Ethnomedicinal Knowledge of Inhabitants from Gundlabrahmeswaram Wildlife Sanctuary (Eastern Ghats), Andhra Pradesh, India

Omkar Kanneboyena; Sateesh Suthari; Vatsavaya S. Raju

Abstract

Ethnomedicinal Knowledge of Inhabitants from Gundlabrahmeswaram Wildlife Sanctuary (Eastern Ghats), Andhra Pradesh, India

The present study explores the traditional herbal knowledge of ethnic tribes from 18 villages located in Gundlabrahmeswaram wildlife sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Objective: The main aim of the study is to document the ethnomedicinal plant taxa used by the ethnic people inhabiting the sanctuary area in which specific data was not available for the region.
Methods: Regular field trips were conducted in the ethnic villages of the Gundlabrahmeswaram wildlife sanctuary during October, 2013 to June, 2015. The ethnobotanicomedicinal plants information was documented from local tribals and traditional healers through direct approach, household surveys and semistructured interviews. For the present study, the ethnobotanical data was collected from eighteen villages inside the sanctuary.
Results: Analysis of data revealed a total of 153 angiospermous plant taxa pertaining to 135 genera of 62 families utilized by the tribes for various common ailments. Fabaceae are the dominant family (22 taxa), followed by Apocynaceae (13), Malvaceae (10), Combretaceae and Rubiaceae (6 each), Convolvulaceae (5) and Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae and Phyllanthaceae (4 each). Further, plant part-, disease- and habit-wise data of plant taxa are presented.
Conclusion: The study concludes with the need for further documentation of traditional botanical knowledge of the local inhabitants on one hand and conserving the sanctuary of its plant wealth from over exploitation and invasive weeds like Hyptis suaveolens, Parthenium hysterophorus, Cyanthillium cinereum, Chromolaena odorata, Lantana × aculeata, etc.