberous roots of Gloriosa superb.

Figure 6: Underground bulb of Mucuna monosperma.

Figure 7: Decoction made from root of Randia uliginosa.

Figure 8: Decoction made from root of Cocculus hirsutus.

Conclusion

This study confirms that wild plants are still a major source of medicine for the local people living in the Seethagondi grampanchayath, Adilabad District. Thus, traditional medicine remains the most popular medicine in solving health problems. As traditional medical knowledge is orally passed down via lifestyle, it is important to exhaustively document and publicize medicinal plant knowledge within the young generation to raise awareness of and appreciation for their traditional values and for the conservation and sustainable use of the plants as well as to keep the traditional medical knowledge left in their community alive. The ongoing mass destruction of wild vegetation for different purposes may hasten the disappearance of medicinal plants. This in turn may become a threat for the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants and discourage the practice of traditional health care in the study area. It is very crucial that awareness creation be undertaken so that the community is actively involved in conservation and sustainable utilization of the traditional medicinal plants. The present study concludes that the tribes of Seethagondi grampanchayath have a detailed knowledge of medicinally important plants and their use in various simple to critical disease.

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