North-East India represents a unique ecosystem with treasured medicinal plant wealth closely related with Folk medicines. A large number of plants having medicinal properties and their folk uses have remained confined to the natives of this region. The tribal community of Jonai, Assam was explored to expose the indigenous herbal remedy for malaria. Sixteen antimalarial plants belonging to 13 families were reported. The analysis revealed highest fidelity level (FL) value for Ajuga integrifolia (100%) followed by Ricinus communis (94%), Alstonia scholaris (88%), Oroxylum indicum (86%) and Achyranthes aspera (82%). The percentage of respondent’s knowledge (PRK) about anti-malarial plants showed Alstonia scholaris as the most commonly known antimalarial species (53%) within this region. Preference ranking (PR) unveiled eight species to be very effective against malarial parasite, which includes Allium sativum, Artemisia indica, Azadirachta indica, Carica papaya, Clerodendrum glandulosum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Oroxylum indicum, Piper longum and Piper nigrum. All medicine preparations are made using water as the medium and are orally administered in the form of crude extract, powder, juice and decoction. Overall analysis suggested Ajuga integrifolia, Achyranthes aspera, Alstonia scholaris, Artemisia indica, Oroxylum indicum and Ricinus communis to be used for the development of novel, economical, effective and ecofriendly herbal formulations for healthcare management.

The traditional dependence on wild edible plants (WEP) is natural for the tribal communities in Arunachal Pradesh. The rich flora and dense vegetation a.most in all regions of the state provide numerous such edible plants.The people of Tangsa tribal community living in the Kharsan Circle of Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. A study among them led to the record of 51 species of wild plants of which 36 species are dicotyledonous, 13 are monocotyledonous and one species each from gymnosperms and pteridophytes. These are dominated by herbaceous plants and leaves and leafy-young shoots are the most preferred plants parts to eat. While majority of the plant parts they consume after cooking, they also prepare chatneys and pickles. While just one plant part is eaten for 45 species, three parts (leaves, strobilus and seeds) of Gnetum gnemon and two parts of five other species (Begonia roxburghii, Calamus tenuis, Physalis minima, Salacca secunda and Spondias pennata) are edible.In addition to their food value, some of these plants are also used as medicine, for thatching, handicrafts, etc. However, many of these wild-harvests are also sold in local temporary markets.Assessment of the population structure is to be done immediately and proper conservation strategies need to be developed and implemented for their sustainable harvest and use.Pleione 12(2): 151 -164. 2018.

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Endophytes are important source of natural bioactive products because these fungal endophytes are able to take unique biological and ecological niches and grow in nonordinary environments. Many natural bioactive compounds produced by medicinal plants are reportedly produced by their fungal endophytes. Spilanthes paniculata (locally called Marsang in Arunachal Pradesh) is known to possess medicinal properties. In the present study, the endophytic mycoflora of S. paniculata was studied. In order to isolate fungal endophytes, 150 segments (50 leaf, 50 stem, and 50 root samples) of 15 different plants of S. paniculata were screened. Finally, 110 isolates consisting of twenty different fungal genera, out of which, seven belonged to the class Ascomycetes, twelve (Deuteromycetes) and one (Ulvophycetes). Among the parts studied, the highest species richness as well as frequency of colonization was reported in Leaf. Overall, colonization frequency was determined 73.33% of surface sterilized tissue. Colletotrichum was found to be the most dominant endophytic species followed by Fusarium, Manokwaria and Oncopodium. It is worth mentioning that the genera Pestalotiopsis, Drecheslra, Cylindrocladium, Aspergillus, Nodulisporium were, first reported from Arunachal Pradesh. The present study was therefore, initiated to study the endophytic fungal population in S. paniculata, a commonly used medicinal plant in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India.

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The traditional landraces of rice plant had a major role in building socio-economic status of rural poor. The present study deals with the diversity and ethnobotanic significance of indigenous landraces of rice in Lakhimpur district of Assam, India. Altogether, twenty-one indigenous landraces of rice were collected during the present study. Each class having important role to play, the major classes of rice include glutinous, common rice and aromatic rice. Other than being a staple food, rice and its products are still frequently used by rural folk in various festivals, religious and social ceremonies in the form of sweets, cakes, snacks and beverages. Bora-dhan was reported with the highest use value. Based on grain’s qualitative and quantitative traits, the obtained dendrogram contains four different clusters; while, the OTUs (Operational taxonomic unit) present in a cluster display morphological similarity. The dendrogram also illustrated diversified distribution of grains in this region. The study also reveals the profound relationship of people with the traditional landraces of rice. The ethnic farmers should be made aware to promote on-farm conservation of crop diversity, before it is lost under the debris of modernization.

Medicinal plants extend to show an imperative role in the rural healthcare system of developing countries, where herbal medicine has a continuous history of long use. Field studies were conducted following standard ethnobotanical techniques to collect information on the use of toxic and medicinal plants used by the Wancho tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Vigna radiata was used as a plant model in this study to investigate the antiproliferative property of selected medicinal plant extracts. Green gram seedling root apical meristem cells were used to determine the inhibition of germination and slow growth. Different concentrations of plant extract (20, 50, 250 and 500 µg/ml) were treated in a test tube containing the green gram seeds (n=5) on time dependent manner. Colchicine (20 mg/ml) was used as a standard drug for the growth retardation of green gram seedlings, while the distilled water group served as negative control. Germination test of Vigna radiata L. was performed according to ISTA (International Rules for Seed Testing) rules. The present study concludes that the methanolic plant extracts of all the collected plants significantly inhibited the rate of seed germination and seedling growth at dose dependent manner. It signifies that the use of Phlogacanthus parviflorus and Mikania micrantha in high concentrations may be potentially therapeutic for inhibiting the cell cycle in eukaryotic organisms.