Ethnomedicinal plants used by Irula tribe in Tamil Nadu, India: A review

Abstract

Irulas are one of the dominant tribal communities in Southern India. The ethnobotanical knowledge used for medicinal purposes and daily food utilised by the indigenous community from Tamil Nadu, India was reviewed and presented. All the available literature, articles, reports, books and websites were reviewed for the present work. A total of 60 published records were found on ethnobotany and medicinal plants of Irulas starting from 1980 to 2023 from Tamil Nadu which was reviewed and analysed here. In this review, about 34 publications were represented from the Coimbatore district as a major contribution and 11 from Nilgiris district. A total of 663 species and 462 genera belonging to 121 families were used by the Irulas community from Tamil Nadu state. Overall, 15 major broad-type disorders were categorised for the utilisation of plant species under different ailments and diseases. About 417 species were consumed for general health purposes and disorders of fever, cold, cough, headache, migraine, cuts, wounds, and body pain, followed by 288 species for gastrointestinal and 177 species for dermatological disorders. The present review on ethnomedicinal plants provides updated valuable information and amend on the traditional folk medicine and daily food utilised by the indigenous tribe of Tamil Nadu. The ethnobotanical data could play a major role in the medicinal plant of RET species conservation. Also, this will serve as a great potential value for the locals and urban environment.