Abstract

MEDICINAL PLANTS SURVEY ON THE PANIYA KURUMABA AND THODA TRIBES IN NILGIRI HILLS TAMILNADU INDIA

Pavithra D.* and Suganthi A.

Abstract

Medicinal herbs are moving from fringe to mainstream use with a greater number of people seeking remedies and health approaches free from side effects caused by synthetic chemicals. Recently, considerable attention has been paid to utilize eco-friendly and biofriendly plant based medicinal products for the prevention and cure of different human diseases. It is documented that 80% of the world‟s population has faith in traditional medicine. People uses wild plants in many types of different ways to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing, Plants are used as a medicine for treatment of internal and external diseases. Medicinal plants survey on the Paniya, Kurumba, and Toda tribes on Nilgiri hills Tamilnadu India. In this survey of medicinal plants 43 plants belongs to the 24 families were recorded. They are Onagraceae, Liliaceae, Sapindaceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Arecaceae, Solanaceae, Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteracea, Araceae, Piperaceae, Malvaceae, Poaceae, Apocyanaceae, Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Menispermaceae, Zingiberaceae, Rutaceae, Asphodelaceae, Berberdaceae, Erecaceae, Myrtaceae. The maximum plants were used from the family Solanaceae (6) and Euphorbiaceae(4). The maximum plant parts used in medicine preparation were leaf, seed followed by whole plant, fruit bulb, root, shoot and rhizome.

Keywords: Tribes, Medicinal plants, Uses, Diseases.