Putative Anthelmintic Plants Used in Traditional Medicine System of Kokrajhar District, India

Abstract

Background: Traditional medicine (TM) is a common practice among tribal communities of India. The present study has been designed to collect the ethnomedicinal plants used by the Bodo community of Kokrajhar district of India traditionally consumed to cure helminth infection.

Methods: A total of 54 villages were surveyed from the Kokrajhar district. Twenty adjacent villages were taken as a cluster, and one informant was interviewed face-to-face with the help of a readymade questionnaire. Traditional knowledge system of anthelmintic herbal medicines such as the name of the plants, parts used, methods of formulation, and mode of uses was collected. The demography of the informants was also collected.

Results: Total of 64 species of traditionally used anthelmintic plants belonging to 38 families were documented from Kokrajhar district, India. Andrographis paniculata was the most popular plant, followed by Alstonia scholaris, Ananas comosus, and Azadirachta indica. Poaceae was the most popular plant family with six species of anthelmintic plants. The leaves were the most commonly used plant-part (63%), followed by barks and tubers. Raw, decoction and infusion were the standard method of traditional formulations reported from the district. Fresh and raw plant parts in the form of paste or balls and oral consumption were the primary means of administration. Demographically, most of the knowledge bearers were found to be illiterate and aged above 50 years of age.

Conclusions: The medicinal plants reported in the present study could be a source of important medicines. A proper scientific study needs to be carried out to study the efficacy of the traditional formulations to ascertain their bioactivity.

Keywords: Ethnomedicine, Anthelmintic, Tribal Community, Kokrajhar