Ethnoveterinary Practices in Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Ayurvedic medicines are considered to be the best systems of treatment in India and this system is spreading now globally. Natural products are also a part of our everyday life. Ethno veterinary medicine is developed by farmers in field and barns rather than and in scientific laboratories. It is less systematic, less formalized and usually transferred by word of mouth rather than writing. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in 10 selected sites of Villupuram district. Twenty six plant species belonging to fourteen families were documented in the present study, to cure different diseases in animals. Interviews and detailed personal discussions were conducted with the traditional healers and local people to identify the plants and their medicinal information for six months. The study revealed that the different parts of these plants were used for treatment of different diseases. Leaves are the mostly used part to prepare medicine.

Indigenous Knowledge on Animal Health Care Practices in Kendrapara District of Odisha, India

“…This overlap may be a reflection on transfer of local knowledge between the folk veterinary and the ethnomedicinal domains [50].The tribes/people belonging to different states of the country differing in their language, religion and culture also use some of the medicinal plant species of the present study, however, purposes and methods of uses are different. For example, Acacia nilotica flower is used in jaundice by the people of Tikamgarh District of Bundelkhand, Central India [51]; Annona squamosa leaf is used to cure indigestion, flatulence and gas trouble in abdomen by the folk communities of Andhra Pradesh [52]; Brassica campestris seed oil is administered orally to calves suffering from indigestion and weakness [53]; Albizia lebbeck fruits are fed to the animals to increase milk production by the local people of Dang district of south Gujarat [54]; Bombax ceiba leaves and flowers is used in stomach disorders [55]; Withania somnifera root decoction is drenched once daily to buffaloes to treat cold and cough by the people of Tosham block of district Bhiwani (Haryana),India [56]; rhizomes of Zingiber officinale is used to cure poisoning by traditional herbal healers (Pashu Vaidyas) in various remote valleys of the Alaknanda catchment of Uttarakhand [39]; paste of the entire plant of Ocimum sanctum is used to treat snakebites in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu [57].Similarly, some of the plants documented in this survey such as Ananas comosus, Cannabis sativa, Carica papaya, Brassica Campestris and Zingiber officinale are already covered in ethnoveterinay surveys of Bangladesh [58], Uganda [19], Pakisthan [59], Canada [4] and Brazil [9]. The uses of these plants provide credibility of folk claims and clues for pharmacological screening.…”

Documentation of ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary plants used by paliyar tribes, kurangani hills, western ghats, theni district, tamil nadu, india

“…An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in selected sites of Villupuram district. Twenty six plant species belonging to fourteen families were documented in the present study, to cure different diseases in animals [17].…”

Indigenous Knowledge on Animal Health Care Practices in Kendrapara District of Odisha, India

“…communities of Andhra Pradesh [52]; Brassica campestris seed oil is administered orally to calves suffering from indigestion and weakness [53]; Albizia lebbeck fruits are fed to the animals to increase milk production by the local people of Dang district of south Gujarat [54]; Bombax ceiba leaves and flowers is used in stomach disorders [55]; Withania somnifera root decoction is drenched once daily to buffaloes to treat cold and cough by the people of Tosham block of district Bhiwani (Haryana),India [56]; rhizomes of Zingiber officinale is used to cure poisoning by traditional herbal healers (Pashu Vaidyas) in various remote valleys of the Alaknanda catchment of Uttarakhand [39]; paste of the entire plant of Ocimum sanctum is used to treat snakebites in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu [57].Similarly, some of the plants documented in this survey such as Ananas comosus, Cannabis sativa, Carica papaya, Brassica Campestris and Zingiber officinale are already covered in ethnoveterinay surveys of Bangladesh [58], Uganda [19], Pakisthan [59], Canada [4] and Brazil [9]. The uses of these plants provide credibility of folk claims and clues for pharmacological screening.…”