Traditional use of medicinal plants by the Jaintia tribes in North Cachar Hills district of Assam, northeast India

The study of ethnobotany relating to any tribe is in itself a very intricate or convoluted process. This paper documents the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants that are in use by the indigenous Jaintia tribes residing in few isolated pockets of northeast India. The present study was done through structured questionnaires in consultations with the tribal practitioners and has resulted in the documentation of 39 medicinal plant species belonging to 27 families and 35 genera. For curing diverse form of ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (76.59%) than the underground plant parts (23.41%). Of the aboveground plant parts, leaf was used in the majority of cases (23 species), followed by fruit (4). Different underground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were also found to be in use by the Jaintia tribe as a medicine. Altogether, 30 types of ailments have been reported to be cured by using these 39 medicinal plant species. The study thus underlines the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind

Ethnomedical study among <i style="">Savaras</i> of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh

166-168The study was carried out on ethnomedical practices among Savara, a primitive tribal population of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh. The paper provides data on 14 medicinal plants used by Savaras for curing various ailments along with their local names, method of preparation and mode of administration. The ethnomedical system among Savaras is quite diverse and the local knowledge is used mostly in primary healthcare. The vast traditional knowledge present among Savaras is mostly attributed to their cultural framework