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Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
journa l homepage: www.e lsev ier .com/ locate / je thpharm
Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commonly used by Kani tribals inTirunelveli hills of Western Ghats, India
Muniappan Ayyanara,∗, Savarimuthu Ignacimuthub
a Department of Botany, Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai 600 030, Tamil Nadu, Indiab Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600 034, Tamil Nadu, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:Received 17 July 2010Received in revised form 16 January 2011Accepted 22 January 2011Available online 1 February 2011
Keywords:Data analysisFolk medicineKani tribalsTirunelveli hillsWestern Ghats
a b s t r a c t
Ethnopharmacological relevance: For thousands of years, medicinal plants have played an important rolethroughout the world in treating and preventing a variety of diseases. Kani tribal people in Tirunelvelihills still depend on medicinal plants and most of them have a general knowledge of medicinal plantswhich are used for first aid remedies, to treat cough, cold, fever, headache, poisonous bites and somesimple ailments.Aim of the study: The present study was initiated with an aim to identify traditional healers who arepracticing herbal medicine among the Kani tribals in Tirunelveli hills of Western Ghats, India and quan-titatively document their indigenous knowledge on the utilization of medicinal plants particularly mostcommon ethnomedicinal plants.Methods: Field study was carried out over a period of 4 years in Tirunelveli hills. The ethnomedicinalinformation was collected through interviews among the Kani traditional healers. The collected datawere analyzed through use value (UV), informant consensus factor (Fic), fidelity level (FL) and relativeimportance (RI).Results: A total of 90 species of plants distributed in 83 genera belonging to 52 families were identified ascommonly used ethnomedicinal plants by the Kani traditional healers in Tirunelveli hills for the treatmentof 65 types of ailments. These ailments were categorized into 15 ailment categories based on the bodysystems treated. Leaves were the most frequently used plant parts and most of the medicines wereprepared in the form of paste and administered orally. Fic values of the present study indicated thatthere was a high agreement in the use of plants in the treatment of jaundice and diabetes among theusers. Dermatological infections/diseases and gastro-intestinal disorders had highest use-reports and 29species of plants had the highest fidelity level of 100%. The most important species according to their usevalue were Gymneme sylvestre (2.00), Melia azedarach, Murraya koenigii, Syzygium cumini and Terminaliachebula (1.83).Conclusion: As a result of the present study we can recommend the plants Alpinia galanga, Azadirachtaindica, Calophyllum inophyllum, Gymnema sylvestre, Leucas aspera, M. azedarach, Mollugo nudicaulis, Oci-mum tenuiflorum, S. cumini, T. chebula and Tribulus terrestris (with high UV and RI values), Bambusaarundinacea, Datura metel, Evolvulus nummularius, Opuntia dillenii and Physalis minima (newly reportedclaims with highest FL) for further ethnopharmacological studies for the discovery of potential new drugs.
© 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about65–80% of the world’s population in developing countries dependsessentially on plants for their primary healthcare due to povertyand lack of access to modern medicine (Calixto, 2005). In recent
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 44 2664 0793/+91 99403 76005 (mob.);fax: +91 44 2642 6900.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Ayyanar).
years, use of ethnobotanical information in medicinal plantresearch has gained considerable attention in segments of the sci-entific community (Heinrich, 2000). Interest in medicinal plants hasbeen fuelled by the rising costs of prescription drugs in the main-tenance of personal health and well-being and the bioprospectingof new plant-derived drugs (Hoareau and DaSilva, 1999).
Historically all medicinal preparations were derived fromplants, whether in the simple form of plant parts or in the morecomplex form of crude extracts, mixtures, etc. The primary benefitsof using plant-derived medicines are that they are relatively saferthan synthetic alternatives, offering profound therapeutic bene-
0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.jep.2011.01.029
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852 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
fits and more affordable treatment (Iwu et al., 1999). About 200years ago our pharmacopoeia was dominated by herbal medicines(Ernst, 2005) and almost 25% of the drugs prescribed worldwidewere come from plants. Of the 252 drugs considered as basic andessential by the WHO, 11% are exclusively of plant origin and asignificant number are synthetic drugs obtained from natural pre-cursors (Rates, 2001).
During the last few decades there has been an increasing inter-est in the study of medicinal plants and their traditional use indifferent parts of India. In the recent years number of reports onthe use of plants in traditional healing by either tribal people orindigenous communities of India is increasing (Savithramma et al.,2007; Pattanaik et al., 2008; Kosalge and Fursule, 2009; Namsa et al.,2009; Upadhyay et al., 2010). A few reports on ethnomedicinal usesof plants in the forests of Tirunelveli hills and its adjoining areaswere available (Janaki Ammal and Prasad, 1984; Prasad et al., 1987,1996; Ignacimuthu et al., 1998; Viswanathan et al., 2001; Ayyanarand Ignacimuthu, 2005, 2009a,b, 2010) and all these studies wereconducted qualitatively with a lacuna in data analysis. The presentstudy was initiated with an aim to identify knowledgeable resourcepersons among the Kani tribals in Tirunelveli hills of Western Ghatsin Tamil Nadu, India and quantitatively analyze their indigenousethnomedicinal knowledge through various ethnobotanical toolson the utilization of commonly used medicinal plants.
2. Methods
2.1. Study area and people
Tirunelveli hills occupy Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districtsof Tamil Nadu (southern Western Ghats) and cover an area ofnearly 3200 sq. km and lies between 8◦25′–8◦53′N latitude and77◦10′–77◦35′E longitude (Fig. 1). The vegetation is floristicallyrich compared to other regions of Western Ghats and representsseveral unique habitats. The study was conducted in five villagesof Tirunelveli hills (Agasthiyar Kani kudiiruppu, Chinna Mayi-lar, Periya Mayilar, Inchikuzhi and Servalar in Tirunelveli district)which are inhabited by Kani tribals each consisting of 5–56 familiesdisbursed in the deep forest areas.
The indigenous people of the study area are Kani or Kanikaran,the oldest group of the branch of ethnic group in South India. Theylive predominantly in and around the Tirunelveli hills of Tamil Nadu(for details refer Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2005). Many Kani peo-ple trace their community’s knowledge of medicinal plants back tothe Hindu saint and holy man, Agasthiyar Muni, who is credited asthe founder of Siddha, the Tamil system of medicine. Agasthiyar issaid to have lived in the southern Western Ghats approximately2000 years ago. Most of the Kani tribals have a general knowl-edge of medicinal plants that are used for first aid remedies, totreat cough, cold, fever, headache, poisonous bites and some othersimple ailments.
2.2. Data collection
The study area was investigated to get information from tribalpractitioners and also to cross check the information provided bythe other tribal practitioners during the earlier visits. During eachfield survey at least 10 days were spent with the local people intheir tribal hamlets. In order to document the utilization of medici-nal plants, a total of eight field surveys were carried out from August2003 to October 2007 in Tirunelveli hills. A total of six resource per-sons or informants or traditional healers were identified to get theethnomedicinal information through direct interviews/oral con-versations. They have sound knowledge on medicinal plants foundin their surrounding areas and they practice medicine within their
Fig. 1. Location map of Tirunelveli hills in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
families and neighbors. A field datasheet has been prepared torecord the plant details with ethnomedicinal information gath-ered from the traditional healers (Fig. 2). Information on localname of plant, plant part used for curing, method of preparation,any other plants/agents used as ingredients, modes of adminis-tration and etc. were recorded for each collected ethnomedicinalplant.
Identity of the collected plant species were done with the vol-umes of The Flora of Presidency of Madras (Gamble, 1935) and TheFlora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic (Matthew, 1983). Angiosperm Phy-logeny Group III (APG III, 2009) was followed to classify the speciesand binomial was checked with the International Plant NamesIndex (IPNI). Herbarium specimens were collected in triplicates;one set of voucher specimens were deposited in the herbariumof Entomology Research Institute (ERIH), Loyola College, Chennai,Tamil Nadu and the duplicate voucher specimens were depositedin Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC–ICMR), Belgaum (Kar-nataka) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi,India for future reference.
2.3. Ailment categories
Based on the information obtained from the traditional healersin the study area, all the reported ailments were categorized into15 categories (Table 1) viz. gastro-intestinal ailments (GIA), der-matological infections/diseases (DID), respiratory systems diseases(RSD), genito-urinary ailments (GUA), fever (Fvr), skeleto-muscularsystem disorders (SMSD), poisonous bites (PB), circulatory sys-tem/cardiovascular diseases (CSCD), endocrinal disorders (ED),liver problems (LP), dental care (DC), hair care (HC), ear, nose, throatproblems (ENT), cooling agents (CA) and general health (GH). Sev-
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Fig. 2. Format of field datasheet used to record the plant details with ethnomedicinalinformation.
eral diseases were placed in one ailment category based on the bodysystems treated.
2.4. Data analysis
2.4.1. Informant consensus factor (Fic)The informant consensus factor (Fic) was used to see if there was
agreement in the use of plants in the ailment categories betweenthe plant users in the study area. The Fic was calculated using thefollowing formula (Heinrich et al., 1998):
Fic = Nur − Nt
Nur − 1
Where Nur refers to the number of use-reports for a particularailment category and Nt refers to the number of taxa used for aparticular ailment category by all informants. The product of thisfactor ranges from 0 to 1. A high value (close to 1.0) indicates thatrelatively few taxa are used by a large proportion of the informants.A low value indicates that the informants disagree on the taxa tobe used in the treatment within a category of illness.
2.4.2. Use value (UV)The relative importance of each plant species known locally to
be used as herbal remedy is reported as use value (UV) and it wascalculated using the following formula (Phillips et al., 1994):
UV = ˙U
n
Where UV is the use value of a species, U is the number of use-reports cited by each informant for a given plant species and n isthe total number of informants interviewed for a given plant. TheUV is helpful in determining the plants with the highest use (mostfrequently indicated) in the treatment of an ailment. UVs are high
Table 1Ailments grouped by different ailment categories.
Ailment categories Biomedical terms Tamil terms
Circulatory sys-tem/cardiovasculardiseases (CSCD)
Blood purificationHeart strengthMemory power
Rattha sutthigarippuIdhaya valimaiGnabaga sakthi
Cooling agents (CA) Body cooling Udal kulircchiDental care (DC) Foul odour
Teeth strengthToothacheWorms in gums and teeth
Vai thurnatramPal valimaiPal valiPal sotthai
Dermatologicalinfections/diseases(DID)
BurnsCutsFelonFungal infection on headItchingPimplesScabiesSkin irritationWound in lips and tongueWounds
TheekkayamVettukkayamNagacchutthiPuluvettu/poocchikadiArippu/namaicchalMugapparuSori/siranguThol ericchalVaippunKaayam
Ear, nose, throatproblems (ENT)
Colour blindnessEaracheEye coolingEye painNasal infectionsThroat pain
NirakkuruduKaadhu valiKan kulircchiKan valiSuvasha thottruThondai vali
Endocrinal disorders(ED)
Diabetes Sarkkarai/neerilivu noi
Fever (Fvr) Fever KaicchalGastro-intestinal
ailments (GIA)ConstipationDysenteryGastric complaintsIndigestionIntestinal ulcerStomachache
MalacchikkalSeedhabaethiVayvu kolaruAjeeranamKudal punVayitru vali
General health (GH) Body refreshmentBody shiningBody strengthDisease resistantWeight loss
Udal puthunarcchiUdal palapalappuUdal valimaiNoi ethirppu sakthiUdal paruman kuraitthal
Genito-urinaryailments (GUA)
AbortionBreast painDelivery painLactationMale fertilityOver bleedingSexual powerSperm productionVenereal diseases
Karu kalaippuMarbaga valiPirasava valiPaal suratthalAnmai sakthi perukkuthalRatthapokkuViraippu sakthi (Male)Uyiranu urpatthiPaalvinai noi
Hair care (HC) DandruffGraying of hairHair growthHair loss
PoduguNarai, ilanaraiMudi valardhalMudi uthirdhal
Liver problems (LP) Jaundice Manjal kaamalaiPoisonous bites (PB) Poison bites
Scorpion stingSnake bite
VishakkadiThaelkkadiPambukkadi
Respiratory systemsdiseases (RSD)
AsthmaBronchitisChest painColdCough
Moocchu thinaralChali and irumalNenju valiJalathoshamIrumal
Skeleto-muscularsystem disorders(SMSD)
Body painHeadacheJoint painMuscle painRheumatismSwellings
Udal valiThalai valiMoottu valiThasai pidippuMoottu vadhamVeekkam
when there are many use-reports for a plant and low when thereare few reports related to its use.
2.4.3. Fidelity level (FL)To determine the most frequently used plant species for treating
a particular ailment category by the informants of the study area,
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we calculated the fidelity level (FL). The FL was calculated using thefollowing formula (Friedmen et al., 1986):
FL(%) = Np
N× 100
Where Np is the number of use-reports cited for a given speciesfor a particular ailment category and N is the total number of use-reports cited for any given species. Generally, high FLs are obtainedfor plants for which almost all use-reports refer to the same way ofusing it, whereas low FLs are obtained for plants that are used formany different purposes (Srithi et al., 2009).
2.4.4. Relative importance (RI)We calculated the relative importance (RI) of each medicinal
plant based on the normalized number of pharmacological prop-erties (PH) attributed to it and the normalized number of bodysystems (BS) it treated. Data on medicinal uses were organizedaccording to the PH attributed to each taxon (e.g. analgesic, anti-inflammatory etc.) and to the specific body systems treated (e.g.skin diseases, fever, asthma etc.). The RI was calculated using thefollowing formula (Bennett and Prance, 2000):
RI = Rel PH + Rel BS2
× 100
Where RI is the relative importance, PH is the number ofreported pharmacological properties for the given plant, Rel PH isthe relative number of pharmacological properties (PH of a givenplant/maximum PH of all reported species), BS is the number ofbody systems treated and Rel BS is the relative number of bodysystems treated (BS of a given plant/maximum BS of all reportedspecies).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Documentation of indigenous ethnomedicinal knowledge
The present study revealed the use of 90 species of plantsdistributed in 83 genera belonging to 52 families which were com-monly used by most of the Kani traditional healers for the treatmentof 65 types of ailments. The prominent family was Fabaceae withnine species, followed by Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae with sixand four species respectively. For each reported species we pro-vided the botanical name of the plant, family, voucher specimennumber, local (Tamil) name, life form, use value, parts used, ail-ments treated, method of preparation, mode of administration andrelative importance (Table 2).
The medicinal uses of plants gathered in our study were com-pared with the previously published information from other partsof India. We found that there were 25 claims from the plants suchas Abutilon indicum, Aerva lanata, Allium cepa, Ananus comosus, Ata-lantia monophylla, Bambusa arundinacea, Calophyllum inophyllum,Cleome viscosa, Datura metel, Evolvulus nummularius, Ficus religiosa,Leucas aspera, Mangifera indica, Melia azedarach, Michelia champaca,Mimusops elengi, Morinda pubescens, Opuntia dillenii, Pandanus fas-cicularis, Physalis minima, Sanseviera roxburghiana and Tephrosiapurpurea were reported for the first time from the study area (newclaims were given with asterisk mark in Table 2). However, noplants were reported as a new medicinal plant as all the plantswere reported with different uses.
3.2. Life form and parts used
Herbs were the primary source of medicine (41%) followed bytrees (31%), shrubs (18%) and climbers (10%) (Fig. 3). The frequentuse of herbs among the indigenous communities is a result ofwealth of herbaceous plants in their environs (Tabuti et al., 2003;
Fig. 3. Life forms of reported common medicinal plants.
Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2005; Uniyal et al., 2006; Ragupathyet al., 2008; Giday et al., 2010) and Tirunelveli hills harboursmore number of herbs as compared to trees, shrubs and climbers(Manickam et al., 2004). Among the different plant parts used,the leaves (50%) were most frequently used for the preparation ofmedicine solely or mixed with other plant parts. It was followed byfruit (17%), whole plant (6%), stem bark and flower (5%), stem (4%),seed (3%, including seed oil), rhizome (3%), bulb (2%), latex, root,root bark, resin and young twig (1% each) (Fig. 4). Many indige-nous communities elsewhere also utilized mostly leaves for thepreparation of herbal medicines (Mahishi et al., 2005; Ignacimuthuet al., 2006, 2008; Teklehaymanot et al., 2007; Srithi et al., 2009;Giday et al., 2010; Cakilcioglu and Turkoglu, 2010; Gonzalez et al.,2010). The reason why leaves were used mostly is that they are col-lected very easily than underground parts, flowers and fruits etc.(Giday et al., 2009) and in scientific point of view leaves are activein photosynthesis and production of metabolites (Ghorbani, 2005).
Fig. 4. Percentage of plant parts used for the preparation of medicine.
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erm
umha
licac
abum
L.(S
apin
dac
eae)
ERIH
-361
Mu
dak
kath
anC
l1.
00Lf
GU
A:
1(d
eliv
ery
pai
n)
Juic
eO
ral
42.5
SMSD
:5
(bod
yp
ain
,rh
eum
atis
m)
Dec
octi
onp
aste
Top
ical
(bat
h)
Ora
lCa
rica
papa
yaL.
(Car
icac
eae)
ERIH
-614
Pap
pal
iTr
0.83
FrG
IA:
3(c
onst
ipat
ion
)R
awO
ral
45.0
LxD
C:
2(t
ooth
ach
e)Pa
ste
Toot
hp
aste
Cari
ssa
cara
ndas
L.(A
poc
ynac
eae)
ERIH
-83
Kal
akka
iSh
1.33
FrG
IA:
4(s
tom
ach
ach
e)A
sp
ickl
eO
ral
30.0
CA
:4
(bod
yco
olin
g)A
sp
ickl
eO
ral
Cass
iaal
ata
L.(F
abac
eae)
ERIH
-89
Seem
aiag
ath
iSh
0.33
FlG
UA
:2
(abo
rtio
n)
Juic
eO
ral
20.0
Author's personal copy
856 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
Tabl
e2
(Con
tinu
ed)
Bot
anic
aln
ame
(Fam
ily)
,vou
cher
spec
imen
nu
mbe
rLo
caln
ame
Life
form
Use
valu
ePa
rts
use
dA
ilm
ent
cate
gory
:n
o.of
use
-rep
orts
(ail
men
tstr
eate
d)
Prep
arat
ion
Ap
pli
cati
onR
I
Cass
iaau
ricu
lata
L.(F
abac
eae)
ERIH
-86
Ava
ram
poo
Sh1.
17Fl
GIA
:2
(sto
mac
hac
he)
Past
eO
ral
32.5
LfD
ID:
5(s
kin
irri
tati
on,
itch
ing)
Past
eTo
pic
al
Cent
ella
asia
tica
(L.)
Urb
an.(
Mac
kin
laya
ceae
)ER
IH-9
7V
alla
rai
He
1.67
LfC
SCD
:6
(mem
ory
pow
erfo
rch
ild
ren
)Po
wd
erO
ral
47.5
HC
:2
(hai
rgr
owth
)Po
wd
erO
ral
SMSD
:2
(hea
dac
he)
Past
eO
ral
Ciss
usqu
adra
ngul
aris
L.(V
itac
eae)
ERIH
-99
Pira
nd
aiSh
1.00
St,L
fG
IA:
6(s
tom
ach
ach
e)Po
wd
er,p
aste
Ora
l17
.5Ci
trus
aura
ntif
olia
(Ch
rist
m.&
Pan
z.)
Sw.(
Ru
tace
ae)
ERIH
-109
Elu
mit
cah
iTr
0.67
LfG
IA:
4(i
nd
iges
tion
)Ju
ice
Ora
l32
.5
Cleo
me
visc
osa
L.(C
leom
acea
e)ER
IH-7
8N
aive
lai
He
1.67
LfD
ID:
3(w
oun
ds)
Past
eTo
pic
al57
.5SM
SD:
5(s
wel
lin
gs,
hea
dac
he* )
Past
e,ju
ice
Top
ical
Fvr:
2(f
ever
* )Ju
ice
Top
ical
Clit
oria
tern
atea
L.(F
abac
eae)
ERIH
-206
San
gup
ush
pam
Cl
0.83
LfEN
T:3
(th
roat
pai
n)
Past
eO
ral
32.5
SMSD
:2
(sw
elli
ngs
)Pa
ste
Trop
ical
Cocc
inia
indi
ca(L
.)V
oigt
.(C
ucu
rbit
acea
e)ER
IH-2
26K
ovai
paz
ham
Cl
1.50
LfG
H:
5(b
ody
stre
ngt
h)
Past
eO
ral
42.5
GU
A:
4(t
oin
crea
sese
men
pro
du
ctio
n)
Past
eO
ral
Com
mel
ina
beng
hale
nsis
L.(C
omm
elin
acea
e)ER
IH-6
0Th
enga
ich
edi
He
0.50
StD
ID:
3(w
oun
ds)
Juic
eTo
pic
al22
.5Co
stus
spec
iosu
sSm
ith
.(C
osta
ceae
)ER
IH-1
03K
otta
k-ki
lan
guH
e1.
17R
hED
:5
(dia
bete
s)Pa
ste
Juic
eO
ral
40.0
LfD
ID:
2(w
oun
ds)
Juic
eTo
pic
alCy
nodo
nda
ctyl
on(L
.)Pe
rs.(
Poac
eae)
ERIH
-118
Aru
gam
pu
lH
e0.
83W
pD
ID:
2(i
tch
ing)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
45.0
SMSD
:2
(bod
yp
ain
)D
ecoc
tion
Ora
lR
SD:
1(a
sth
ma)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
Dat
ura
met
elL.
(Sol
anac
eae)
ERIH
-123
Um
atth
aiH
e0.
67Lf
ENT:
4(e
arac
he* )
Juic
eTo
pic
al17
.5El
etta
ria
card
amom
um(L
.)M
aton
.(Zi
ngi
bera
ceae
)ER
IH-1
29El
amH
e0.
67Fr
SMSD
:2
(hea
dac
he,
rheu
mat
ism
)Po
wd
err
Ora
l55
.0
RSD
:2
(ast
hm
a)Po
wd
erO
ral
Euph
orbi
ahi
rta
L.(E
up
hor
biac
eae)
ERIH
-104
Am
man
pac
char
isi
He
0.83
Lx,L
fD
ID:
5(w
oun
ds)
Raw
,pas
teTo
pic
al35
.0Ev
olvu
lus
num
mul
ariu
sL.
(Con
volv
ula
ceae
)ER
IH-2
17V
ella
ivis
hn
ukr
anti
He
0.50
Lf,F
l,R
tG
IA:
3(d
ysen
tery
* )Pa
ste
Ora
l15
.0Fi
cus
beng
hale
nsis
L.(M
orac
eae)
ERIH
-130
Ala
mar
amTr
1.67
LfD
ID:
4(w
oun
ds)
Pow
der
Top
ical
47.5
Yt
DC
:6
(to
stre
ngt
hen
the
teet
h)
Raw
Toot
hbr
ush
Ficu
sre
ligio
saL.
(Mor
acea
e)ER
IH-1
34A
rasa
mar
amTr
1.33
Lf,S
bG
IA:
4(s
tom
ach
ach
e,In
dig
esti
on)
RSD
:4
(bre
ast
pai
n* )
Pow
der
Ora
l47
.5
SbPo
wd
erO
ral
Gym
nem
asy
lves
tre
(L.)
R.B
r.(A
poc
ynac
eae)
ERIH
-409
Siru
kuri
nch
anC
l2.
00Lf
ED:
6(d
iabe
tes)
Pow
der
Ora
l65
.0PB
:3
(sco
rpio
nst
ing,
snak
ebit
e)Po
wd
erO
ral
DID
:3
(itc
hin
g)Po
wd
erO
ral
Hib
iscu
sro
sa-s
inen
sis
L.(M
alva
ceae
)ER
IH-1
41C
hem
baru
tth
iSh
1.17
FlC
SCD
:2
(to
stre
ngt
hen
the
hea
rt)
Raw
Ora
l47
.5
LfG
UA
:2
(ven
erea
ldis
ease
s)Po
wd
erO
ral
GIA
:2
(sto
mac
hac
he)
Pow
der
Ora
lH
ygro
phila
auri
cula
ta(S
chu
m.)
Hei
ne.
(Aca
nth
acea
e)ER
IH-6
55N
eerm
ull
ich
edi
Sh0.
50Lf
RSD
:3
(cou
gh)
Juic
eO
ral
25.0
Jatr
opha
goss
ypif
olia
L.(E
up
hor
biac
eae)
ERIH
-416
Ath
alai
He
1.00
Rs
DC
:4
(fou
lod
our,
toot
hac
he)
Pow
der
Toot
hp
owd
er45
.0
DID
:2
(wou
nd
sin
lip
san
dto
ngu
e)To
pic
al
Kal
anch
oepi
nnat
a(L
am.)
Pers
.(C
rass
ula
ceae
)ER
IH-6
8K
utt
ipod
um
ched
iH
e0.
50Lf
CA
:3
(bod
yco
olin
g)D
ecoc
tion
Ora
l17
.5La
wso
nia
iner
mis
L.(L
yth
race
ae)
ERIH
-155
Mar
uth
ani
Sh1.
67Lf
DID
:5
(hee
lcra
cks,
felo
n)
Past
eTo
pic
al60
.0
Author's personal copy
M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864 857
SMSD
:4
(rh
eum
atis
m)
Past
eTo
pic
alG
H:
1(d
isea
sere
sist
ance
inch
ild
ren
)Pa
ste
Top
ical
(bat
h)
Leuc
asas
pera
(Wil
ld.)
Lin
k(L
amia
ceae
)ER
IH-6
6Th
um
bai
He
1.00
LfG
IA:
2(d
ysen
tery
)Ju
ice
Ora
l70
.0Fl
Fvr:
2(f
ever
)Ju
ice
Ora
lSM
SD:
1(h
ead
ach
e)Pa
ste
Top
ical
ENT:
1(e
yep
ain
* ,co
lou
rbl
ind
nes
s* )Pa
ste
Ora
l/To
pic
al
Man
gife
rain
dica
L.(A
nac
ard
iace
ae)
ERIH
-59
Maa
mar
amTr
0.50
SbSM
SD:
2(b
ody
pai
n* )
Pow
der
Ora
l55
.0G
UA
:1
(del
iver
yp
ain
* )Pa
ste
Ora
lM
elia
azed
arac
hL.
(Mel
iace
ae)
ERIH
-57
Mal
aive
mTh
ottl
suru
ngi
buTr
1.83
LfG
IA:
4(s
tom
ach
ach
e)Ju
ice
Ora
l75
.0St
,Rb
DID
:4
(ski
nir
rita
tion
)Ju
ice
Trop
ical
LfSM
SD:
2(b
ody
pai
n* )
Past
eTr
opic
alG
UA
:1
(to
incr
ease
sper
mp
rod
uct
ion
)Pa
ste
Ora
l
Mic
helia
cham
paca
L.(M
agn
olia
ceae
)ER
IH-3
91Sh
enba
gam
Tr0.
33Lf
ENT:
2(e
yep
ain
* )D
ecoc
tion
Top
ical
40.0
Mill
etia
pinn
ata
(L.)
Pan
igra
hi.
(Fab
acea
e)ER
IH-2
5Pu
nga
mar
amTr
0.67
SdD
ID:
4(w
oun
ds)
Raw
Top
ical
35.0
Mim
osa
pudi
caL.
(Fab
acea
e)ER
IH-2
38Th
otta
lsu
run
giH
e0.
50Lf
DID
:3
(pim
ple
s)Pa
ste
Top
ical
35.0
Mim
usop
sel
engi
L.(S
apot
acea
e)ER
IH-1
62M
agil
am
aram
Tr0.
33Fl
GH
:2
(to
get
shin
ing
bod
y* )Ju
ice
Ora
l22
.5
Mol
lugo
nudi
caul
isLa
m.(
Mol
lugi
nac
eae)
ERIH
-413
Parp
adag
amH
e1.
33W
pFv
r:2
(fev
er)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
67.5
LfR
SD:
2(c
ough
)D
ecoc
tion
Ora
lSM
SD:
2(h
ead
ach
e)D
ecoc
tion
Ora
lG
IA:
1(s
tom
ach
ach
e)Po
wd
erO
ral
GU
A:
1(v
ener
eald
isea
ses)
Pow
der
Ora
lM
omor
dica
dioi
caR
oxb.
(Cu
curb
itac
eae)
ERIH
-46
Kaa
ttu
pag
arka
iC
l1.
00Lf
GIA
:6
(sto
mac
hac
he)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
32.5
Mor
inda
pube
scen
sR
oxb.
(Ru
biac
eae)
ERIH
-100
Man
jan
atth
iTr
0.67
LfSM
SD:
1(r
heu
mat
ism
* )Ju
ice
Top
ical
55.0
GIA
:2
(in
dig
esti
on)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
DID
:1
(wou
nd
s)Pa
ste
Top
ical
Mor
inga
olei
fera
Lam
.(M
orin
gace
ae)
ERIH
-171
Mu
ran
gai
Tr1.
00Fl
GU
A:
6(t
oin
crea
sesp
erm
pro
du
ctio
n)
Pow
der
Ora
l60
.0
Muk
iam
ader
aspa
tana
(L.)
M.R
oem
.(C
ucu
rbit
acea
e)ER
IH-4
27M
usu
-mu
sukk
aiC
l0.
50Lf
GH
:3
(bod
yst
ren
gth
)Pa
ste
Ora
l22
.5
Mur
raya
koen
igii
(L.)
Spre
ng.
(Ru
tace
ae)
ERIH
-172
Kar
uve
pp
ilai
Tr1.
83Lf
ENT:
5(e
yep
ain
,eye
cool
ing)
Past
eO
ral
37.5
HC
:6
(dan
dru
ff,h
air
loss
)Pa
ste
Top
ical
Oci
mum
tenu
iflor
umL.
(Lam
iace
ae)
ERIH
-114
Nal
lath
ula
siH
e1.
67Lf
RSD
:5
(col
d,c
ough
)Ju
ice
Ora
l67
.5Fv
r:5
(fev
er)
Juic
eO
ral
Opu
ntia
dille
niiH
aw.(
Cac
tace
ae)
ERIH
-183
Sap
pat
hik
alli
Sh0.
50St
DID
:3
(wou
nd
s* )Pa
ste
Top
ical
15.0
Pand
anus
fasc
icul
aris
Lam
.(Pa
nd
anac
eae)
ERIH
-672
Thaa
lai
Sh0.
33Y
t,Lf
LP:
2(j
aun
dic
e* )R
awO
ral
32.5
Phoe
nix
sylv
estr
is(L
.)R
oxb.
(Are
cace
ae)
ERIH
-38
Pere
ech
aiTr
1.33
FrG
UA
:4
(mal
efe
rtil
ity)
Raw
Ora
l32
.5G
H:
4(b
ody
stre
ngt
h)
Raw
Ora
lPh
ylla
nthu
sam
arus
Sch
um
&Th
onn
.(Ph
ylla
nth
acea
e)ER
IH-8
2K
eela
nel
liH
e1.
00Lf
LP:
6(j
aun
dic
e)Ju
ice
Ora
l37
.5
Phyl
lant
hus
embl
ica
L.(P
hyl
lan
thac
eae)
ERIH
-184
Peri
yan
elli
Tr1.
00Fr
GH
:6
(bod
yst
ren
gth
)Po
wd
erO
ral
37.5
Phys
alis
min
ima
L.(S
olan
acea
e)ER
IH-1
3So
dak
kuth
akka
liH
e0.
67Lf
GU
A:
4(v
ener
eald
isea
ses* ,
toin
crea
sela
ctat
ion
)D
ecoc
tion
Ora
l30
.0
Pipe
rbe
tle
L.(P
iper
acea
e)ER
IH-2
15V
etri
lai
Cl
0.67
LfD
ID:
4(i
tch
ing,
skin
irri
tati
on)
Past
eTo
pic
al27
.5
Pipe
rni
grum
L.(P
iper
acea
e)ER
IH-2
30M
ilag
uC
l1.
17Fr
RSD
:5
(cou
gh,b
ron
chit
is)
Pow
der
Ora
l55
.0PB
:2
(sn
akeb
ite)
Pow
der
Ora
lPu
nica
gran
atum
L.(L
yth
race
ae)
ERIH
-185
Mad
hu
lai
Sh0.
33Fr
GIA
:2
(sto
mac
hac
he)
Pow
der
Ora
l42
.5R
icin
usco
mm
unis
L.(E
up
hor
biac
eae)
ERIH
-438
Am
anak
kuSh
0.67
SdSM
SD:4
(joi
nt
pai
n,m
usc
lep
ain
)R
awTo
pic
al32
.5
Sans
evie
ria
roxb
urgh
iana
Sch
ult
.f.(
Asp
arag
acea
e)ER
IH-1
86M
aru
lH
e0.
33St
ENT:
2(e
arac
he* )
Juic
eTo
pic
al22
.5
Sant
alum
albu
mL.
(San
tala
ceae
)ER
IH-3
53Sa
nth
anam
Tr1.
33St
DID
:4
(pim
ple
s)Pa
ste
Top
ical
47.5
CA
:4
(bod
yco
olin
g)Pa
ste
Top
ical
Sesa
mum
indi
cum
L.(P
edal
iace
ae)
ERIH
-210
Ellu
He
0.33
SdD
ID:
2(s
kin
irri
tati
on,
itch
ing)
Past
eTo
pic
al35
.0
Author's personal copy
858 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
Tabl
e2
(Con
tinu
ed)
Bot
anic
aln
ame
(Fam
ily)
,vou
cher
spec
imen
nu
mbe
rLo
caln
ame
Life
form
Use
valu
ePa
rts
use
dA
ilm
ent
cate
gory
:n
o.of
use
-rep
orts
(ail
men
tstr
eate
d)
Prep
arat
ion
Ap
pli
cati
onR
I
Sesb
ania
gran
diflo
raPe
rs.(
Faba
ceae
)ER
IH-2
22A
gath
iTr
0.33
LfC
A:
2(b
ody
cool
ing)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
27.5
Sola
num
nigr
umL.
(Sol
anac
eae)
ERIH
-198
Man
ath
akka
liH
e0.
50Lf
GIA
:3
(in
test
inal
ulc
er)
Dec
octi
onO
ral
40.0
Sola
num
sura
tten
seB
urm
.f.(
Sola
nac
eae)
ERIH
-216
Kan
dan
-kat
thir
iH
e1.
00Fr
DC
:6
(too
thac
he,
toki
llw
orm
sin
gum
san
dte
eth
)R
awIn
hal
atio
n(m
outh
)30
.0
Sola
num
trilo
batu
mL.
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M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864 859
Fig. 5. Categories of Kani’s mode of utilization for the preparation of medicine.
3.3. Method of preparation and mode of administration of plants
The preparation and utilization of plant parts were grouped intofive categories (Fig. 5). Of these, most commonly used method ofpreparation was paste (42%) followed by powder (18%), juice (17%),raw (13%, taken as raw and plant part prepared as pickles) anddecoction (10%). Preparation of paste for the treatment of ailmentsis a common practice among the other tribal communities in India(Ignacimuthu et al., 2006; Ragupathy et al., 2008; Perumal Samyet al., 2008; Poonam and Singh, 2009; Rajakumar and Shivanna,2009; Tushar et al., 2010; Upadhyay et al., 2010) and other parts ofthe World (Giday et al., 2007, 2010; Roosita et al., 2008). The pastewas prepared by grinding the fresh or dried plant parts with oil orwater. The powder was prepared by the grinding of shade driedplant parts. The decoction was obtained by boiling the plant partsin water until the volume of the water reduced to minimum orrequired amount. The inhalation was done by the burning of plantparts and inhaled the smoke through nose or mouth.
Internal uses (64%) were predominating over external or topicaluses (32%) and nasal application. For topical use, the most impor-tant methods used were direct application of paste or medicatedoil (with oil) and mostly dealt with diseases like skin disorders,wounds, heel cracks, poison bites, rheumatism, body pain andheadache. Most of the medicines were given orally which is inagreement with some other studies conducted elsewhere (Ssegawaand Kasenene, 2007; Perumal Samy et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2008;Poonam and Singh, 2009; Andrade-Cetto, 2009).
3.4. Ingredients added
The medicinal preparations were made out of a single plant partor in combination of several plant parts. In case of Kani’s medicinalpreparations, multiple modes (57 plants) of preparation were dom-inating over the single mode (33 plants) of preparations (Table 3).Kani traditional healers used more than two or three plant parts forthe preparation of medicine in the treatment of single or multipleailments; the similar findings were reported by several researchers(Teklehaymanot et al., 2007; Ignacimuthu et al., 2008; Tabuti et al.,2010; Upadhyay et al., 2010). The frequent use of multiple plantremedies among the traditional healers could be attributed to thebelief of synergic reactions where one plant could have a potenti-ating effect than other (Giday et al., 2010). It is believed that the
multiple prescriptions contain a range of pharmacologically activecompounds and poly-herbal treatment has more healing powerthan single medicinal plant treatment, since each medicinal plantused in the mixture is a remedy (Teklehaymanot et al., 2007).
As reported by Poonam and Singh (2009), Kani traditional heal-ers too frequently use some adjuvants such as honey, cow/goat’smilk, sugar, ghee, salt, boiled rice and butter milk to improve theacceptability and medicinal property of certain remedies. The oilsof castor, coconut, gingelly, mustard, neem and pongam were com-monly used for the preparation of paste/medicated oil. They wereusing specific plant parts and specific dosages for the treatmentof diseases and the dose given to the patient depended on age,physical status and health conditions. Before giving treatment thecondition of the patient was observed deeply and then they gavethe prepared medicines.
3.5. Plant use values
The most commonly used species was Gymnema sylvestre with12 use-reports by 6 informants, giving the highest use value of2.00. G. sylvestre is attributed to its use in the treatment of vari-ous diseases and it is well recognized by all the informants as anantidiabetic plant. Many Irulas tribal families in Thanjavur districtof Tamil Nadu, India are growing G. sylvestre as a climbing vine intheir home and it was a household custom to consume one leaf aday (Ragupathy and Newmaster, 2009).
Other important plants with high use value were M. azedarach,Murraya koenigii, Syzygium cumini and Terminalia chebula (11 use-reports by 6 informants with a UV of 1.83), Adhatoda vasica, Alpiniagalanga, Azadirachta indica, Centella asiatica, C. viscosa, Ficus beng-halensis, Lawsonia inermis and Ocimum tenuiflorum (10 use-reportsby 6 informants with a UV of 1.67), Coccinia indica and Trichopuszeylanicus (nine use-reports by six informants with a UV of 1.50).Most of these plants were frequently used by the Paliyar tribals inTheni district of Tamil Nadu (Ignacimuthu et al., 2008) and tribalpractitioners of Eastern Rajasthan (Upadhyay et al., 2010), India forthe treatment of various ailments.
The plant with very low use value was Ananas comosus which isreported by only one informant with a UV of 0.17, but the informantis regularly using this plant in the treatment of venereal diseases.Similar to our study, tender leaves of the plant is used to cure irreg-ular menstruation and sterility in women by the Indian, Mangoloidand Indo Aerian tribal people of Northeast India (Purkayastha et al.,2005). While tribal people in Cuba (Cano and Volpato, 2004) andGhana (Asase et al., 2010) were using the plant for the treatment ofmalaria and liver pain respectively.
In general, scarce availability of the plants in the study area leadsthem to low UV (Rokaya et al., 2010) as in the case of Tirunelvelihills. In the present study, plants reported with a low use value(two use-reports by six informants with a UV of 0.33) were Achyran-thes aspera, Begonia malabarica, Cassia alata, M. champaca, M. elengi,P. fascicularis, Punica granatum, Sansevieria roxburghiana, Sesamumindicum, Sesbania grandiflora, Sphaeranthus indicus, Strychnos nux-vomica, Tectona grandis, T. purpurea and Trianthema portulacastrum.Among these P. granatum is reported to have a very low UV of 0.23among the local people of Mujib area in Jordan for treating gastro-intestinal ailments (Hudaib et al., 2008) similar to Kani tribals.
3.6. Informant consensus factor
Generally Fic of local knowledge for disease treatment dependedon the availability of the plant species in the study area (Rajakumarand Shivanna, 2009). In order to use the informant consensus fac-tor (Fic), we classified the illnesses into broad disease categories.The Fic values in our study are ranged from 0.63 to 0.88. The usecategories with more than 50 use-reports were dermatological
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860 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
Table 3Ingredients added for the preparation of herbal medicines by the Kani traditional healers.
Botanical name Other plants added in medicinal preparation Other ingredients added
A. indicum Asparagus racemosus, Cassia auriculata, Cynodon dactylon, M. koenigii Neem oilA. indica Albizia lebbeck, A. indica, M. pudica –A. aspera A. nilotica, Carmona retusa, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Wrightia tinctoria –A. vasica Piper nigrum (headache, earache, cold), Solanum trilobatum (asthma) HoneyA. lanata Cynodon dactylon, Hemidesmus indicus, Solanum trilobatum, Cassia auriculata, S.
nux-vomica (asthma, chest pain)Honey/milk
A. cepa Santalum album, Scilla indica Gingelly oilA. vera – Ghee, sugarA. galanga A. vasica, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale –A. sessilis A. vera, A. occidentale, Elephantopus scaber Castor oilA. occidentale A. comosus, Withania somnifera (asthma) –A. comosus Baccaurea courtallensis SugarAreca catechu P. betle (refreshment) Sunnambu for refreshment (calcium
mix); coconut oil (burns)A. monophylla A. vasica, Eucalyptus globules, L. aspera, Ocimum basilicum (cold)
P. amarus, Psidium guajava, Thespesia populnea, Vitex negundo (poison bites)–
A. indica Ficus retusa, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Pedalium murex, Pergularia daemia, P.granatum (poison bites, stomachache)Amorphophallus campanulatus, Elephantopus scaber (scabies)
Pungam oil (M. pinnata)
Mustard oilB. arundinacea A. indicum, A. vasica, B. malabarica, Clitoria ternatea, S. cumini, Withania
somnifera–
B. malabarica Cardiospermum halicacabum, Elephantopus scaber –C. inophyllum A. vasica, E. hirta, Toddalia asiatica (fungal infection on head, earache,
headache, hair care)–
Capsicum frutescens – Coconut, honeyCardiospermum halicacabum M. koenigii, Pedalium murex, S. surattense (rheumatism) Boiled rice (delivery pain)Carica papaya – Salt (toothache)Carissa carandas – FoodC. alata Carica papaya, P. granatum, S. surattense –Cassia auriculata –
A. indicum, Acorus calamus, Alpinia calcarata, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Lippianodiflora, M. pinnata (skin diseases)
Honey (stomachache)Coconut oil
C. asiatica Cleome viscosa, Cynodon dactylon, E. hirta (headache, hair care) Salt, milkC. quadrangularis – Honey (stomachache)C. aurantifolia Coriandrum sativam –C. viscosa A. indica, Mirabilis jalapa, Pergularia daemia (fever, headache) Mustard oil
Castor oil (wounds, swellings)Clitoria ternatea Aristida setacea, C. indica (swellings) –C. indica Canna indica, P. emblica, T. zeylanicus, Ziziphus zizyphus GheeC. benghalensis Areca catechu, Canna indica –Costus speciosus Canna indica, Cynodon dactylon, Glycerrhiza glabra, P. granatum (wounds) –Cynodon dactylon A. nilotica, A. vasica, S. cumini (asthma) –D. metel – Gingelly oilElettaria cardamomum A. galanga, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale (headache, asthma) SugarE. hirta A. indica, Begonia fallox, Cissampelos pareira, C. benghalensis (wounds) –E. nummularius Bidens pilosa, Datura innoxia, R. communis, Vitex altissima –F. religiosa Ficus retusa, Acacia pennata, B. malabarica, Cocculus hirsutus (indigestion, breast
pain)Honey
G. sylvestre – MilkHibiscus rosa-sinensis –
A. sessilis, C. asiatica, Hemidesmus indicus, Pavetta indica, Vetiveria zizanioides(venereal diseases, stomachache)
HoneyMilk
H. auriculata – HoneyJatropha gossypifolia A. nilotica, Carica papaya (foul odour, toothache) –L. inermis B. malabarica, Costus speciosus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (disease resistance in
children)–
M. indica Asparagus racemosus, A. indica, S. nux-vomica (delivery pain) Gingelly oilM. azedarach Aristolochia indica, Mirabilis jalapa, Mucuna pruriens (to increase sperm
production)Ghee
M. champaca A. sessilis, Cocculus hirsutus, Cynodon dactylon, Tabernaemontana divaricata –M. pudica C. indica, Evolvulus alsinoides, Hemidesmus indicus –M. elengi A. sessilis, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Solanum melangena, Wedelia calandulacea –M. nudicaulis A. vera, C. asiatica, Coldenia procumbens, Madhuca longifolia, P. emblica
(stomachache, venereal diseases)Sugar
M. dioica A. galanga, Piper hymenophyllum, Piper nigrum –M. pubescens A. vasica (rheumatism) Gingelly oilM. oleifera A. cepa, Cuminum cyminum –M. koenigii A. vera, A. sessilis, Solanum trilobatum (hair care) –O. tenuiflorum Andrographis lineata, Andrographis paniculata, Sesbania sesban –O. dillenii A. vera –Phoenix sylvestris – HoneyP. amarus – MilkP. emblica Terminalia bellirica, T. chebula GheeP. betle Piper nigrum –Piper nigrum – HoneyS. indicum – Coconut oil
Author's personal copy
M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864 861
Table 3 (Continued)
Botanical name Other plants added in medicinal preparation Other ingredients added
S. grandiflora – ButtermilkS. nigrum A. cepa, Cuminum cyminum –Solanum trilobatum A. cepa, C. asiatica (constipation) –S. cumini – Honey/milk (diabetes); goat’s milk
(indigestion)T. grandis A. vera, Cocculus hirsutus, Helicteres isora (hair care) Coconut oilT. purpurea Carmona retusa, Piper hymenophyllum, Piper nigrum (gastric problems) –T. chebula – Ghee (ulcer); honey (to stimulate
sexual power)T. portulacastrum Azima tetracantha, Cocculus hirsutus, Cuminum cyminum, Madhuca longifolia –T. terrestris A. indica, F. religiosa, L. aspera, M. indica, Vitex negundo (fever, heel cracks) –T. zeylanicus subsp. travancoricus M. indica (venereal diseases) Honey (asthma, body strength)T. procumbens Cocculus hirsutus, Scilla indica Castor oilVitex negundo A. vasica (body pain); Thespesia populnea (poison bites) –
infections/diseases (81 use-reports, 26 species), gastro-intestinaldiseases (70 use-reports, 21 species) and skeleto-muscular sys-tem disorders (61 use-reports, 23 species) (Fig. 6). In the presentstudy, endocrinal disorders and liver problems had the highest Ficof 0.88 and 0.86 respectively and it is in agreement with the pre-vious studies among the neighboring indigenous communities inTamil Nadu, India; diabetes and jaundice had the highest Fic of 1.00among the Irulas in Thanjavur district (Ragupathy and Newmaster,2009), jaundice has the highest Fic of 0.92 among the Malasar trib-als in Coimbatore district (Ragupathy et al., 2008) and 0.923 amongthe Paliyar tribals in Theni district (Pandikumar et al., 2011). Phyl-lanthus amarus and G. sylvestre were very commonly used for thetreatment of jaundice and diabetes correspondingly in these stud-ies.
The least agreement between the informants was observed inthe skeleto-muscular system disorders with a Fic of 0.63 followedby poisonous bites with a Fic of 0.64, genito-urinary ailments andear, nose, throat problems with a Fic of 0.65 each (Table 4). In thestudy by Rokaya et al. (2010) the highest Fic is 0.40 and the lowestFic is 0.00, on the contrary our survey exemplified the lowest Fic is0.63. Thus the study indicated the degree of knowledge shared bythe users in the study area regarding the use of medicinal plants inthe treatment of ailments is high.
We found that dermatological infections/diseases, skeleto-muscular system disorders and gastro-intestinal ailments
employed the most plants with 26, 23 and 21 species respec-tively which was in agreement with the study of Andrade-Cetto(2009). Skeleto-muscular system disorders had the lowest Fic of0.63, but this ailment category ranks third in the number of use-reports (61) and number of taxa (23) attributed to this category. Itmay be due to the lack of communication among the informantsin the study area who are practicing this ailment category (Rokayaet al., 2010) or it may due to the lack of skeleto-muscular systemdisorders among the studied tribal people (Ragupathy et al., 2008).Heinrich et al. (1998) reported that gastro-intestinal, dermato-logical and respiratory diseases have a high informant consensusamong the Maya, Nahua and Zapotech people in Mexico. Ourfindings showed that these ailment categories had high number ofuse-reports among the Kani tribals with moderate Fic values.
3.7. Fidelity level
We analyzed the categories with major agreements to high-light the most important plants in each category (Table 5). Ofthe reported plants, 29 species had highest fidelity level of 100%,most of which were used in single ailment category with multipleinformants. For this analysis the plants with less than three use-reports were not considered. The plants with highest FL of 100%were Acacia nilotica, Solanum surattense (DC), Acalypha indica, Com-melina benghalensis, Euphorbia hirta, Mimosa pudica, O. dillenii, Piper
Fig. 6. Categories of ailments treated by Kani tribals arranged by number of use-reports.
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862 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864
Table 4Informant consensus factor for commonly used medicinal plants.
Ailment category Number of use-reports (Nur) Number of taxa (Nt) Informant consensus factor (Fic)
Endocrinal disorders 17 3 0.88Liver problems 8 2 0.86Circulatory system/cardiovascular disorders 10 3 0.78Dental care 26 7 0.76Hair care 17 5 0.75Gastro-intestinal ailments 70 21 0.71General health 35 11 0.71Dermatological infections/diseases 81 26 0.69Respiratory system diseases 43 14 0.69Fever 17 6 0.69Cooling agent 16 6 0.67Ear, nose, throat problems 27 10 0.65Genito-urinary ailments 44 16 0.65Poisonous bites 15 6 0.64Skeleto-muscular system disorders 61 23 0.63
Total 487 159*
* A taxa may be reported in more than one ailment category.
betle, Milletia pinnata (DID), Aloe vera, Cissus quadrangularis, Cit-rus aurantifolia, E. nummularius, Momordica dioica, Solanum nigrum(GIA), Alternanthera sessilis, D. metel (ENT), B. arundinacea, Ricinuscommunis, Tridax procumbens (GUA), Hygrophila auriculata (RSD),Kalanchoe pinnata (CA), Mukia maderaspatana, Phyllanthus emblica(GH), P. amarus (ED) and Wedelia calendulacea (HC).
The maximum FL for the above plants indicated the 100% choiceof the interviewed informants for treating specific ailments and
this could be an indication of their healing potential. In support toour study, 100% FL was reported in P. amarus for jaundice amongthe herbal healers in Shimoga district of Karnataka (Rajakumar andShivanna, 2009) and Malasar tribals in Velliangiri hills of TamilNadu (Ragupathy et al., 2008), India. On the contrary, R. commu-nis and P. granatum were documented to have 50% of FL for skindiseases and digestive disorders respectively by the local people ofPalestine (Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2000).
Table 5Fidelity level (FL) values for common medicinal plants used by Kani traditional healers by ailment category.
Ailment category Most preferred species with specific ailment FL (%)
Circulatory system/cardiovascular disorders Ziziphus zizyphus (weight loss) 66.67Cooling agent K. pinnata
Tamarindus indica100.0066.70
Dental care A. nilotica (foul odour, toothache)S. surattense (toothache, to kill worms in gums and teeth)Jatropha gossypifolia (foul odour, toothache)F. benghalensis (to strengthen the teeth)
100.00100.0066.6760.00
Dermatological infections/diseases A. indica (itching, wounds)C. benghalensis, E. hirta, O. dillenii, M. pinnata (wounds)M. pudica (pimples)P. betle (itching, skin irritation)Cassia auriculata (skin irritation, itching)
100.00100.00100.00100.0071.50
Ear, nose, throat problems A. sessilis (eye pain)D. metel (earache)Clitoria ternatea (throat pain)
100.00100.0060.00
Endocrinal disorders Costus speciosus (diabetes) 71.40Fever A. galanga
O. tenuiflorum40.0050.00
Gastro-intestinal ailments A. vera, C. quadrangularis, M. dioica (stomachache)C. aurantifolia (Indigestion)E. nummularius (dysentery)S. nigrum (intestinal ulcer)
100.00100.00100.00100.00
General health M. maderaspatana, P. emblica (body strength)T. zeylanicus (body strength)
100.0066.70
Genito-urinary ailments Capsicum frutescens (delivery pain)M. oleifera (to increase sperm production)P. minima (venereal diseases, lactation)Solanum trilobatum (male fertility)
100.00100.00100.0060.00
Hair care W. calendulacea (hair loss, greying of hair)M. koenigii (dandruff, hair loss)
100.0054.50
Liver problems P. amarus (jaundice) 100.00Poisonous bites Vitex negundo (poison bites) 80.00Respiratory system diseases H. auriculata (cough)
Piper nigrum (cough, bronchitis)100.0071.40
Skeleto-muscular system disorders B. arundinacea (rheumatism)R. communis (joint pain, muscle pain)T. procumbens (swellings)Cardiospermum halicacabum (body pain, rheumatism)M. indica (body pain)
100.00100.00100.0083.0066.70
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3.8. Relative importance
The collected medicinal plants possessed number of pharmaco-logical properties (Khare, 2007). The plant with more number ofpharmacological properties (PH) was Moringa oleifera (20 PH); so,it had a normalized PH value of 1.00 (20/20). Mollugo nudicauliswas employed to treat five body systems and had a normalized BSvalue of 1.00 (5/5). C. inophyllum and M. azedarach had the highestRI of 75.0 and it was followed by Leucas aspera (70.0), M. nudi-caulis, T. chebula, O. tenuiflorum, Tribulus terrestris (each with theRI of 67.5), G. sylvestre (65.0), A. galanga and A. indica (62.5), L. iner-mis and A. cepa (60.0), C. viscosa and S. cumini (57.5). These plantswere also used to treat more body systems and were consideredas most versatile taxa in the study area. According to Upadhyayet al. (2010) A. indica was recognized as most versatile taxa since itwas mentioned by most of the informants among the tribal prac-titioners in Eastern Rajasthan, India. Many of the most versatilespecies reported in this study were similar for some neighboringindigenous communities in India (Muthu et al., 2006; Ignacimuthuet al., 2006, 2008; Poonam and Singh, 2009; Pandikumar et al.,2011).
3.9. Reliability of reported uses
According to Trotter and Logan (1986), plants which are used inrepetitive fashion in any ailment could be more likely to have bio-logically active component or pharmacologically active. The Kanitribals used the fruit of T. zeylanicus for body strength and to treatasthma and venereal diseases with a use value of 1.5, RI of 37.5and FL of 66.7%. It is claimed that one can live for days togetherwithout food and still be able to perform rigorous physical work byeating a few fruits of Arokyapachilai everyday and they named theplant as ‘Arokyapachilai’ (greener of health). Due to its vital role intraditional medicine and nutritional efficiency it was recognized as‘Ginseng’ of Kani tribals (Pushpangadan, 1988).
Most of the plants reported in this study has good evidenceof effectiveness and were scientifically validated as significantpharmacological agents. For example, A. vasica is one of the mostfrequently used medicinal plants among various indigenous com-munities all over the World for respiratory problems, especiallycold, cough and asthma and drugs with this plant has been usedfor a long period of time which does not has serious adverse effects(Claeson et al., 2000), and most of the studied Kani traditional heal-ers using this plant for treating asthma and cold as well as headacheand earache; G. sylvestre has been used in the treatment of diabetesfor a long time in Indian traditional medicine and elsewhere in theWorld and it claimed to has blood glucose lowering activity bothin vitro and in vivo by a number of reports (Mukherjee et al., 2006)and all the informants in the present study using this plant in thetreatment of diabetes as well as poisonous bites and skin diseases.In support of our study, P. amarus has been scientifically provedto control hepatitis B and C viruses and possess hepatoprotective,immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory activity (Thyagarajanet al., 2002). A. indica, Anacardium occidentale, C. viscosa, E. hirta, O.dillenii and M. pinnata were used in the treatment of wound andrelated injuries by the Kani traditional healers and these plantsshowed significant wound healing and anti-inflammatory activityin experimental animals (Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2009a).
The ethnomedicinal studies evidently pointed out that, insteadof trying to identify the active components and pharmacologicalactions of plants through massive collection of plants from naturalsources, it is better to start investigating the efficacy of the plantbased on their use in folk medicine, since most of the commer-cially proven drugs used in modern medicine were initially triedin crude form in traditional or folk healing practices (Fabricant andFarnsworth, 2001).
4. Conclusion
The present study revealed that traditional medicines were stillin common use by the Kani tribal communities and accurate knowl-edge of the plants and their medicinal properties were held by onlya few individuals in this community. Hence a need for detailedinvestigation of ethnobotanical knowledge held by each tribal com-munity is required before such valuable knowledge vanishes. Thus,our work would be useful in preventing the loss of ethnomedici-nal traditions of Kani tribal communities. The new claims which arerecorded from the study area showed that still much can be learnedfrom investigating herbals available abundantly in the forests. Theplants with highest fidelity level and use values in the present studymay indicate the possible occurrence of valuable phytochemicalcompounds and it requires a search for potential new drugs to treatvarious ailments.
The efficacy and safety of all the reported ethnomedicinal plantsneeds to be evaluated for phytochemical and pharmacological stud-ies especially the plants with high informant consensus factor, usevalue, fidelity level and relative importance should be given priorityto carry out bioassay and toxicity studies. As a result of the studywe are suggesting the plants A. galanga, A. indica, C. inophyllum,G. sylvestre, L. aspera, M. azedarach, M. nudicaulis, O. tenuiflorum, S.cumini, T. chebula and T. terrestris for further ethnopharmacologi-cal studies, since these plants had the high UV and RI values. Of thenewly reported claims in the present study B. arundinacea, D. metel,E. nummularius, O. dillenii and P. minima had highest FL of 100% forspecific ailments and these plants can also be further analyzed forthe associated pharmacological studies.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR), New Delhi, India (Ref. No. 52/2-2000/BMS/TRM)for providing fund for this project. The first author gratefullyacknowledges University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi forfinancial support in the form of Dr. D. S. Kothari Post DoctoralFellowship (Ref. No. F.4-2/2006(BSR)/13-98/2008(BSR)) for prepa-ration of this manuscript. We specially express our thanks to Kanitribals in the study area for revealing their traditional knowledge.We are also grateful to two anonymous referees for their criticalreviews and useful comments on the manuscript.
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