Ethnobotanical Investigation of Medicinal Plants used as antidote in Natham Taluk, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India

The current study identified the ethnomedicinal plants utilised as antidotes by the people of Natham Taluk in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu, India. An extensive ethnobotanical survey yielded documentation of 62 plants from 37 families and 55 genus used as antidotes and classified into seven categories. The most prominent families were Fabaceae (7%), Amaranthaceae (7%), and Acanthaceae (7%). Herbs were the most commonly utilised plant form in ethnomedicine formulations (55%). The majority of plant drugs were made from leaves (38%). The study area made extensive use of paste (44%) and oral (57%) delivery of plant-based medicines. Quantitative indices such as use value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF), and Jaccard Index (JI) were computed. The locally important species recorded were Opuntia stricta (Haw.) Haw (UV= 1.45), Argemone mexicana L. (UV= 1.21), Tylophora indica (Burm. f.) Merr. (UV = 1), and Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Chiov. (UV = 1). Higher ICF scores suggest that traditional knowledge in the studied area is being shared properly. This documentation aids in the discovery of region-specific anti-venoms required for the development of novel venom neutralising medications.

T. M. SHRINITHA*1 and R. ARUNA2 Click here to download file

Research Article | Published online : 02-Nov-2023