NOPR Collection:

Wild edible plants of Jharkhand and their utilitarian perspectives

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Wild edible plants of Jharkhand and their utilitarian perspectives Authors: Kumar, R; Saikia, P Abstract: The wild edible plants (WEPs) form an important constituent of traditional diets of the tribal community of Jharkhand. Most of the rural populations residing in different parts of Jharkhand depend on plants and their parts to fulfil their daily needs and have developed unique knowledge about their utilization. The present study has been conducted to document the indigenous knowledge related to the diversity and uses of wild edible weeds in day to day life of tribal in Jharkhand. A total of 77 different herbs, shrubs, and small trees have been recorded belonging to 38 families of which 73 are edible either as a vegetable or as medicine or in both forms directly or after proper processing. The common wild edible herbs frequently distributed in the study area are Hemidesmus indicus R. Br. (51 quadrats out of 134) and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (47 quadrats out of 134). Similarly, the most frequent edible shrubs are Clerodendrum viscosum Vent., nom. superfl. (40), Lantana camara L. (35), Croton oblongifolius Roxb. (34) and Flemingia stobilifera (L.) R.Br. (20). The diversity of WEPs in Jharkhand has found to be depleted due to their over exploitation and unsustainable harvesting for foods, medicines as well as because of various other biotic interferences including grazing, herbivory and anthropogenic fire. Therefore, there is an urgent need to conserve these valuable Wild edible plants (WEPs) and use it in a sustainable manner to ensure future demand. Besides, further research is also warrant to explore the therapeutic potentials as well the nutritive values of WEPs, so that, it can give a scientific basis for the further development of herbal drugs and traditional foods. Page(s): 237-250

Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants from Khoy city of West Azerbaijan- Iran

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants from Khoy city of West Azerbaijan- Iran Authors: Younessi-Hamzekhanlu, Mehdi; Ozturk, Munir; Altay, Volkan; Nojadeh, Mohsen Sabzi; Alakbarli, Farid Abstract: The main objective of this study was to gather information on the use of plants by native people along with therapies suggested by the conventional healers of Khoy. It was analyzed and some important indices including, frequency of citation (FC), cultural importance index (IC), use report (UR) and informants consensus factor (ICF) were calculated. A total of 123 plant taxa belonging to 46 families used for cure of various ailments are reported in this investigation. Among the plants evaluated Apiaceae, Lamiaceae and Asteraceae were the dominant families. The most repeatedly utilized parts are aerial parts (23.2%), followed by leaves (18%). Most frequently used method for consumption has been raw (19.7%), followed by infusion (16.5%). Maximum value of ICF was obtained in digestive system category (with 0.81), followed by respiratory and blood use categories (each with 0.80). Malva neglecta Wallr. was the most cited plant, followed by Mentha longifolia (L.) L. and Plantago major L., Cichorium intybus L. and Salix aegyptiaca L. seem to be the most culturally important plants. The indices like IC and FC could be helpful in selecting important medicinal plant species for further pharmacological investigations in order to find new biologically active compounds. Page(s): 251-267

Traditional processing associated changes in chemical parameters of wild Yam (Dioscorea) tubers from Koraput, Odisha, India

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Traditional processing associated changes in chemical parameters of wild Yam (Dioscorea) tubers from Koraput, Odisha, India Authors: Panda, Debabrata; Biswas, Meghali; Padhan, Bandana; Lenka, Sangram K Abstract: Wild yam tuber considered as famine food and played a prime role in the food habit of tribal people of Koraput district of Odisha, India. The tribal people employed a range of processing of these yams such as boiled, soaked and sun dried for detoxification of antinutrients in accordance with their needs. There is a scarcity of documented information on their nutrient composition/retention by traditional processing methods. The current study assessed the traditional processing (boiled, soaked and sun dried) associated changes in chemical composition and physico-functional characteristics of 6 wild and 1 cultivated Dioscorea tubers collected from Koraput, India. Different processing led to a significant reduction of proximate compositions and nutrient content compared to the raw tuber, whereas physico-functional parameters increased significantly (p<0.05). In addition, there was significant decrease in the antinutrients, minerals and vitamin content by different processing in studied yam species. Results suggested that wild Dioscorea tubers as safe food sources for mass consumption and should be used in boiling form, as it retains higher nutrients coupled with significant removal of antinutritional compositions. Page(s): 268-276

Ethnomedicinal plants of the sacred groves and their uses by Karbi tribe in Karbi Anglong district of Assam, Northeast India

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Ethnomedicinal plants of the sacred groves and their uses by Karbi tribe in Karbi Anglong district of Assam, Northeast India Authors: Baidya, Shilpa; Thakur, Bijay; Devi, Ashalata Abstract: The present study was conducted to record the ethnomedicinal plants and their uses by the Karbi tribe in Bichikri and Harlong sacred groves of West Karbi Anglong district of Assam. A prestructured questionnaire survey and quantitative analysis was carried out to record the medicinal plants and to determine the ailments categories. A total of 38 ethnomedicinal plants (36 genera and 27 families) were recorded from the study sites. Leaves were found as the dominant plant parts used for the treatment of various health ailments. The highest F_ic value was recorded for cold, dermatological, skeletal muscle pain and inflammation, general health, and infectious disease and genital-urinary disorder categories. The informant agreement ratio (IAR) was found higher for 18 species. The fidelity level (FL) of 11 species secured the highest FL value (100%) and the used value (UV) was in the range of 0.05 to 0.93. The present study has revealed that the Karbi tribe living around the sacred groves depends on the plant species for their health care. However, proper management is required for the conservation of sacred groves through sustainable utilization of medicinal plants occurred in the groves. Page(s): 277-287