Ethnobotanical investigation on herbal remedies for musculoskeletal disorders in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are of common occurrence among the elderly people which impair mobility and associated with mild to acute pain. A large number of synthetic drugs are available to treat different kinds of MSDs but often associated with severe side effects.  People of rural and remote regions overcome these problems by traditional herbal treatments available locally which are safe and effective. Traditional herbal therapies are age-old practices evolved and orally transferred to generations over a period of time. Hence, this survey has been undertaken to document the ethnomedicinal practices pertaining to MSDs.

Methods: Ethnobotanical surveys were carried out during April 2018 to October 2023 in rural and remote regions of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state, India, to collect primary data on usage of medicinal plants for treating MSDs. Information was gathered from 149 traditional practitioners through semi-structured open ended interviews using a questionnaire. The data was analyzed by conventional methods and quantitative parameters such as use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC) and informant consensus factor (ICF).

Results: A total of 210 plant species belonging to 68 families have been documented.  This survey has recorded 352 herbal preparations with 634 use reports to treat arthritis, backache, bone fracture, joint pain, muscle pain, spasm and vertigo. Medicinal plant species which exhibited high RFC values are Brassica nigra (0.27), Cuminum cyminum (0.24), Ricinus communis (0.21) and Allium sativum (0.21). High ICF value is reported for the disease category vertigo (ICF=0.67), followed by spasm (ICF=0.56), bone fracture (ICF=0.51), muscle pain (ICF=0.27), backache (ICF=0.18), joint pain (ICF=0.12) and the least ICF value for arthritis (ICF=0.03).

Conclusions: Fabaceae was the most dominant family in terms of species diversity (22 species), followed by Apocyanaceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae (9 species each); Phyllanthaceae and Rutaceae (8 species each); Acanthaceae (7 species), Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Myrtaceae and Moraceae (6 species each); Lauraceae, Poaceae and Solanaceae (5 species each). Plant species such as Brassica nigra, Cuminum cyminum and Vitex negundo have been used to treat 6 disease categories; Cocos nucifera, Croton persimilis, Rauvolfia serpentina, Ricinus communis, Scleropyrum pentandrum and Tamarindus indica were used to treat 5 disease categories. The main route of administration of drug was external application (82.10%). Among the documented plant species, 17 species are endemic to Western Ghats and Peninsular India.  Plant species Syzygium travancoricum is critically endangered whereas Borassus flabellifer, Syzygium caryophyllatum and Tectona grandis are in endangered category as per IUCN red list.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Arthritis, Traditional knowledge, Informant consensus factor