Anti-Malarial Plants of Jonai, India: an Ethnobotanical Approach

Abstract

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.

Clerodendrum Glandulosum Lindl.: A Review of Ethnopharmacology, Pharmacological Potentials, and their Mechanism of Action

“…[24] C. glandulosum is used as an anti-malarial plant as it was unveiled to be effective against the malarial parasite. [25] The Garo tribe of Meghalaya cooks C. glandulosum as a vegetable and uses it as a medicine for blood pressure. [26] Table 1 shows the reported traditional uses of C. glandulosum by the different communities of Northeast India.…”

“…Lukhna biphang Bodo Whole plant Boiled in water to make a decoction and taken twice a day [39] Pakkom Jonai Tribe (Assam) Leaves [25] Orematong Karbi Tribe (Assam) Roots, leaves, and bark [39] Cough Tapen, Poto Adi, Nishi tribes (Arunachal Pradesh) Leaves Not specified [48] Antidote Umrem Naga Infusion of leaves mixed with bark Paste [50] Blood Purifier Puihnam Lushai tribe (Assam) Leaves Not specified [46] Toothache Oingtapo Galo tribe (Arunachal Pradesh)…”

“…There are also records of C. glandulosum being used against hepatic and gastric disorders in Manipur traditional medicine, as reported by Deb et al., 2015 [24] . C. glandulosum is used as an anti‐malarial plant as it was unveiled to be effective against the malarial parasite [25] . The Garo tribe of Meghalaya cooks C. glandulosum as a vegetable and uses it as a medicine for blood pressure [26] .…”

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“…Fourteen different plant parts were used to treat diseases in the study. The most cited plant parts used in healthcare treatments are leaves (52 reports) followed by roots (11), fruits (10), rhizomes (9), barks (7), seeds (6), stems, flowers, shoots and aerial parts (5 each), peels (3), mucilage and whole parts (2 each) and latex (1) (Fig. 5).…”

“…Due to the cultural and community diversity of the district, plant species are used in different diseases and purposes, such as religious practices 7,8 , anti-diabetic potential ethnobotanicals 9 , reproductive health 10 , anti-malarial treatment, etc. [11][12][13][14][15] . Besides medicinal plants in human healthcare, they are also used traditionally for ethnoveterinary purposes 16 .…”