Ethnobotanical Leaflets 12:
19-22. 2008.
Traditional
Medicine Used by the Adivasis of Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh - For Bone Fractures
K. Venkata Ratnam and R.R. Venkata Raju
Department of
Botany, Sri Krishnadevaraya University,
Anantapur
Issued 16 January 2008
Abstract
The
present survey provides information on the therapeutic properties of 21 crude
drugs used for bone fractures by the natives of Eastern Ghats. Of the twenty one species that are
presented here, fourteen had not been previously reported. Information on
botanical name, vernacular name, family, part used, mode of drug preparation
and administration is provided.
Introduction
The Eastern Ghats
are a long chain of broken hills that pass mainly through three states viz., Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu
(Legris and Meher-Homji,
1982). They run about 1750 km with an average width of about 100 km between Mahanadi and Vaigai
rivers along the Indian east coast. In Andhra Pradesh they situated between
120 38’ – 220N latitudes and 780 50’ – 840
46’ E longitudes. The altitudes range from 300 – 1000m above MSL
and the vegetation varies from semi-evergreen forests to scrub jungles.
Tribes like Koyas, Kondareddis,
Valmikis, Chenchus, Lambadas, Jatapus, Savaras, Bagatas, Porjas, Khonds, Yanadis and Yerukalas inhabit
the forests of Eastern Ghats.
Our review of the literature revealed several reports
on ethnobotanical studies. The majority of the
reports dealt with general ailments like rheumatism (Hemadri,
1981), skin diseases (Jeevan, 2001), birth control
(Lakshmi, 2001) and common women ailments (Venkata Ratnam and Venkata Raju, 2005). Few papers
concerned the subject of traditional medicines for bone fractures (Rao & Reddy, 1999). Hence, the present report gains
importance to reveal potential and hither to unknown crude drugs along with
their therapeutic properties.
Methodology
Exploration
trips were carried out as a part of a series of ethno
botanical studies that were carried out during 2002 to 2006 in order
to collect first hand information from traditional practitioners. The
collected information was recorded in field note books. Medicinal plants
shown by the tribal healers were collected from the field and voucher
herbarium specimens were prepared and deposited in SKU herbarium (SKU) Anantapur. The collected information was cross checked
with the information from neighboring herbalists and also with available
literature. The specimens were identified with the help of local/regional
floras and confirmed by comparing with authentic specimens housed at S.K.Univesity Herbarium (SKU) Anantapur,
Madras Herbarium (MH) Coimbatore
and Central National Herbarium (CAL) Kolkata.
Results & Discussion
The drug yielding
plants were arranged in alphabetical order followed by botanical name, local
name, family, part used and mode of drug administration (Table 1).
Our taxonomic
analysis of crude drugs yielded 21 species belonging to 17 families used for
bone fractures. Among them seven species viz; Lannea coromandelica, Ichnocarpus frutescens,Vanda tessellate, Sterculia
urens, Pouzolzia zeylanica, Gmelina arborea had been previously reported for bone
fractures ( Jain,1991; Kirtikar and Basu, 1935; Rama Rao and Henry, 1996).
Information on the remaining fourteen crude drugs was not found in the
literature. Nearly half of the drugs were used in their natural form, while
the remaining ones were mixed with such other ingredients as egg albumen,
calcium, turmeric and pulse seeds.
Table 1:
Systematic enumeration of crude drugs for bone factures.
Botanical name
|
Family
|
Local name
|
Part used
|
Mode of administration
|
Alangium salvifolium (L.f.) Wangerin
|
Alangiaceae
|
Ooduga
|
L
|
Along with white layer of egg, calcium and turmeric
ground and the mixture applied on facture and bandaged with cloth
|
Caesalpinia bonduc L.
|
Caesalpiniaceae
|
Gaccha
|
L
|
Ground, made into paste and applied externally
|
Canthium dicoccum (Gaertn.) Teijsm
|
Rubiaceae
|
Korivi
|
Sb
|
Crushed,made into paste and
applied as poultice
|
Cassia fistula L.
|
Caesalpiniaceae
|
Rela
|
L/Sb
|
Mixture of stem bark scrapping and leaf sap as poultice
|
Cassia occidentalis L.
|
Caesalpiniaceae
|
Kasintha
|
L
|
Paste applied over the fracture region and applied a
cloth bondage of calcium and turmeric
|
Dioscorea bulbifera L.
|
Dioscoreaceae
|
Paralagaddalu
|
Rtu
|
Crushed, made into paste and applied as poultice
|
Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.
|
Ebenaceae
|
Tunki
|
Sb
|
Extract mixed with white layer of egg and calcium
applied externally and bandaged
|
Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq.
|
Sapindaceae
|
Bandaru
|
L
|
Ground with white layer of egg, turmeric and calcium and
bandaged
|
Euphorbia antiquarum L.
|
Euphorbiaceae
|
Bontajemudu
|
St
|
Made into paste and applied as poultice
|
Euphorbia tirucalli L.
|
Euphorbiaceae
|
Kalli
|
Sb
|
Crushed, paste applied as poultice
|
Gmelina arborea Roxb.
|
Verbenaceae
|
Gummudu
|
Sb
|
Crushed, paste applied as poultice
|
Hibiscus panduriiformis
Burm.f.
|
Malvaceae
|
-
|
L
|
Ground with white layer of country egg, turmeric and
calcium and bandaged
|
Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) Ait.
|
Apocynaceae
|
Palateega
|
Sh
|
Ground, made into paste and applied externally
|
Lannea coromandelica (Houtt.) Merr.
|
Anacardiaceae
|
Gumpena
|
Fr
|
Ground, paste applied externally
|
Phyllanthes
reticulates Poir.
|
Euphorbiaceae
|
Nallapuli
|
L
|
Along with seeds of Vigna
mungo, Trigonella
foenum graecum,
white layer of egg, calcium and turmeric ground, mixture applied externally
and bandaged
|
Peristrophe paniculata (Forssk.) Brumit
|
Acanthaceae
|
-
|
Sh
|
Along with white layer of egg, calcium and turmeric
ground and the mixture applied on fracture and bandaged with cloth
|
Polyalthia cerasoides (Roxb.) Bedd.
|
Annonaceae
|
Naramamidi
|
Sb
|
Along with calcium and turmeric ground made into paste
and mixture applied on facture and bandaged with cloth
|
Pouzolzia zeylanica (L.) Benn.
|
Urticaceae
|
-
|
Sh
|
Crushed, paste applied as poultice
|
Sterculia urens Roxb.
|
Sterculiaceae
|
Tapsi
|
Rb
|
Crushed, paste applied as poultice
|
Tamilnadia uliginosa (Retz.) Tirveng.
|
Barringtoniaceae
|
Adavijama
|
Sb
|
Ground with white layer of country egg, turmeric and
calcium and bandaged
|
Vanda tessellata (Roxb.) Don
|
Orchidaceae
|
Badanica
|
Sh
|
Crushed, paste applied as poultice
|
L: leaf; St: Stem; Sh: Shoot; Sb: Stem bark; Rb: Root bark; Rtu: Root tuber;
Fr: Fruit
Acknowledgments
The
authors are thankful to University Grant commission for financial assistance.
References
Hemadri,
K. 1981. Rheumatism: Tribal medicine. Anc.Sci.Life.1:117-120.
Jain, S.K.1991. Dictionary of Indian Folk medicine
and Ethnobotany. Deep publications, New Delhi.
Jeevan Ram, A. and Venkata Raju, R.R. 2001.Certain
potential crude drugs used by tribals of Nallamalais, Andhra Pradesh for skin diseases.
Ethnobotany. 13 (1&2): 110-115.
Kirtikar, K.R.and Basu, B.D. 1935. Indian
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Andhra Pradesh, India.
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