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An ethno-pharmacological study of plants used for traditional medication in Tangail district, Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT: In Bangladesh, folk medicinal practitioners are called "Kaviraj" and are consulted for treatment of various ailments by a large part of the rural and urban population. There are some previous studies conducted in the Tangail district of Bangladesh about medicinal plants, but there is no relevant information about this aspect in some parts of this district.To conduct an ethno-pharmacological survey among the "Kaviraj" of two upazilas (regions) in Tangail district, namely Tangail Sadar Upazila and Nagarpur Upazila, to identify the trouble-free formulations of medicinal plants for various diseases used by the folk medicine practitioners on or after other forms of medical practices.A guided field-walk survey was carried out employing a local guide and asking local people about practicing "Kaviraj"; four of the "Kaviraj" convened and after receiving permission from the "Kaviraj", interviews were conducted through focused group discussion.It was observed that the "Kaviraj" of the two upazilas used a total of 25 plants distributed into 20 families for healing of various diseases. In most of the cases, leaves were the key part of most of the plants used for treatment. Plants were mainly used for treating gastrointestinal tract disorders, fever, constipation, and diarrhea, and indigestion, loss of appetite, pain and skin disorders. "Kaviraj" also treat complicated diseases such as tuberculosis, hypertension, sexual disorders, infections, urinary problems, hepatic disorders, pneumonia, stomach stones, diabetes, swellings, debility, kidney problems, tumor, vitamin C deficiency and poisoning by using medicinal plants.For a country such as Bangladesh, and particularly the district studied, medicinal plants are essential assets and have a major role in people's health care structure. Also, appropriate research should be conducted for using these medicinal plants in possible new drug designs as well as many other pharmaceutical benefits.

SUBMITTER: Mahmudur Rahman AHM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5586990 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An ethno-pharmacological study of plants used for traditional medication in Tangail district, Bangladesh.

Mahmudur Rahman A H M AHM Rafieian-Kopaei Mahmoud M

Electronic physician 20170725 7

<h4>Background</h4>In Bangladesh, folk medicinal practitioners are called "Kaviraj" and are consulted for treatment of various ailments by a large part of the rural and urban population. There are some previous studies conducted in the Tangail district of Bangladesh about medicinal plants, but there is no relevant information about this aspect in some parts of this district.<h4>Aim</h4>To conduct an ethno-pharmacological survey among the "Kaviraj" of two upazilas (regions) in Tangail district, n ...[more]

PMID: 28894532

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Project description:IntroductionMalaria is an important parasitic disease that affects mostly the African continent. Traditional medicine is very important in Mozambique and traditional healers play a key role in the primary health care services, particularly in rural areas. We aim to report the results of an ethnobotanical survey undertaken in Mogovolas district, northern region of Mozambique. We recorded and identified the medicinal plants used by traditional healers for treatment of malaria, as well as the mode of preparation and administration.MethodsThe study was conducted in 14 villages from Mogovolas between June and August 2015. Sixteen traditional healers were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Under their guidance, we collected medicinal plants and prepared herbarium specimens that were sent and kept at Eduardo Mondlane University Herbarium for scientific identification. We searched for information on the in vitro and in vivo studies of the cited plants for antiplasmodial activity.ResultsTraditional healers from Mogovolas district reported the use of 37 plants to treat malaria, belonging to 22 families. The most used species are Ochna kirkii Oliv. (5 citations), Ehretia amoena Klotzsch and Pteleopsis myrtifolia (M.A.Lawson) Engl. & Diels (both with 3 citations). These plants belong to Ochnaceae, Boraginaceae and Combretaceae families, respectively. The herbal remedies are prepared using leaves (22/37), roots (18/37), stem barks (16/37) and stems (3/37). The administration of the herbal remedies was made essentially by oral route and bathing.ConclusionThe ethnobotanical data resulted from this study can be the starting point for further chemical and pharmacological studies aiming to identify medicinal species with antimalarial activity, thus, open the insights for the discovery of new antimalarial substances, as well as better integration of the traditional medicine into the national health systems, particularly in developing countries, as the health system coverage is limited.

Project description:This study documents information on significant ethnomedicinal plants, which was collected from the traditional healers of three indigenous communities of Bangladesh. The documented data were quantitatively analyzed for the first time in this area. The information was obtained through open-ended, semi-structured questionnaires. The benefits, importance and coverage of ethnomedicine were expressed through several quantitative indices including Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Use Value (UV), Frequency of Citation (FC), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) and Relative Importance Index (RI). The agreement of homogeneity between the present and previous studies and among the indigenous communities was evaluated using the Jaccard Index (JI). A total of 159 ethnomedicinal plant species, which were distributed in 132 genera under 62 families, were documented from 174 informants. Of these, 128 plants were native and 31 were exotic. Of a majority of documented species, herbs and leaves were the most utilized plant parts for the preparation of ethnomedicines (45.28%) whereas pastes (63.03%) were the most popular formulations. Among the documented species, the dominant families were the Asteraceae (14 species) and the Lamiaceae (12 species). The highest ICF value was 0.77 for digestive system disorders. Based on UVs, the five most commonly used ethnomedicinal plant species in the study area were Duabanga grandiflora (0.43), Zingiber officinale (0.41), Congea tomentosa (0.40), Matricaria chamomilla (0.33) and Engelhardtia spicata (0.28). The highest RFC was recorded for Rauvolfia serpentina (0.25). The highest RI value was calculated for both Scoparia dulcis and Leucas aspera (0.83). Importantly, 16 species were reported with new therapeutic uses and to our knowledge, 7 species described herein have never been ethnobotanically and pharmacologically studied, viz: Agastache urticifolia, Asarum cordifolium, C. tomentosa, E. spicata, Hypserpa nitida, Merremia vitifolia and Smilax odoratissima. The present study showed that traditional treatment using medicinal plants is still widespread in the study area. Documentation of new ethnomedicinal species with their therapeutic uses shall promote further phytochemical and pharmacological investigations and possibly, lead to the development of new drugs.

Project description:Several plants have traditionally been used since antiquity to treat various gastroenteritis and respiratory symptoms similar to COVID-19 outcomes. The common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever or chills, cold, cough, flu, headache, diarrhoea, tiredness/fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, asthma, shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing, etc. This study aims to find out the plants and plant-derived products which are being used by the COVID-19 infected patients in Bangladesh and how those plants are being used for the management of COVID-19 symptoms. In this study, online and partially in-person survey interviews were carried out among Bangladeshi respondents. We selected Bangladeshi COVID-19 patients who were detected Coronavirus positive (+) by RT-PCR nucleic acid test and later recovered. Furthermore, identified plant species from the surveys were thoroughly investigated for safety and efficacy based on the previous ethnomedicinal usage reports. Based on the published data, they were also reviewed for their significant potentialities as antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory agents. We explored comprehensive information about a total of 26 plant species, belonging to 23 genera and 17 different botanical families, used in COVID-19 treatment as home remedies by the respondents. Most of the plants and plant-derived products were collected directly from the local marketplace. According to our survey results, greatly top 5 cited plant species measured as per the highest RFC value are Camellia sinensis (1.0) > Allium sativum (0.984) > Azadirachta indica (0.966) > Zingiber officinale (0.966) > Syzygium aromaticum (0.943). Previously published ethnomedicinal usage reports, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activity of the concerned plant species also support our results. Thus, the survey and review analysis simultaneously reveals that these reported plants and plant-derived products might be promising candidates for the treatment of COVID-19. Moreover, this study clarifies the reported plants for their safety during COVID-19 management and thereby supporting them to include in any future pre-clinical and clinical investigation for developing herbal COVID-19 therapeutics.

Project description:An extensive study has been made to identify, document, and investigate the ethnomedicinal plants used by Rakhine ethnic minorities in Patuakhali and Barguna District of southern Bangladesh for the term of April 2018 to June 2019. In this article, we have focused on the Rakhine population trends, management concerns, and some actions for conserving the Rakhine population diversity in the study area. In this study, we have identified the locations where Rakhine population lives in Patuakhali and Barguna districts. A total of 86 plant species belonging to 71 genera and 43 families were reported to be used for treating more than 57 various physical ailments under 14 illness categories from the study area. For each of the species, the botanic name, common name, Rakhine name, family, habit, parts used and traditional medicinal uses of the plant species have been presented. The maximum numbers of ethnomedicinal plant species were utilized to treat gastrointestinal complaints (43) taken after by the treatment of dermatological issues (36). The highly cited (75.60%) plant species were found to be Ananas comosus and Aegle marmelos used for gastro-intestinal (Stomach pain, indigestion, and dysentery) digestive disorders and subsequently followed by Colocasia esculenta (70.73%) used for cut, bleeding and wound healing. The results of this study have shown that Rakhine indigenous communities still depend on conventional plant-based medication to remedy various diseases and therapeutic purposes in the study area. Our findings have also shown that despite there have adequate phytodiversity in the natural habitat of the study area but the number of Rakhine population has been declining significantly day-by-day. As an ultimate result, we have lost the plant-based traditional medicinal knowledge of Rakhine indigenous communities in Bangladesh. As a rich source of traditional knowledge and cultural diversity, it calls for urgent initiatives to conserve the cultural heritage of the Rakhine community as well as the diversity of Rakhine ethnic group.

Project description:BackgroundThe district of Manang (2000 - 6000 m) is located in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. The majority of local inhabitants of the area are Gurungs, of Tibetan origin. The remoteness of the region has resulted in continued use of plants as medicine in an area where the ethnobotany has sparsely been documented.MethodsInterviews were conducted with amchi (Tibetan medicinal practitioners), local healers (including priests locally known as 'lamas'), plant traders, and knowledgeable villagers (including herders) regarding local plant names and their medicinal uses during several field visits (2002-2005). When convenient to the locals, a jungle or forest walk was done with the healers, allowing for both plant collection and detailed information gathering.ResultsThis present research documented 91 ethnomedicinal plant species, belonging to 40 families under 73 genera, and 45 new ethnomedicinal plant species are added. These 91 locally used medicinal plants are found to treat 93 ailments. This study provides information on 45 plant species previously unknown for their medicinal uses in Manang. The indication for use, mode of preparation, dose and administration of medicine are described in detail for each species.ConclusionThis wealth of ethnobotanical knowledge persists, and is being transferred to the next generation in some areas in upper Manang, in a country where this is often not the case. The senior amchi of the area (Karma Sonam Lama), who has been practicing Tibetan medicine for three generations, feels that it is of utmost importance to conserve the traditional healing system and to pass his knowledge on to the local community about the importance of medicinal plants. He hopes that this will lead to the conservation and sustainable management of medicinal plants in the villages. Over the duration of this research, the prices of several rare medicinal plants of Manang increased dramatically, highlighting both the scarcity and the quick disappearance of the species. This is only one example of a worrying trend of over harvesting of medicinal plants, and highlights the need for conservation and management of medicinal plants of Manang district.

Project description:BACKGROUND: A comparative food ethnobotanical study was carried out in fifteen local communities distributed in five districts in the Palestinian Authority, PA (northern West Bank), six of which were located in Nablus, two in Jenin, two in Salfit, three in Qalqilia, and two in Tulkarm. These are among the areas in the PA whose rural inhabitants primarily subsisted on agriculture and therefore still preserve the traditional knowledge on wild edible plants. METHODS: Data on the use of wild edible plants were collected for one-year period, through informed consent semi-structured interviews with 190 local informants. A semi-quantitative approach was used to document use diversity, and relative importance of each species. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The study recorded 100 wild edible plant species, seventy six of which were mentioned by three informants and above and were distributed across 70 genera and 26 families. The most significant species include Majorana syriaca, Foeniculum vulgare, Malvasylvestris, Salvia fruticosa, Cyclamen persicum, Micromeria fruticosa, Arum palaestinum, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Gundelia tournefortii, and Matricaria aurea. All the ten species with the highest mean cultural importance values (mCI), were cited in all five areas. Moreover, most were important in every region. A common cultural background may explain these similarities. One taxon (Majoranasyriaca) in particular was found to be among the most quoted species in almost all areas surveyed. CI values, as a measure of traditional botanical knowledge, for edible species in relatively remote and isolated areas (Qalqilia, and Salfit) were generally higher than for the same species in other areas. This can be attributed to the fact that local knowledge of wild edible plants and plant gathering are more spread in remote or isolated areas. CONCLUSION: Gathering, processing and consuming wild edible plants are still practiced in all the studied Palestinian areas. About 26 % (26/100) of the recorded wild botanicals including the most quoted and with highest mCI values, are currently gathered and utilized in all the areas, demonstrating that there are ethnobotanical contact points among the various Palestinian regions. The habit of using wild edible plants is still alive in the PA, but is disappearing. Therefore, the recording, preserving, and infusing of this knowledge to future generations is pressing and fundamental.

Project description:BackgroundAnkober District has long been inhabited by people who have a long tradition of using medicinal plants to treat human ailments. Overexploitation of medicinal plants coupled with an ever-increasing population growth, deforestation and agricultural land expansion threatens plants in the area. Hence, this study aimed at documenting and analyzing the plant-based ethnomedicinal knowledge of the people in order to preserve the dwindling indigenous knowledge.MethodsEthnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation and walk-in-the-woods. Quantitative approaches were used to determine Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Fidelity level (FL) values. Statistical tests were used to compare the indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants among different informant categories.ResultsA total of 135 medicinal plant species belonging to 128 genera and 71 botanical families were reported to treat human diseases in the District. Families Asteraceae (12 species, 9%) and Fabaceae (10, 7.4%) were found to be best represented in the area. About 44% of preparations were reported to be obtained from roots. Significant difference (P?<?0.05) was observed on the mean number of medicinal plants reported by groups of respondents compared within age, literacy level and experience parameters. Highest ICF values were recorded for gastro-intestinal & parasitic and dermatological disease categories (0.70 each) indicating best agreement among informants knowledge on medicinal plants used to treat aliments in these categories. Highest fidelity level values were recorded for Zehneria scabra (95%) and Hagenia abyssinica (93.75%) showing conformity of knowledge on species of best healing potential. Podocarpus falcatus was ranked first in a direct matrix ranking exercise of multipurpose medicinal plants. The output of preference ranking exercise indicated that Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata was the most preferred species to treat atopic eczema.ConclusionThe study revealed that Ankober District is rich in medicinal plant diversity and associated indigenous knowledge. However, anthropogenic factors coupled with acculturation and very poor conservation efforts threaten medicinal plant survival in the area. Promoting a complementary in situ and ex situ conservation strategy for medicinal plants of the District is highly recommended.

Project description:BackgroundOaxaca is one of the most diverse states in Mexico from biological and cultural points of view. Different ethnic groups living there maintain deep and ancestral traditional knowledge of medicinal plants as well as traditional practices and beliefs about diseases/illnesses and cures. Previous ethnobotanical research in this state has helped document this knowledge, but with the addition of more studies, more records appear. We updated the inventory of medicinal knowledge between the different ethnic groups that inhabit the Oaxacan territory.MethodsA database was constructed from two sources: (1) original data from a 3-year project in 84 municipalities of Oaxaca inhabited by eight ethnic groups and (2) different electronic databases.ResultsRecords of 1032 medicinal plants were obtained; 164 families were registered, with Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae being the most commonly used. A total of 770 species were reported in 14 vegetation types; the most important species came from temperate forests. Only 144 species corresponded to introduced species, and 272 were listed in a risk category. Illnesses of the digestive and genitourinary systems as well as culture-bound syndromes were treated with high numbers of medicinal plants. The Mestizo, Mixe, Mixtec, and Zapotec ethnic groups exhibited the greatest number of recorded medicinal plants. The 17 species that were used among almost all ethnic groups in Oaxaca were also used to cure the highest number of diseases.DiscussionInventories of medicinal plants confirm the persistence of traditional knowledge and reflect the need to recognize and respect this cosmovision. Many species are gathered in wild environments. The most important illnesses or diseases recorded in the present inventory are also mentioned in different studies, suggesting that they are common health problems in the rural communities of Mexico.ConclusionsMedicinal plants are essential for ethnic groups in Oaxaca. It is necessary to recognize and understand the complex ancestral processes involved in the human-nature interaction and the role of these processes in the conservation of biodiversity and in the survivorship of ethnic groups that have persisted for centuries. Finally, this study serves as a wake-up call to respect those worldviews.

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An ethno-pharmacological study of plants used for traditional medication in Tangail district, Bangladesh.

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An ethno-pharmacological study of plants used for traditional medication in Tangail district, Bangladesh.

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