Abstract
Traditional medical practitioners (Kavirajes) administer primary health care to most of the rural population in Bangladesh. They use medicinal plants for various formulations to treat ailments. The medicinal plants used by the traditional medical practitioners vary considerably from region to region. The objectives of this study were to identify native medicinal plants and their ethno-medicinal use among the traditional medical practitioners of Chuadanga district, Bangladesh. After obtaining informed consent, interviews were conducted with the Kavirajes with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. Plant specimens, as pointed out by respondents, were collected and identified at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. The results show 119 plant species belonging to 64 families were used by the traditional medical practitioners for treatment of various ailments. The most frequently used families were Asteracea with six species followed by Moraceae, Solanaceae and Apocynaceae with five species. Among the selected species the maximum contribution was recorded for herbs with 38% species followed by trees (32%), shrubs (21%), climbers (7%) and palm (2%). Assessments of reported ethno-medicinal activity indicate that these plant species can potentially be of pharmacological interest as well as for conservation of biodiversity.
Introduction
Medicinal plants serve as important therapeutic agents as well as valuable raw material for manufacturing numerous traditional and modern medicines. They offer alternative remedies with tremendous opportunities to generate income, employment and earn foreign currencies for developing countries (Rawat & Uniyal Citation2004). Many traditional healing herbs and their parts have been shown to have medicinal value and can be used to prevent, alleviate or cure several human diseases. It is estimated that 70–80% of people worldwide rely chiefly on traditional, largely herbal medicine to meet their primary health-care needs (Farnsworth & Soejarto Citation1991; Shengji Citation2001). It has further been observed that a number of modern pharmaceuticals have been derived from plants used by indigenous people (Balick & Cox Citation1996; Rahmatullah, Azam, et al. Citation2010). Important modern drugs that have been derived from observations of traditional curing methods of indigenous people include aspirin, atropine, ephedrine, digoxin, morphine, quinine, reserpine and tubocurarine (Gilani & Rahman Citation2005; Rahmatullah, Azam, et al. Citation2010).
In Bangladesh, medicinal plants are found grown naturally in forests, bushes and marginal land along the canal and in other places. A long tradition of indigenous herbal medicinal systems, based on the rich local plant diversity is considered a very important component of the primary health-care system. Among the various systems of traditional medicine co-existing within the country are the homoeopathic, ayurvedic, unani and the traditional medical system. The latter system is practiced by folk or traditional medical practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes (Ghani Citation1998).
There are over 87,000 villages in Bangladesh and most villages have one or two practicing Kavirajes. Knowledge of the medicinal plants used by the Kavirajes of Bangladesh can be a good source for further scientific studies in the quest for better drugs from the medicinal plants used and with lesser side effects. Previous ethno-medicinal studies conducted among traditional and tribal medical practitioners in Bangladesh have noticed considerable variation between the medicinal plants selected by different Kavirajes for treatment of a given ailment (Nawaz et al. Citation2009; Hasan et al. Citation2010; Hossan et al. Citation2010; Mollik, Hassan, et al. Citation2010; Mollik, Hossan, et al. Citation2010; Rahmatullah, Ferdausi, et al. Citation2010; Rahmatullah, Khatun, et al. Citation2010; Jahan et al. Citation2011). These variations exist even between Kavirajes practicing in adjoining villages with identical flora.
Chuadanga is a district in southwestern Bangladesh, with an area of 1157.42 km2. The entire Chuadanga district lies within the Ganges Delta, with rivers Mathabhanga, Bhairab, Kumar, Chitra and Nabaganga flowing through the district. The majority of the area is agricultural land. Total cultivable land amounts to 894.20 km2, of which 57% is under some sort of irrigation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuadanga_District). The remaining uncultivated area and riversides are rich in biodiversity. Although this region was found to be a rich source of medicinal plants, no systematic study has been conducted yet. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to conduct an ethno-medicinal survey among the traditional medical practitioners of villages in the Chuadanga district.
Table 1. Characteristics of medicinal plants obtained from the folk medicinal practitioners of 16 villages in study area.
Methods and materials
Study area
The study was conducted in Chuadanga district, in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. We conducted surveys among traditional medical practitioners of 16 villages in Alamdanga Upazilla and Sadar Upazilla under the district. Eight villages in Chuadanga Sadar Upazilla were included: Chayghoria, Vanderdaho, Bohalgasi, Khezurtala, Songkorchandro, Jugirhudar, Fulbari and Borosolo. The Alamdanga villages were Sorajgong, Boalia, Kutubpur, Jalibila, Subdia, Belekhandi, Gholdari and Hossenpur. Villages were randomly selected. It was observed that traditional medical practitioners of that area often collect their raw materials from these villages.
Data collection
Data were collected through personal interviews by the researchers themselves during 25 May to 25 July 2012, using questionnaires prepared earlier. The villages had nine traditional medical practitioners. The practitioners were told in detail as to the nature and purpose of the survey and consent was particularly obtained to disseminate the survey results in national or international publications. Actual interviews were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided fieldwork method of Martin (Citation1995) and Maundu (Citation1995). In this method, the practitioners took the interviewers on guided field tours through areas from where they collected their medicinal plants, pointed out the plants and described their uses. All information provided during daytime field tours were later double-checked with the practitioners in evening sessions. Interviews were conducted in the Bengali language, which was very well spoken and understood by the traditional practitioners. Plant specimens as pointed out by the practitioners were collected and dried and sent to Dhaka for identification to the Bangladesh National Herbarium, Mirpur, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh. The medicinal plant voucher specimens’ numbers are DACB37960–DACB38077.
Results
The recognized medicinal plants and their ethno-medicinal uses along with accession number, common name, family name, life form and part used are summarized in . A total of 119 medicinal plants belonging to 64 families were recognized. Major families contributing plant species towards treatment of various diseases included the Apocynaceae, Combretaceae, Fabaceae, Moraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Piperaceae and Poaceae families. Among the medicinal plants, the maximum contribution was recorded for herbs with 45 species (39%) followed by trees with 38 species (32%), shrubs with 25 species (21%), climbers with 9 species (7%) and palms with 2 species (2%). Most of the plant species were found to be for ornamental (36%), fruit growth (33%) or timber (31%) purposes.
Plant parts used for medicinal purposes were whole plant (35%), leaf (24%), fruit (13%), bark (8%), root (4%), seed (4%), stem (3%), rhizome (3%), latex (2%), gum (2%) and tuber (1%). Most plants were used to alleviate complaints related to cold, cough, fever, asthma, diarrhoea and dysentery, diabetes, skin disease and sexual diseases.
58.6% of the respondents were found to collect medicinal plants species from riverside and roadside. On the other hand, 20.7%, 13.8%, and 6.7% of the respondents collected medicinal plants from local market, nursery sources and neighbour’s house, respectively. In the study area, we found that amloki, arjun, helencha, shefali, lajjaboti, hatishur, bot and bel are likely to be threatened, in accordance with WWF and IUCN, Citation1994–1997 ().
Discussion
Medicinal plants grow naturally around us. Medicinal plants have been used by humans since prehistoric times (Rahman et al. Citation2011). Over centuries, cultures around the world have learned how to use plants to fight illness and maintain health. Exploitation of medicinal and aromatic plants as pharmaceuticals, herbal remedies, flavourings, perfumes and cosmetics, and other natural products has greatly increased globally (Rao & Arora Citation2004; Khan et al. Citation2009). It is estimated that 70–80% of people worldwide (Shengji Citation2001), with the use of 20% of drugs in modern allopathic medicine (Uddin et al. Citation2008), rely mainly on traditional herbal medicine to meet their primary health-care needs. These readily available and culturally important traditional medicines form the basis of an accessible and affordable health-care regime and are an important source of livelihood for indigenous and rural populations. Continuous and overuse of the medicinal plants in drugs has resulted in decline in their numbers. Therefore, there is a need to conserve medicinal plants on the basis of ethno-botanical knowledge gained through local people (Said Citation1994). Leaves and roots generally form the most frequently used plant parts in traditional medicine (Giday et al. Citation2003; Wondimu et al. Citation2007). Our survey results indicated a similar statement of plant parts used in this area, where leaves formed 24% of the total uses. Whole plant formed 35% of the uses, while fruits and roots used formed 14% and 4%, respectively, of the total uses.
The amount of medicinal plants used by the Kavirajes of this area are reported in the traditional medicinal systems to be effective against cough and cold, fever, asthma, jaundice, bronchitis, diarrhoea and dysentery, skin diseases, cuts and wounds, joint pain, headache, digestive problems, cancer, skin burns, diabetes, sexual disorders, etc. However, various parts from the same plant were observed to be used to treat different diseases. For example, Ipomoea reptans Poir leaf juices are used for arsenic poisoning. Ipomoea reptans Poir leaves and seeds are taken for cooling and buds remove ringworm. Ipomoea reptans Poir flower are taken for inflamed eyes as a drop and the root juice is used in diarrhoea. Similarly, Ageratum conyzoides L. leaves and stems are used boiled as purgative, febrifuge, antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, analgesic, antidiarrhoeic, anti-inflammatory, against colic and for headache relief (Lima et al. Citation2005). Ageratum conyzoides L. leaves are used for skin disease. Ageratum conyzoides L. flower buds cure cancerous growth. A single plant part is also used for treating multiple diseases. For example, Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers., leaf is used for kidney stones, bronchial infections, blood dysentery, gout and jaundice (Muzitano & Curuz Citation2006). Various plants are used for treatment of a single disease. To cite one instance of each, the leaf of Moringa oleifera Lam. is used for treatment of diabetes. Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don leaf pastes are used in diabetes. The antidiabetic activities of whole plants or plant parts of Catharanthus roseus, Ficus racemosa, Moringa oleifera, Musa sapientum and Syzygium cumini have also been reported (Pandey & Khan Citation2002; Sangsuwan et al. Citation2004; Adewoye et al. Citation2009; Islam et al. Citation2009; Jaiswal et al. Citation2009; Ahmed & Urooj Citation2010; Rasineni et al. Citation2010; Hafizur et al. Citation2011).
The traditional practitioners are heavily dependent on riversides and roadsides of adjoining wild areas for meeting their medicinal plant needs. The increasing loss of wild habitat due to human encroachment is making collection of all medicinal plants difficult for the traditional practitioners. The problem is further worsened by spiralling of local population along with new human settlement. Scarcity of medicinal plants results in the young generation of Kavirajes forgetting their own cultures and traditions (Rahmatullah et al. Citation2012). The justification of medicinal plant usage by the Kavirajes or traditional medical practitioners and their mode of usage indicate that this knowledge will be useful to investigate those plants’ use in modern science. At the same time, scientific justification of the various medicinal plants’ use by the traditional medical practitioners can go a long way towards conservation and cultivation of these plant species. Finally, it can be concluded that availability of native medicinal plant species can be ensured through management of areas that are rich in plants with important medicinal properties with the development of rural and community based resources.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Mr. Shabbir Ahammed, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh, for checking the English language and grammar. Authors would also like to thank Mr. Bushra Khan, Principal Scientific Officer, Bangladesh National Herbarium, Mirpur, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh, for the plant identification.
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