Plants 2017, 6(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants6010013
First Report on the Ethnopharmacological Uses of Medicinal Plants by Monpa Tribe from the Zemithang Region of Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalayas, India
1
Institute of Ethnobiology, School of Studies in Botany, Jiwaji University, Gwalior 474011, India
2
Chair of Site Classification and Vegetation Science, Institute of Forest Sciences, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstr. 4, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany
3
Resource Survey and Management Division, Forest Research Institute, PO New Forest, Dehra Dun 248006, India
4
Chair of Silviculture, Institute of Forest Sciences, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacherstr. 4, D-79106 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
5
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlstr. 11, D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
6
Directorate of Extension, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, PO New Forest, Dehra Dun 248006, India
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Milan S. Stankovic
Received: 28 November 2016 / Revised: 20 February 2017 / Accepted: 24 February 2017 / Published: 2 March 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal Plants and Natural Product Research)
Abstract
The Himalayas are well known for high diversity and ethnobotanical uses of the region’s medicinal plants. However, not all areas of the Himalayan regions are well studied. Studies on ethnobotanical uses of plants from the Eastern Himalayas are still lacking for many tribes. Past studies have primarily focused on listing plants’ vernacular names and their traditional medicinal uses. However, studies on traditional ethnopharmacological practices on medicine preparation by mixing multiple plant products of different species has not yet been reported in published literature from the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, Eastern Himalayas. In this study, we are reporting for the first time the ethnopharmacological uses of 24 medicines and their procedures of preparation, as well as listing 53 plant species used for these medicines by the Monpa tribe. Such documentations are done first time in Arunachal Pradesh region of India as per our knowledge. Our research emphasizes the urgent need to document traditional medicine preparation procedures from local healers before traditional knowledge of tribal people living in remote locations are forgotten in a rapidly transforming country like India. View Full-TextKeywords:
medicinal plants; traditional knowledge; Eastern Himalayas; mountain plants; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology; bioprospecting
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Chakraborty, T.; Saha, S.; Bisht, N.S. First Report on the Ethnopharmacological Uses of Medicinal Plants by Monpa Tribe from the Zemithang Region of Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalayas, India. Plants 2017, 6, 13.
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