Ethnobotanical and taxonomic studies of some medicinal plants nearby Achankovil forests, Kerala

The study concludes that the Malapandaram tribes utilize many species as medicines for curing different ailments. These medicinal plants are the source of common primary health care practices by them. Efforts are, therefore, required to conserve and protect this traditional knowledge of these tribes including the ethical, cultural and religious aspects in addition to the conservation of these medicinal plant species. These also shows the depth of indigenous knowledge and practice on medicinal plants to treat ailments. This indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is owned by older age people.             It can also be concluded as herbs constitute the main source of traditional remedies and leaves were found to be the most frequently used plant parts followed by roots for preparation of human and livestock remedies. The wide use of some medicinal plants, their various parts, and use of fresh plant materials leads to be the potential threats for the loss of medicinal plants in the study area. Medicinal plants mainly threatened by anthropogenic factors such as firewood collection, overgrazing, charcoal production, changing wild vegetation to farm land, and overpopulation have all been recognized as contributing factors to the loss of plant taxa. The oral-based knowledge transfer, refusal of young next generation to gain the indigenous knowledge, the influence of modern education, and lack of awareness were the major threats to vacant indigenous knowledge.

·             Ara SM, Naqshi AR (1992). Ethnobotanical studies in Guries valley. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 17(3):185. ·             Bhattacharyya A (1991). Ethnobotanical observations in the Ladakh region of northern Jammu and Kashmir State India. Econ. Bot. 45:305-308. ·             Calixto, J.B., 2005. Twentyfive years of research on medicinal plants in Latin America: a personal review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 100, 131–134. ·             Cano, J.H., Volpato, G., 2004. Herbal mixtures in the traditional medicine of Eastern Cuba. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 90, 293–316. ·             Chaudhuri AB (2007). Endangered medicinal plants. Daya Publishing House, New Delhi, India. ·             Claeson, U.P., Malmfors, T., Wikman, G., Bruhn, J.G., 2000. Adhatoda vasica: a critical review of ethnopharmacological and toxicological data. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 72, 1–20. ·             Cormier-Salem MC, Roussel B (2002). Patrimoines et savoirs naturalistes locaux. In: Martin JY (ed) Développement durable? Doctrines pratiques evaluations. Paris, France: IRD pp. 125-142. ·             Cunningham AB (2001). Applied ethnobotany. People, wild plant use and conservation. London: Earthscan. ·             Dar GH, Baghat RC, Khan MA (2002). Biodiversity of Kashmir Himalaya. Srinagar, J&K, India: Valley Book House. ·             Dar GH, Veer J, Kachroon P, Buth GM (1984). Ethnobotany of Kashmir1 Valley. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 5:668-675. ·             DeWalt BR (1994). Using indigenous knowledge to improve agriculture and natural resource management. Hum. Organ. 53:123-131. ·             Ernst, E., 2005. The efficacy of herbal medicine – an overview. Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology 19, 405–409.