Medicinal Plants from the High Altitudes of the Western Part of Arunachal Pradesh, India and their Trade

The tremendous medicinal plant resources of Northeast India are utilized by different agencies as raw materials and/or for direct application. No proper assessment of the resources and no investigation on the extent of exploitation has been performed so far, especially in the high altitudes of Arunachal Pradesh viz., West Kameng and Tawang. That state is the richest in biodiversity, with high value medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as rare and endangered species. The medicinal plant species used in the herbal industry today are mostly extracted from the wild areas and most of them come from the high altitudes of this region. The present study gives an account on some preliminary observations about the commercial medicinal plants from the higher altitudes of Arunachal Pradesh, some of which being of immense economic value

<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">Illicium</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">griffithii </i>Hook. f. & Thoms<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">.</i>-A potential source of <span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic" lang="EN-GB">natural off-farm income to the rural people <span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">of Arunachal Himalaya, India </span></span></span>

131-137In the high altitude region of Arunachal Himalaya, hilly and undulating terrains have resulted into low agricultural crops production although majority of the local residents are highly dependent on the agriculture for their subsistence. Moreover, sources of income are scarce and peoples mainly depend on forest and forest products. Therefore, wild plant and animal species form an important component of livelihood of rural people in many parts. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Illicium griffithii<span style="font-size:15.0pt;letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB"> <span style="letter-spacing:.1pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Hook.f. & Thoms. one of the significant aromatic and medicinal tree species occurring in subtropical to temperate forest of Arunachal Himalaya. However, the species is growing in selected forest patches to a few locations. <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">Dried seed pods are economically valuable having good market potential for spices and pharmaceutical purposes. Fruit is considered to be carminative, aromatic stimulant, <span style="letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">stomachic and <span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal;letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;font-style:normal" lang="EN-GB">galactagogue. It is used as medicine to cure <span style="letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">abdominal pain, cough, <span style="letter-spacing:.1pt; mso-ansi-language:EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">dyspepsia, food poisoning, vomiting, toothache and sinusitis. It is also <span style="letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">used as an antifungal agent and food preservative. Owing to its high demand, local inhabitants harvest large quantity of fruits every year. Collected seeds are sold in local market at the rate from 120 to 150/kg which mainly depends on the market demand. Fruits may also be a potential source of shikimic acid for the production of Tami flu (<span style="letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN">oseltamivir),<span style="font-family:TimesNewRoman; mso-bidi-font-family:TimesNewRoman;letter-spacing:.1pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-IN; mso-fareast-language:EN-IN"> an active drug against avian influenza or bird flu. Further investigations on its chemical aspects are required to meet the needs of shikimic acid for the country as well as global market. This is an important source of natural off-farm income to the rural people of the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh where the present study was undertaken. Keeping economic values in consideration, I. griffithii has the tremendous potential to reduce the poverty and will also provide employment opportunity to the rural inhabitants through bio-prospecting of the species which will contribute towards the socio-economic development of the rural people of Arunachal Himalaya. </span