Ethnomedicinal plants used for digestive system disorders by the Karen of northern Thailand

Abstract

BackgroundDigestive system disorders have a substantial effect on worldwide morbidity and mortality rates, including in Thailand, where the majority of the rural areas have a lack of proper sanitation and awareness about disease prevention. This has led to the prevalence of different types of digestive diseases. Karen people in Thailand still use medicinal plants as first aid remedies in treating these diseases. Therefore, this study aimed at documenting the plants used to cure and prevent different types of digestive system disorders by Karen people of Chiang Mai Province, northern Thailand.MethodsEthnomedicinal data were collected from six key informants and 172 non-specialist informants regarding their traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. Quantitative approaches were used to determine Use Value (UV), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Fidelity Level (FL) values.ResultsThe study revealed that 36 medicinal plant species belonging to 31 genera and 24 families were used to treat digestive system disorders. The most prevalent plant families were Zingiberaceae (6 species), Euphorbiaceae (4 species) and Fabaceae (4 species). Leaves were the most commonly used plant part accounting for 32.6% of the plants, followed by the bark (18.6%). About 60% of the administrations were given orally by potion (60%) and consumption as food was also indicated (14%). The highest ICF values were recorded for carminative disorders, stomachaches, geographic tongue, constipation, appetite stimulants and food poisoning (1.00 each) indicating the best agreement among the informants knowledge of medicinal plants that were used to treat aliments in these categories. The highest fidelity level values were recorded for Punica granatum (100.00), Psidium guajava (95.45), and Gymnopetalum integrifolium (90.91) showing conformity of knowledge on species with the best healing potential.ConclusionMedicinal plants still play an important role among Karen culture. The present information on these medicinal plants, which have high UV and FL values, may serve as the baseline data to initiate further research for the discovery of new compounds and the biological activities of these potential plant remedies. Further research on these plants may provide some important clues for the development of new drugs for the treatment of digestive system diseases.

Contributions to the phytotherapies of digestive disorders: Traditional knowledge and cultural drivers of Manoor Valley, Northern Pakistan

“…15). Upon thorough review we found most similarity (22.78%) with Khan and Ahmad (2015) The analytical approach (Sorensen's similarity) also showed some interesting results through comparison with previous documentation on similar health care remedies (Digestive disorders) from different regions of the world like Lorestan, Iran (Delfan et al, 2015), Northern Thailand (Tangjitman et al, 2015), Eastern Cape, South Africa (Olajuyigbe and Afolayan, 2013), Kaduna State, Nigeria (Mathias et al, 2013) reveals 0% similarity with the study area. Less similarities were seen in comparison with analyzed studies that might be possibly the outcome of a momentous cultural adaption that is the main indicative of current extensive change in habitat structure and population (Leonti et al, 2009) as similarity indices are very sensitive to variation in population sizes (Wolda, 1981).…”

“…Lowest F IC value was found in appetite (0.71). Many researchers reported constipation, stomach ache, diarrhea and anthelmintic as the most cited disease categories (Abbasi et al, 2013;Rokaya et al, 2014;Tangjitman et al, 2015) and gastritis by Dogan and Ugulu, (2013). As for as disease categories concerned, gastrointestinal disorders have been cited with highest F IC values in previously published study like D.I.…”

“…The cultural medicinal uses of plants reported in the study area are compared with 15 published ethno-medicinal digestive and gastrointestinal disorders studies (Table 4) from regional, national as well as at global level. In the present study, review of literature indicates that of the 44 reported medicinal plants (Table 1), the similarity index uses ranges from 0% (Delfan et al, 2015;Tangjitman et al, 2015;Olajuyigbe and Afolayan, 2013and Mathias et al, 2013) to 12.85% (Khan and Ahmad, 2015. In the present study, the highest degree of similarity index was found with studies conducted by Khan and Ahmad, (2015) and Adnan et al (2015) with JI 12.85 and 8.47 respectively, while the lowest indices of similarity was found with studies of Delfan et al (2015); Tangjitman et al (2015); Olajuyigbe and Afolayan, (2013) and Mathias et al (2013) each with JI 0% (Fig.…”

A Review on Kumarabharana Prasha: A Novel Ayurvedic Electuary

“…Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), belongs to family Zingiberaceae is one of the most important plant with various nutritional and ethnomedical values 56 . It is widely used around the world in foods as a spice and flavoring agent 57 .…”

Knowledge Understanding and Utilization of Medicinal Plants by Local Community Tompu District of Kaili, Sigi Biromaru, Central Sulawesi

“…According to Tangjitman et al (2015), the leaves are part of the plant used the most widely used as a traditional medicine in comparison with other parts. Many studies have been conducted in various regions also showed the dominance of leaf organs in the use of drugs.…”