Certain Ethnomedicinal plants used by Local communities in Sivasagar District of Assam, India

Abstract

The present study  deals with the certain medicinal plants used by  local communities as Ahom, Brahmin, Chutiya, Kaibartta,Koch, Kalita, Deuris, Mishing, Tea tribes etc in  Sivasagar district of Assam for the treatment of various diseases & ailments. The information were collected through questionnaire with the village head(Gaon Burah), local healers including bez and bezine. A total number of 30 plant species belonging to 24 families have been documented and used as traditional medicine by  local communities of the study area. The herbal medicine were prepared from various plant parts of single plant or multiple plants. The different parts of the plants   included are leaf, root, branch, leaf branch,rhizome,bark, bud,fruit, gum ,whole plant etc. Leaf is found more frequently used than other parts of the plant. Altogether, 25 types of diseases including Asthmatic problem, blood dysentery, diabetes & urinary problem, high fever, jaundice, menstrual problem, piles etc have been reported to be cured by using these 30 plant species. These plant species are commonly available in the natural reserve of the study area but some of the plant species are going to be threatened. The study   thus underlines the potentials of the ethno-botanical study and the need for the documentation of traditional ecological knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind.