Ethnobotanical Investigation on the Malayali Tribes in Javadhu Hills, Eastern Ghats, South India

An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted in Javadhu hills of Eastern Ghats, Thiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu, South India, by collecting information from the Malayali tribes through interviews, structured questionnaires and group discussion during September 2012 to August 2013. A total of 11 Malayali tribes cooperated with the researchers to share their traditional knowledge and helped in the collection of 110 medicinal plants. The collected plants are listed with their botanical, local and family names along with the details of part(s) used, traditional use and ethnomedicinal preparation. It was found that the 110 plant species belonging to 100 genera and 51 plant families were traditionally used to cure 17 human ailments. The maximum number of plants species (26) was used for Gastro-Intestinal Diseases (GID), 16 plant species each for Dermatological Infections/Diseases (DID) and Skeleto-Muscular System Disorders (SMSD), and 11 for Respiratory System Diseases (RSD). The analysis of different plant parts used to cure diseases revealed that leaves were the most widely used plant part, which accounted for 59 species out of 110 reported medicinal plants in this study, followed by root (15 species) and fruit (12 species). The majority of the ethnomedicinal preparation type was in the form of paste from 54 plants (49%). The results showed that the Malayali tribes depended heavily on the medicinal plants of the hills inhabited by them, stressing the need for revival of interest in ethnomedicine. Documentation of ethnobotanical knowledge is the need of the hour as it may carry solution for unsolved areas like 'cancer' and 'ageing', besides adding wealth of knowledge to 'Green medicine'.