Ethno-medico-botanical knowledge of Tiptur taluk in Tumkur district of Karnataka, India

Abstract

Medicinal plants play an important role in the primary healthcare in rural India, since they are available locally, inexpensive and are said to have less side-effects. Herbal medicinal knowledge is an invaluable treasure that requires scientific documentation. The phyto-ethno-medicinal knowledge of Tiptur taluk of Karnataka state, India, has not been documented in the literature. Traditional plant medicinal knowledge available with folk people of the taluk was collected by interview-based semi-structured questionnaire and data was subjected to Informant consensus factor (ICF). The study revealed the use of 127 plant species of 118 genera and 52 families to treat 79 diseases and disorders affecting humans in the study area. The study also documented 60 new claims of medicinal use of plants, of which 22 reveals were on individual, and 38 on more than two plant formulations. The ICF analysis revealed that respiratory (0.54) and dermatological disorders (0.52) were highly prevalent in the area, for which 28 and 62 medicinal herbs, respectively, were prescribed by the herbal healers. The present study indicated that the herbal healers have a fair knowledge and a considerable number of their formulations are new records.