Diversity of Ethnomedicinal Plants among Tribal Communities in Anuppur District, Madhya Pradesh, Central India

ABSTRACT

Ethnobotanical data were collected from local traditional healers using semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, and group discussions in 29 villages of Anuppur district, Madhya Pradesh, Central India. A total of 114 plant species from 103 genera from 59 families were identified as being used in the treatment of different diseases. Trees constituted the highest proportion of 43 species (38%), and the most preferred method of preparation of traditional medicines from plant material was in crushed powdered form (68, 40.47%). The informants’ consensus about the usage of medicinal plants in the study area ranged from 0.18 to 0.5 for 13 categories. The fidelity level for 11 plant species ranged from 33.33% to 75%.

KEYWORDS:

• Traditional knowledge
• disease condition
• medicinal plants

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India, for funding this work (File Number: Gen-02/2019-2020/ICSSR/RP). The Pushprajgarh Forest Service and the village representatives were gracious enough to allow the field investigators to undertake research on traditional medicinal plants in the Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, India [Gen-02/2019-2020/ICSSR/RP].