Tribal Medicinal Plants

An ethnobotanical survey was undertaken to collect information from traditional healers on the use of medicinal plants in the Western Ghats, Tamilnadu during 2003 to 2007. The investigation revealed that, the traditional healers used 75 species of plants distributed in 71 genera belonging to 40 families to treat various diseases. The documented medicinal plants were mostly used to cure skin disorders, poison bites, stomach ache, nervous disorders, diabetes, common cold, cancer, ulcers and wounds. Among the plants, 20 frequently used plants were selected and various studies such as Pharmacognostical, Antimicrobial and Free radical scavenging studies were performed to prove their medicinal potential. The traditional healers are dwindling in number and there is a potential danger of traditional knowledge disappearing soon, as the younger generation is not intensely interested to further this tradition. This study supports claims that the Malasar posses a rich traditional aboriginal knowledge of medicinal plants and that many aboriginals and mainstream people utilize medicinal plants of the Ayyasamy hills, situated in the Western Ghats between Tamilnadu – Kerala state borders.