Inventory of traditional medicinal plants and ethnobotanical knowledge from Hassan District, Karnataka, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9580.17.6.27035-27063Keywords:
Ethnic communities, ethnobotany, fidelity level, healers, leaves, disease, phytochemicals, questionnaire, traditional medicine, Western GhatsAbstract
Global healthcare has long benefited from traditional medical systems. Hassan District, which is geospatially located in the Western Ghats, has a long history of using traditional medicines owing to the region’s rich plant diversity. This study aims to document medicinal plants and their uses in Hassan District, Karnataka, based on information obtained from 172 traditional practitioners. Semi-structured interviews and conversations were conducted using a questionnaire to gather information about traditional medicine. The popularity and significance of each plant species were quantitatively assessed. A total of 220 species in 205 genera and under 93 families were reported for potential ethnomedicinal purposes, with a larger portion of them being herbs (74 species), followed by trees (60 species). Wild plants are the primary source of herbal remedies, with 181 species. Fabaceae and Apocynaceae are the major plant families, with 24 and 14 species, respectively. Leaves (41%) were the most used plant part in ethnomedicinal formulations, followed by fruits (14%), roots (12%), and bark (9%). The highest fidelity level of 96.3% was recorded for Rauvolfia serpentina for snakebite and 96% by Aloe vera for dermatological diseases. A total of 56 species were identified within the IUCN Red List evaluation. These findings hold significant potential, offering valuable insights for future phytochemical and pharmacological investigations, as well as informing strategies for medicinal plant conservation and sustainable utilisation.
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