Exploration of Medicinal Plants Used by the Malayali Tribes of Kolli Hills, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

An Ethno botanical survey was carried out among the ethnic groups in the Kolli hills, Tamil Nadu, India. Kolli Hills or Kolli Malai is a small mountain range located in central Tamil Nadu in Namakkal district of India. The mountains are about 1000 to 1300 m in height and cover an area of approximately 280 km². The present study revealed that the medicinal plants are used to cure skin diseases, stomach problems, diabetes, urinary infections, fever, cough, cold, snakebites, ear ache, hair growth, headache, indigestion, itches, swellings, wounds and dental problems. Traditional medicinal uses of 60 plants species belonging to the various families were described in this study. The medicinal plant resources in Kolli hills continue to play a vital role in healthcare needs of malayali tribal community. The traditional knowledge of local tribal people on medicinal plants was collected through questionnaires and personal interview of local traditional practitioners during field trips. The elder generation has sound knowledge about medicinal plants. The collection and documentation of their practical knowledge and traditional techniques based on the traditional use of plants is a significant step towards the preservation of the valuable knowledge by keeping in view the fading ethnic traditions and cultures. From this study it is obvious that more attention need to be paid to understand and prove the efficacy of traditional knowledge on medicinal plants using advanced scientific tools.

Phytochemical composition and biological activity of Physalis spp.: A mini-review

“…Leaves and dried seeds are used as curing agents for skin diseases, jaundice, ulcer, fever, glaucoma, abdominal upsets; as antiseptics, diuretics and antibiotics (Anjalam et al 2016;Sharmila et al 2014;Zhang et al 2013), and fruit calycesas anticancer, antimicrobial, antipyretic, diuretic, and anti-inflammatory immunomodulatory agents (Puente et al 2011).…”

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Kolli hills

“…All India trade survey of prioritized medicinal plants states that the demand for high value medicinal plants was increased by 50% and its availability declined to 26%. World health organization (WHO) states that 80% of world's population depends on plant derived medicines for their primary health care needs (Anjalam et al, 2016) [6] . India has the second largest tribal population.…”

Pharmacological Effects of Withanolides

“…Withanolides is a series of small molecules widely found in Solanaceae. The solanaceae plant is traditionally used to treat asthma, parasitic disease, constipation, edema, glaucoma, headache, hepatopathy, reducing swelling and inflammation, postpartum pain, skin diseases [2][3][4]. In the past decade, with the rapid development and application of various separation techniques and spectral analysis techniques, especially nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the research speed of the compounds in the solanaceae has been greatly accelerated, and its structural research has made great progress.…”