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Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

journa l homepage: www.e lsev ier .com/ locate / je thpharm

Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants commonly used by Kani tribals inTirunelveli hills of Western Ghats, India

Muniappan Ayyanara,∗, Savarimuthu Ignacimuthub

a Department of Botany, Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai 600 030, Tamil Nadu, Indiab Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Nungambakkam, Chennai 600 034, Tamil Nadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 17 July 2010Received in revised form 16 January 2011Accepted 22 January 2011Available online 1 February 2011

Keywords:Data analysisFolk medicineKani tribalsTirunelveli hillsWestern Ghats

a b s t r a c t

Ethnopharmacological relevance: For thousands of years, medicinal plants have played an important rolethroughout the world in treating and preventing a variety of diseases. Kani tribal people in Tirunelvelihills still depend on medicinal plants and most of them have a general knowledge of medicinal plantswhich are used for first aid remedies, to treat cough, cold, fever, headache, poisonous bites and somesimple ailments.Aim of the study: The present study was initiated with an aim to identify traditional healers who arepracticing herbal medicine among the Kani tribals in Tirunelveli hills of Western Ghats, India and quan-titatively document their indigenous knowledge on the utilization of medicinal plants particularly mostcommon ethnomedicinal plants.Methods: Field study was carried out over a period of 4 years in Tirunelveli hills. The ethnomedicinalinformation was collected through interviews among the Kani traditional healers. The collected datawere analyzed through use value (UV), informant consensus factor (Fic), fidelity level (FL) and relativeimportance (RI).Results: A total of 90 species of plants distributed in 83 genera belonging to 52 families were identified ascommonly used ethnomedicinal plants by the Kani traditional healers in Tirunelveli hills for the treatmentof 65 types of ailments. These ailments were categorized into 15 ailment categories based on the bodysystems treated. Leaves were the most frequently used plant parts and most of the medicines wereprepared in the form of paste and administered orally. Fic values of the present study indicated thatthere was a high agreement in the use of plants in the treatment of jaundice and diabetes among theusers. Dermatological infections/diseases and gastro-intestinal disorders had highest use-reports and 29species of plants had the highest fidelity level of 100%. The most important species according to their usevalue were Gymneme sylvestre (2.00), Melia azedarach, Murraya koenigii, Syzygium cumini and Terminaliachebula (1.83).Conclusion: As a result of the present study we can recommend the plants Alpinia galanga, Azadirachtaindica, Calophyllum inophyllum, Gymnema sylvestre, Leucas aspera, M. azedarach, Mollugo nudicaulis, Oci-mum tenuiflorum, S. cumini, T. chebula and Tribulus terrestris (with high UV and RI values), Bambusaarundinacea, Datura metel, Evolvulus nummularius, Opuntia dillenii and Physalis minima (newly reportedclaims with highest FL) for further ethnopharmacological studies for the discovery of potential new drugs.

© 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about65–80% of the world’s population in developing countries dependsessentially on plants for their primary healthcare due to povertyand lack of access to modern medicine (Calixto, 2005). In recent

∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 44 2664 0793/+91 99403 76005 (mob.);fax: +91 44 2642 6900.

E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Ayyanar).

years, use of ethnobotanical information in medicinal plantresearch has gained considerable attention in segments of the sci-entific community (Heinrich, 2000). Interest in medicinal plants hasbeen fuelled by the rising costs of prescription drugs in the main-tenance of personal health and well-being and the bioprospectingof new plant-derived drugs (Hoareau and DaSilva, 1999).

Historically all medicinal preparations were derived fromplants, whether in the simple form of plant parts or in the morecomplex form of crude extracts, mixtures, etc. The primary benefitsof using plant-derived medicines are that they are relatively saferthan synthetic alternatives, offering profound therapeutic bene-

0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.jep.2011.01.029


852 M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864

fits and more affordable treatment (Iwu et al., 1999). About 200years ago our pharmacopoeia was dominated by herbal medicines(Ernst, 2005) and almost 25% of the drugs prescribed worldwidewere come from plants. Of the 252 drugs considered as basic andessential by the WHO, 11% are exclusively of plant origin and asignificant number are synthetic drugs obtained from natural pre-cursors (Rates, 2001).

During the last few decades there has been an increasing inter-est in the study of medicinal plants and their traditional use indifferent parts of India. In the recent years number of reports onthe use of plants in traditional healing by either tribal people orindigenous communities of India is increasing (Savithramma et al.,2007; Pattanaik et al., 2008; Kosalge and Fursule, 2009; Namsa et al.,2009; Upadhyay et al., 2010). A few reports on ethnomedicinal usesof plants in the forests of Tirunelveli hills and its adjoining areaswere available (Janaki Ammal and Prasad, 1984; Prasad et al., 1987,1996; Ignacimuthu et al., 1998; Viswanathan et al., 2001; Ayyanarand Ignacimuthu, 2005, 2009a,b, 2010) and all these studies wereconducted qualitatively with a lacuna in data analysis. The presentstudy was initiated with an aim to identify knowledgeable resourcepersons among the Kani tribals in Tirunelveli hills of Western Ghatsin Tamil Nadu, India and quantitatively analyze their indigenousethnomedicinal knowledge through various ethnobotanical toolson the utilization of commonly used medicinal plants.

2. Methods

2.1. Study area and people

Tirunelveli hills occupy Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districtsof Tamil Nadu (southern Western Ghats) and cover an area ofnearly 3200 sq. km and lies between 8◦25′–8◦53′N latitude and77◦10′–77◦35′E longitude (Fig. 1). The vegetation is floristicallyrich compared to other regions of Western Ghats and representsseveral unique habitats. The study was conducted in five villagesof Tirunelveli hills (Agasthiyar Kani kudiiruppu, Chinna Mayi-lar, Periya Mayilar, Inchikuzhi and Servalar in Tirunelveli district)which are inhabited by Kani tribals each consisting of 5–56 familiesdisbursed in the deep forest areas.

The indigenous people of the study area are Kani or Kanikaran,the oldest group of the branch of ethnic group in South India. Theylive predominantly in and around the Tirunelveli hills of Tamil Nadu(for details refer Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2005). Many Kani peo-ple trace their community’s knowledge of medicinal plants back tothe Hindu saint and holy man, Agasthiyar Muni, who is credited asthe founder of Siddha, the Tamil system of medicine. Agasthiyar issaid to have lived in the southern Western Ghats approximately2000 years ago. Most of the Kani tribals have a general knowl-edge of medicinal plants that are used for first aid remedies, totreat cough, cold, fever, headache, poisonous bites and some othersimple ailments.

2.2. Data collection

The study area was investigated to get information from tribalpractitioners and also to cross check the information provided bythe other tribal practitioners during the earlier visits. During eachfield survey at least 10 days were spent with the local people intheir tribal hamlets. In order to document the utilization of medici-nal plants, a total of eight field surveys were carried out from August2003 to October 2007 in Tirunelveli hills. A total of six resource per-sons or informants or traditional healers were identified to get theethnomedicinal information through direct interviews/oral con-versations. They have sound knowledge on medicinal plants foundin their surrounding areas and they practice medicine within their

Fig. 1. Location map of Tirunelveli hills in Tamil Nadu, southern India.

families and neighbors. A field datasheet has been prepared torecord the plant details with ethnomedicinal information gath-ered from the traditional healers (Fig. 2). Information on localname of plant, plant part used for curing, method of preparation,any other plants/agents used as ingredients, modes of adminis-tration and etc. were recorded for each collected ethnomedicinalplant.

Identity of the collected plant species were done with the vol-umes of The Flora of Presidency of Madras (Gamble, 1935) and TheFlora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic (Matthew, 1983). Angiosperm Phy-logeny Group III (APG III, 2009) was followed to classify the speciesand binomial was checked with the International Plant NamesIndex (IPNI). Herbarium specimens were collected in triplicates;one set of voucher specimens were deposited in the herbariumof Entomology Research Institute (ERIH), Loyola College, Chennai,Tamil Nadu and the duplicate voucher specimens were depositedin Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC–ICMR), Belgaum (Kar-nataka) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi,India for future reference.

2.3. Ailment categories

Based on the information obtained from the traditional healersin the study area, all the reported ailments were categorized into15 categories (Table 1) viz. gastro-intestinal ailments (GIA), der-matological infections/diseases (DID), respiratory systems diseases(RSD), genito-urinary ailments (GUA), fever (Fvr), skeleto-muscularsystem disorders (SMSD), poisonous bites (PB), circulatory sys-tem/cardiovascular diseases (CSCD), endocrinal disorders (ED),liver problems (LP), dental care (DC), hair care (HC), ear, nose, throatproblems (ENT), cooling agents (CA) and general health (GH). Sev-


M. Ayyanar, S. Ignacimuthu / Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 851–864 853

Fig. 2. Format of field datasheet used to record the plant details with ethnomedicinalinformation.

eral diseases were placed in one ailment category based on the bodysystems treated.

2.4. Data analysis

2.4.1. Informant consensus factor (Fic)The informant consensus factor (Fic) was used to see if there was

agreement in the use of plants in the ailment categories betweenthe plant users in the study area. The Fic was calculated using thefollowing formula (Heinrich et al., 1998):

Fic = Nur − Nt

Nur − 1

Where Nur refers to the number of use-reports for a particularailment category and Nt refers to the number of taxa used for aparticular ailment category by all informants. The product of thisfactor ranges from 0 to 1. A high value (close to 1.0) indicates thatrelatively few taxa are used by a large proportion of the informants.A low value indicates that the informants disagree on the taxa tobe used in the treatment within a category of illness.

2.4.2. Use value (UV)The relative importance of each plant species known locally to

be used as herbal remedy is reported as use value (UV) and it wascalculated using the following formula (Phillips et al., 1994):

UV = ˙U

n

Where UV is the use value of a species, U is the number of use-reports cited by each informant for a given plant species and n isthe total number of informants interviewed for a given plant. TheUV is helpful in determining the plants with the highest use (mostfrequently indicated) in the treatment of an ailment. UVs are high

Table 1Ailments grouped by different ailment categories.

Ailment categories Biomedical terms Tamil terms

Circulatory sys-tem/cardiovasculardiseases (CSCD)

Blood purificationHeart strengthMemory power

Rattha sutthigarippuIdhaya valimaiGnabaga sakthi

Cooling agents (CA) Body cooling Udal kulircchiDental care (DC) Foul odour

Teeth strengthToothacheWorms in gums and teeth

Vai thurnatramPal valimaiPal valiPal sotthai

Dermatologicalinfections/diseases(DID)

BurnsCutsFelonFungal infection on headItchingPimplesScabiesSkin irritationWound in lips and tongueWounds

TheekkayamVettukkayamNagacchutthiPuluvettu/poocchikadiArippu/namaicchalMugapparuSori/siranguThol ericchalVaippunKaayam

Ear, nose, throatproblems (ENT)

Colour blindnessEaracheEye coolingEye painNasal infectionsThroat pain

NirakkuruduKaadhu valiKan kulircchiKan valiSuvasha thottruThondai vali

Endocrinal disorders(ED)

Diabetes Sarkkarai/neerilivu noi

Fever (Fvr) Fever KaicchalGastro-intestinal

ailments (GIA)ConstipationDysenteryGastric complaintsIndigestionIntestinal ulcerStomachache

MalacchikkalSeedhabaethiVayvu kolaruAjeeranamKudal punVayitru vali

General health (GH) Body refreshmentBody shiningBody strengthDisease resistantWeight loss

Udal puthunarcchiUdal palapalappuUdal valimaiNoi ethirppu sakthiUdal paruman kuraitthal

Genito-urinaryailments (GUA)

AbortionBreast painDelivery painLactationMale fertilityOver bleedingSexual powerSperm productionVenereal diseases

Karu kalaippuMarbaga valiPirasava valiPaal suratthalAnmai sakthi perukkuthalRatthapokkuViraippu sakthi (Male)Uyiranu urpatthiPaalvinai noi

Hair care (HC) DandruffGraying of hairHair growthHair loss

PoduguNarai, ilanaraiMudi valardhalMudi uthirdhal

Liver problems (LP) Jaundice Manjal kaamalaiPoisonous bites (PB) Poison bites

Scorpion stingSnake bite

VishakkadiThaelkkadiPambukkadi

Respiratory systemsdiseases (RSD)

AsthmaBronchitisChest painColdCough

Moocchu thinaralChali and irumalNenju valiJalathoshamIrumal

Skeleto-muscularsystem disorders(SMSD)

Body painHeadacheJoint painMuscle painRheumatismSwellings

Udal valiThalai valiMoottu valiThasai pidippuMoottu vadhamVeekkam

when there are many use-reports for a plant and low when thereare few reports related to its use.

2.4.3. Fidelity level (FL)To determine the most frequently used plant species for treating

a particular ailment category by the informants of the study area,



we calculated the fidelity level (FL). The FL was calculated using thefollowing formula (Friedmen et al., 1986):

FL(%) = Np

N× 100

Where Np is the number of use-reports cited for a given speciesfor a particular ailment category and N is the total number of use-reports cited for any given species. Generally, high FLs are obtainedfor plants for which almost all use-reports refer to the same way ofusing it, whereas low FLs are obtained for plants that are used formany different purposes (Srithi et al., 2009).

2.4.4. Relative importance (RI)We calculated the relative importance (RI) of each medicinal

plant based on the normalized number of pharmacological prop-erties (PH) attributed to it and the normalized number of bodysystems (BS) it treated. Data on medicinal uses were organizedaccording to the PH attributed to each taxon (e.g. analgesic, anti-inflammatory etc.) and to the specific body systems treated (e.g.skin diseases, fever, asthma etc.). The RI was calculated using thefollowing formula (Bennett and Prance, 2000):

RI = Rel PH + Rel BS2

× 100

Where RI is the relative importance, PH is the number ofreported pharmacological properties for the given plant, Rel PH isthe relative number of pharmacological properties (PH of a givenplant/maximum PH of all reported species), BS is the number ofbody systems treated and Rel BS is the relative number of bodysystems treated (BS of a given plant/maximum BS of all reportedspecies).

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Documentation of indigenous ethnomedicinal knowledge

The present study revealed the use of 90 species of plantsdistributed in 83 genera belonging to 52 families which were com-monly used by most of the Kani traditional healers for the treatmentof 65 types of ailments. The prominent family was Fabaceae withnine species, followed by Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae with sixand four species respectively. For each reported species we pro-vided the botanical name of the plant, family, voucher specimennumber, local (Tamil) name, life form, use value, parts used, ail-ments treated, method of preparation, mode of administration andrelative importance (Table 2).

The medicinal uses of plants gathered in our study were com-pared with the previously published information from other partsof India. We found that there were 25 claims from the plants suchas Abutilon indicum, Aerva lanata, Allium cepa, Ananus comosus, Ata-lantia monophylla, Bambusa arundinacea, Calophyllum inophyllum,Cleome viscosa, Datura metel, Evolvulus nummularius, Ficus religiosa,Leucas aspera, Mangifera indica, Melia azedarach, Michelia champaca,Mimusops elengi, Morinda pubescens, Opuntia dillenii, Pandanus fas-cicularis, Physalis minima, Sanseviera roxburghiana and Tephrosiapurpurea were reported for the first time from the study area (newclaims were given with asterisk mark in Table 2). However, noplants were reported as a new medicinal plant as all the plantswere reported with different uses.

3.2. Life form and parts used

Herbs were the primary source of medicine (41%) followed bytrees (31%), shrubs (18%) and climbers (10%) (Fig. 3). The frequentuse of herbs among the indigenous communities is a result ofwealth of herbaceous plants in their environs (Tabuti et al., 2003;

Fig. 3. Life forms of reported common medicinal plants.

Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2005; Uniyal et al., 2006; Ragupathyet al., 2008; Giday et al., 2010) and Tirunelveli hills harboursmore number of herbs as compared to trees, shrubs and climbers(Manickam et al., 2004). Among the different plant parts used,the leaves (50%) were most frequently used for the preparation ofmedicine solely or mixed with other plant parts. It was followed byfruit (17%), whole plant (6%), stem bark and flower (5%), stem (4%),seed (3%, including seed oil), rhizome (3%), bulb (2%), latex, root,root bark, resin and young twig (1% each) (Fig. 4). Many indige-nous communities elsewhere also utilized mostly leaves for thepreparation of herbal medicines (Mahishi et al., 2005; Ignacimuthuet al., 2006, 2008; Teklehaymanot et al., 2007; Srithi et al., 2009;Giday et al., 2010; Cakilcioglu and Turkoglu, 2010; Gonzalez et al.,2010). The reason why leaves were used mostly is that they are col-lected very easily than underground parts, flowers and fruits etc.(Giday et al., 2009) and in scientific point of view leaves are activein photosynthesis and production of metabolites (Ghorbani, 2005).

Fig. 4. Percentage of plant parts used for the preparation of medicine.



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ery

pai

n)

Juic

eO

ral

42.5

SMSD

:5

(bod

yp

ain

,rh

eum

atis

m)

Dec

octi

onp

aste

Top

ical

(bat

h)

Ora

lCa

rica

papa

yaL.

(Car

icac

eae)

ERIH

-614

Pap

pal

iTr

0.83

FrG

IA:

3(c

onst

ipat

ion

)R

awO

ral

45.0

LxD

C:

2(t

ooth

ach

e)Pa

ste

Toot

hp

aste

Cari

ssa

cara

ndas

L.(A

poc

ynac

eae)

ERIH

-83

Kal

akka

iSh

1.33

FrG

IA:

4(s

tom

ach

ach

e)A

sp

ickl

eO

ral

30.0

CA

:4

(bod

yco

olin

g)A

sp

ickl

eO

ral

Cass

iaal

ata

L.(F

abac

eae)

ERIH

-89

Seem

aiag

ath

iSh

0.33

FlG

UA

:2

(abo

rtio

n)

Juic

eO

ral

20.0



Tabl

e2

(Con

tinu

ed)

Bot

anic

aln

ame

(Fam

ily)

,vou

cher

spec

imen

nu

mbe

rLo

caln

ame

Life

form

Use

valu

ePa

rts

use

dA

ilm

ent

cate

gory

:n

o.of

use

-rep

orts

(ail

men

tstr

eate

d)

Prep

arat

ion

Ap

pli

cati

onR

I

Cass

iaau

ricu

lata

L.(F

abac

eae)

ERIH

-86

Ava

ram

poo

Sh1.

17Fl

GIA

:2

(sto

mac

hac

he)

Past

eO

ral

32.5

LfD

ID:

5(s

kin

irri

tati

on,

itch

ing)

Past

eTo

pic

al

Cent

ella

asia

tica

(L.)

Urb

an.(

Mac

kin

laya

ceae

)ER

IH-9

7V

alla

rai

He

1.67

LfC

SCD

:6

(mem

ory

pow

erfo

rch

ild

ren

)Po

wd

erO

ral

47.5

HC

:2

(hai

rgr

owth

)Po

wd

erO

ral

SMSD

:2

(hea

dac

he)

Past

eO

ral

Ciss

usqu

adra

ngul

aris

L.(V

itac

eae)

ERIH

-99

Pira

nd

aiSh

1.00

St,L

fG

IA:

6(s

tom

ach

ach

e)Po

wd

er,p

aste

Ora

l17

.5Ci

trus

aura

ntif

olia

(Ch

rist

m.&

Pan

z.)

Sw.(

Ru

tace

ae)

ERIH

-109

Elu

mit

cah

iTr

0.67

LfG

IA:

4(i

nd

iges

tion

)Ju

ice

Ora

l32

.5

Cleo

me

visc

osa

L.(C

leom

acea

e)ER

IH-7

8N

aive

lai

He

1.67

LfD

ID:

3(w

oun

ds)

Past

eTo

pic

al57

.5SM

SD:

5(s

wel

lin

gs,

hea

dac

he* )

Past

e,ju

ice

Top

ical

Fvr:

2(f

ever

* )Ju

ice

Top

ical

Clit

oria

tern

atea

L.(F

abac

eae)

ERIH

-206

San

gup

ush

pam

Cl

0.83

LfEN

T:3

(th

roat

pai

n)

Past

eO

ral

32.5

SMSD

:2

(sw

elli

ngs

)Pa

ste

Trop

ical

Cocc

inia

indi

ca(L

.)V

oigt

.(C

ucu

rbit

acea

e)ER

IH-2

26K

ovai

paz

ham

Cl

1.50

LfG

H:

5(b

ody

stre

ngt

h)

Past

eO

ral

42.5

GU

A:

4(t

oin

crea

sese

men

pro

du

ctio

n)

Past

eO

ral

Com

mel

ina

beng

hale

nsis

L.(C

omm

elin

acea

e)ER

IH-6

0Th

enga

ich

edi

He

0.50

StD

ID:

3(w

oun

ds)

Juic

eTo

pic

al22

.5Co

stus

spec

iosu

sSm

ith

.(C

osta

ceae

)ER

IH-1

03K

otta

k-ki

lan

guH

e1.

17R

hED

:5

(dia

bete

s)Pa

ste

Juic

eO

ral

40.0

LfD

ID:

2(w

oun

ds)

Juic

eTo

pic

alCy

nodo

nda

ctyl

on(L

.)Pe

rs.(

Poac

eae)

ERIH

-118

Aru

gam

pu

lH

e0.

83W

pD

ID:

2(i

tch

ing)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

45.0

SMSD

:2

(bod

yp

ain

)D

ecoc

tion

Ora

lR

SD:

1(a

sth

ma)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

Dat

ura

met

elL.

(Sol

anac

eae)

ERIH

-123

Um

atth

aiH

e0.

67Lf

ENT:

4(e

arac

he* )

Juic

eTo

pic

al17

.5El

etta

ria

card

amom

um(L

.)M

aton

.(Zi

ngi

bera

ceae

)ER

IH-1

29El

amH

e0.

67Fr

SMSD

:2

(hea

dac

he,

rheu

mat

ism

)Po

wd

err

Ora

l55

.0

RSD

:2

(ast

hm

a)Po

wd

erO

ral

Euph

orbi

ahi

rta

L.(E

up

hor

biac

eae)

ERIH

-104

Am

man

pac

char

isi

He

0.83

Lx,L

fD

ID:

5(w

oun

ds)

Raw

,pas

teTo

pic

al35

.0Ev

olvu

lus

num

mul

ariu

sL.

(Con

volv

ula

ceae

)ER

IH-2

17V

ella

ivis

hn

ukr

anti

He

0.50

Lf,F

l,R

tG

IA:

3(d

ysen

tery

* )Pa

ste

Ora

l15

.0Fi

cus

beng

hale

nsis

L.(M

orac

eae)

ERIH

-130

Ala

mar

amTr

1.67

LfD

ID:

4(w

oun

ds)

Pow

der

Top

ical

47.5

Yt

DC

:6

(to

stre

ngt

hen

the

teet

h)

Raw

Toot

hbr

ush

Ficu

sre

ligio

saL.

(Mor

acea

e)ER

IH-1

34A

rasa

mar

amTr

1.33

Lf,S

bG

IA:

4(s

tom

ach

ach

e,In

dig

esti

on)

RSD

:4

(bre

ast

pai

n* )

Pow

der

Ora

l47

.5

SbPo

wd

erO

ral

Gym

nem

asy

lves

tre

(L.)

R.B

r.(A

poc

ynac

eae)

ERIH

-409

Siru

kuri

nch

anC

l2.

00Lf

ED:

6(d

iabe

tes)

Pow

der

Ora

l65

.0PB

:3

(sco

rpio

nst

ing,

snak

ebit

e)Po

wd

erO

ral

DID

:3

(itc

hin

g)Po

wd

erO

ral

Hib

iscu

sro

sa-s

inen

sis

L.(M

alva

ceae

)ER

IH-1

41C

hem

baru

tth

iSh

1.17

FlC

SCD

:2

(to

stre

ngt

hen

the

hea

rt)

Raw

Ora

l47

.5

LfG

UA

:2

(ven

erea

ldis

ease

s)Po

wd

erO

ral

GIA

:2

(sto

mac

hac

he)

Pow

der

Ora

lH

ygro

phila

auri

cula

ta(S

chu

m.)

Hei

ne.

(Aca

nth

acea

e)ER

IH-6

55N

eerm

ull

ich

edi

Sh0.

50Lf

RSD

:3

(cou

gh)

Juic

eO

ral

25.0

Jatr

opha

goss

ypif

olia

L.(E

up

hor

biac

eae)

ERIH

-416

Ath

alai

He

1.00

Rs

DC

:4

(fou

lod

our,

toot

hac

he)

Pow

der

Toot

hp

owd

er45

.0

DID

:2

(wou

nd

sin

lip

san

dto

ngu

e)To

pic

al

Kal

anch

oepi

nnat

a(L

am.)

Pers

.(C

rass

ula

ceae

)ER

IH-6

8K

utt

ipod

um

ched

iH

e0.

50Lf

CA

:3

(bod

yco

olin

g)D

ecoc

tion

Ora

l17

.5La

wso

nia

iner

mis

L.(L

yth

race

ae)

ERIH

-155

Mar

uth

ani

Sh1.

67Lf

DID

:5

(hee

lcra

cks,

felo

n)

Past

eTo

pic

al60

.0



SMSD

:4

(rh

eum

atis

m)

Past

eTo

pic

alG

H:

1(d

isea

sere

sist

ance

inch

ild

ren

)Pa

ste

Top

ical

(bat

h)

Leuc

asas

pera

(Wil

ld.)

Lin

k(L

amia

ceae

)ER

IH-6

6Th

um

bai

He

1.00

LfG

IA:

2(d

ysen

tery

)Ju

ice

Ora

l70

.0Fl

Fvr:

2(f

ever

)Ju

ice

Ora

lSM

SD:

1(h

ead

ach

e)Pa

ste

Top

ical

ENT:

1(e

yep

ain

* ,co

lou

rbl

ind

nes

s* )Pa

ste

Ora

l/To

pic

al

Man

gife

rain

dica

L.(A

nac

ard

iace

ae)

ERIH

-59

Maa

mar

amTr

0.50

SbSM

SD:

2(b

ody

pai

n* )

Pow

der

Ora

l55

.0G

UA

:1

(del

iver

yp

ain

* )Pa

ste

Ora

lM

elia

azed

arac

hL.

(Mel

iace

ae)

ERIH

-57

Mal

aive

mTh

ottl

suru

ngi

buTr

1.83

LfG

IA:

4(s

tom

ach

ach

e)Ju

ice

Ora

l75

.0St

,Rb

DID

:4

(ski

nir

rita

tion

)Ju

ice

Trop

ical

LfSM

SD:

2(b

ody

pai

n* )

Past

eTr

opic

alG

UA

:1

(to

incr

ease

sper

mp

rod

uct

ion

)Pa

ste

Ora

l

Mic

helia

cham

paca

L.(M

agn

olia

ceae

)ER

IH-3

91Sh

enba

gam

Tr0.

33Lf

ENT:

2(e

yep

ain

* )D

ecoc

tion

Top

ical

40.0

Mill

etia

pinn

ata

(L.)

Pan

igra

hi.

(Fab

acea

e)ER

IH-2

5Pu

nga

mar

amTr

0.67

SdD

ID:

4(w

oun

ds)

Raw

Top

ical

35.0

Mim

osa

pudi

caL.

(Fab

acea

e)ER

IH-2

38Th

otta

lsu

run

giH

e0.

50Lf

DID

:3

(pim

ple

s)Pa

ste

Top

ical

35.0

Mim

usop

sel

engi

L.(S

apot

acea

e)ER

IH-1

62M

agil

am

aram

Tr0.

33Fl

GH

:2

(to

get

shin

ing

bod

y* )Ju

ice

Ora

l22

.5

Mol

lugo

nudi

caul

isLa

m.(

Mol

lugi

nac

eae)

ERIH

-413

Parp

adag

amH

e1.

33W

pFv

r:2

(fev

er)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

67.5

LfR

SD:

2(c

ough

)D

ecoc

tion

Ora

lSM

SD:

2(h

ead

ach

e)D

ecoc

tion

Ora

lG

IA:

1(s

tom

ach

ach

e)Po

wd

erO

ral

GU

A:

1(v

ener

eald

isea

ses)

Pow

der

Ora

lM

omor

dica

dioi

caR

oxb.

(Cu

curb

itac

eae)

ERIH

-46

Kaa

ttu

pag

arka

iC

l1.

00Lf

GIA

:6

(sto

mac

hac

he)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

32.5

Mor

inda

pube

scen

sR

oxb.

(Ru

biac

eae)

ERIH

-100

Man

jan

atth

iTr

0.67

LfSM

SD:

1(r

heu

mat

ism

* )Ju

ice

Top

ical

55.0

GIA

:2

(in

dig

esti

on)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

DID

:1

(wou

nd

s)Pa

ste

Top

ical

Mor

inga

olei

fera

Lam

.(M

orin

gace

ae)

ERIH

-171

Mu

ran

gai

Tr1.

00Fl

GU

A:

6(t

oin

crea

sesp

erm

pro

du

ctio

n)

Pow

der

Ora

l60

.0

Muk

iam

ader

aspa

tana

(L.)

M.R

oem

.(C

ucu

rbit

acea

e)ER

IH-4

27M

usu

-mu

sukk

aiC

l0.

50Lf

GH

:3

(bod

yst

ren

gth

)Pa

ste

Ora

l22

.5

Mur

raya

koen

igii

(L.)

Spre

ng.

(Ru

tace

ae)

ERIH

-172

Kar

uve

pp

ilai

Tr1.

83Lf

ENT:

5(e

yep

ain

,eye

cool

ing)

Past

eO

ral

37.5

HC

:6

(dan

dru

ff,h

air

loss

)Pa

ste

Top

ical

Oci

mum

tenu

iflor

umL.

(Lam

iace

ae)

ERIH

-114

Nal

lath

ula

siH

e1.

67Lf

RSD

:5

(col

d,c

ough

)Ju

ice

Ora

l67

.5Fv

r:5

(fev

er)

Juic

eO

ral

Opu

ntia

dille

niiH

aw.(

Cac

tace

ae)

ERIH

-183

Sap

pat

hik

alli

Sh0.

50St

DID

:3

(wou

nd

s* )Pa

ste

Top

ical

15.0

Pand

anus

fasc

icul

aris

Lam

.(Pa

nd

anac

eae)

ERIH

-672

Thaa

lai

Sh0.

33Y

t,Lf

LP:

2(j

aun

dic

e* )R

awO

ral

32.5

Phoe

nix

sylv

estr

is(L

.)R

oxb.

(Are

cace

ae)

ERIH

-38

Pere

ech

aiTr

1.33

FrG

UA

:4

(mal

efe

rtil

ity)

Raw

Ora

l32

.5G

H:

4(b

ody

stre

ngt

h)

Raw

Ora

lPh

ylla

nthu

sam

arus

Sch

um

&Th

onn

.(Ph

ylla

nth

acea

e)ER

IH-8

2K

eela

nel

liH

e1.

00Lf

LP:

6(j

aun

dic

e)Ju

ice

Ora

l37

.5

Phyl

lant

hus

embl

ica

L.(P

hyl

lan

thac

eae)

ERIH

-184

Peri

yan

elli

Tr1.

00Fr

GH

:6

(bod

yst

ren

gth

)Po

wd

erO

ral

37.5

Phys

alis

min

ima

L.(S

olan

acea

e)ER

IH-1

3So

dak

kuth

akka

liH

e0.

67Lf

GU

A:

4(v

ener

eald

isea

ses* ,

toin

crea

sela

ctat

ion

)D

ecoc

tion

Ora

l30

.0

Pipe

rbe

tle

L.(P

iper

acea

e)ER

IH-2

15V

etri

lai

Cl

0.67

LfD

ID:

4(i

tch

ing,

skin

irri

tati

on)

Past

eTo

pic

al27

.5

Pipe

rni

grum

L.(P

iper

acea

e)ER

IH-2

30M

ilag

uC

l1.

17Fr

RSD

:5

(cou

gh,b

ron

chit

is)

Pow

der

Ora

l55

.0PB

:2

(sn

akeb

ite)

Pow

der

Ora

lPu

nica

gran

atum

L.(L

yth

race

ae)

ERIH

-185

Mad

hu

lai

Sh0.

33Fr

GIA

:2

(sto

mac

hac

he)

Pow

der

Ora

l42

.5R

icin

usco

mm

unis

L.(E

up

hor

biac

eae)

ERIH

-438

Am

anak

kuSh

0.67

SdSM

SD:4

(joi

nt

pai

n,m

usc

lep

ain

)R

awTo

pic

al32

.5

Sans

evie

ria

roxb

urgh

iana

Sch

ult

.f.(

Asp

arag

acea

e)ER

IH-1

86M

aru

lH

e0.

33St

ENT:

2(e

arac

he* )

Juic

eTo

pic

al22

.5

Sant

alum

albu

mL.

(San

tala

ceae

)ER

IH-3

53Sa

nth

anam

Tr1.

33St

DID

:4

(pim

ple

s)Pa

ste

Top

ical

47.5

CA

:4

(bod

yco

olin

g)Pa

ste

Top

ical

Sesa

mum

indi

cum

L.(P

edal

iace

ae)

ERIH

-210

Ellu

He

0.33

SdD

ID:

2(s

kin

irri

tati

on,

itch

ing)

Past

eTo

pic

al35

.0



Tabl

e2

(Con

tinu

ed)

Bot

anic

aln

ame

(Fam

ily)

,vou

cher

spec

imen

nu

mbe

rLo

caln

ame

Life

form

Use

valu

ePa

rts

use

dA

ilm

ent

cate

gory

:n

o.of

use

-rep

orts

(ail

men

tstr

eate

d)

Prep

arat

ion

Ap

pli

cati

onR

I

Sesb

ania

gran

diflo

raPe

rs.(

Faba

ceae

)ER

IH-2

22A

gath

iTr

0.33

LfC

A:

2(b

ody

cool

ing)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

27.5

Sola

num

nigr

umL.

(Sol

anac

eae)

ERIH

-198

Man

ath

akka

liH

e0.

50Lf

GIA

:3

(in

test

inal

ulc

er)

Dec

octi

onO

ral

40.0

Sola

num

sura

tten

seB

urm

.f.(

Sola

nac

eae)

ERIH

-216

Kan

dan

-kat

thir

iH

e1.

00Fr

DC

:6

(too

thac

he,

toki

llw

orm

sin

gum

san

dte

eth

)R

awIn

hal

atio

n(m

outh

)30

.0

Sola

num

trilo

batu

mL.

(Sol

anac

eae)

ERIH

-606

Thu

dh

uva

lai

Cl

0.83

FlG

UA

:3

(mal

efe

rtil

ity)

Raw

Ora

l25

.0Lf

GIA

:2

(con

stip

atio

n)

Past

eO

ral

Spha

eran

thus

indi

cus

L.(A

ster

acea

e)ER

IH-3

70K

otta

ikar

anth

aiH

e0.

33W

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Fig. 5. Categories of Kani’s mode of utilization for the preparation of medicine.

3.3. Method of preparation and mode of administration of plants

The preparation and utilization of plant parts were grouped intofive categories (Fig. 5). Of these, most commonly used method ofpreparation was paste (42%) followed by powder (18%), juice (17%),raw (13%, taken as raw and plant part prepared as pickles) anddecoction (10%). Preparation of paste for the treatment of ailmentsis a common practice among the other tribal communities in India(Ignacimuthu et al., 2006; Ragupathy et al., 2008; Perumal Samyet al., 2008; Poonam and Singh, 2009; Rajakumar and Shivanna,2009; Tushar et al., 2010; Upadhyay et al., 2010) and other parts ofthe World (Giday et al., 2007, 2010; Roosita et al., 2008). The pastewas prepared by grinding the fresh or dried plant parts with oil orwater. The powder was prepared by the grinding of shade driedplant parts. The decoction was obtained by boiling the plant partsin water until the volume of the water reduced to minimum orrequired amount. The inhalation was done by the burning of plantparts and inhaled the smoke through nose or mouth.

Internal uses (64%) were predominating over external or topicaluses (32%) and nasal application. For topical use, the most impor-tant methods used were direct application of paste or medicatedoil (with oil) and mostly dealt with diseases like skin disorders,wounds, heel cracks, poison bites, rheumatism, body pain andheadache. Most of the medicines were given orally which is inagreement with some other studies conducted elsewhere (Ssegawaand Kasenene, 2007; Perumal Samy et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2008;Poonam and Singh, 2009; Andrade-Cetto, 2009).

3.4. Ingredients added

The medicinal preparations were made out of a single plant partor in combination of several plant parts. In case of Kani’s medicinalpreparations, multiple modes (57 plants) of preparation were dom-inating over the single mode (33 plants) of preparations (Table 3).Kani traditional healers used more than two or three plant parts forthe preparation of medicine in the treatment of single or multipleailments; the similar findings were reported by several researchers(Teklehaymanot et al., 2007; Ignacimuthu et al., 2008; Tabuti et al.,2010; Upadhyay et al., 2010). The frequent use of multiple plantremedies among the traditional healers could be attributed to thebelief of synergic reactions where one plant could have a potenti-ating effect than other (Giday et al., 2010). It is believed that the

multiple prescriptions contain a range of pharmacologically activecompounds and poly-herbal treatment has more healing powerthan single medicinal plant treatment, since each medicinal plantused in the mixture is a remedy (Teklehaymanot et al., 2007).

As reported by Poonam and Singh (2009), Kani traditional heal-ers too frequently use some adjuvants such as honey, cow/goat’smilk, sugar, ghee, salt, boiled rice and butter milk to improve theacceptability and medicinal property of certain remedies. The oilsof castor, coconut, gingelly, mustard, neem and pongam were com-monly used for the preparation of paste/medicated oil. They wereusing specific plant parts and specific dosages for the treatmentof diseases and the dose given to the patient depended on age,physical status and health conditions. Before giving treatment thecondition of the patient was observed deeply and then they gavethe prepared medicines.

3.5. Plant use values

The most commonly used species was Gymnema sylvestre with12 use-reports by 6 informants, giving the highest use value of2.00. G. sylvestre is attributed to its use in the treatment of vari-ous diseases and it is well recognized by all the informants as anantidiabetic plant. Many Irulas tribal families in Thanjavur districtof Tamil Nadu, India are growing G. sylvestre as a climbing vine intheir home and it was a household custom to consume one leaf aday (Ragupathy and Newmaster, 2009).

Other important plants with high use value were M. azedarach,Murraya koenigii, Syzygium cumini and Terminalia chebula (11 use-reports by 6 informants with a UV of 1.83), Adhatoda vasica, Alpiniagalanga, Azadirachta indica, Centella asiatica, C. viscosa, Ficus beng-halensis, Lawsonia inermis and Ocimum tenuiflorum (10 use-reportsby 6 informants with a UV of 1.67), Coccinia indica and Trichopuszeylanicus (nine use-reports by six informants with a UV of 1.50).Most of these plants were frequently used by the Paliyar tribals inTheni district of Tamil Nadu (Ignacimuthu et al., 2008) and tribalpractitioners of Eastern Rajasthan (Upadhyay et al., 2010), India forthe treatment of various ailments.

The plant with very low use value was Ananas comosus which isreported by only one informant with a UV of 0.17, but the informantis regularly using this plant in the treatment of venereal diseases.Similar to our study, tender leaves of the plant is used to cure irreg-ular menstruation and sterility in women by the Indian, Mangoloidand Indo Aerian tribal people of Northeast India (Purkayastha et al.,2005). While tribal people in Cuba (Cano and Volpato, 2004) andGhana (Asase et al., 2010) were using the plant for the treatment ofmalaria and liver pain respectively.

In general, scarce availability of the plants in the study area leadsthem to low UV (Rokaya et al., 2010) as in the case of Tirunelvelihills. In the present study, plants reported with a low use value(two use-reports by six informants with a UV of 0.33) were Achyran-thes aspera, Begonia malabarica, Cassia alata, M. champaca, M. elengi,P. fascicularis, Punica granatum, Sansevieria roxburghiana, Sesamumindicum, Sesbania grandiflora, Sphaeranthus indicus, Strychnos nux-vomica, Tectona grandis, T. purpurea and Trianthema portulacastrum.Among these P. granatum is reported to have a very low UV of 0.23among the local people of Mujib area in Jordan for treating gastro-intestinal ailments (Hudaib et al., 2008) similar to Kani tribals.

3.6. Informant consensus factor

Generally Fic of local knowledge for disease treatment dependedon the availability of the plant species in the study area (Rajakumarand Shivanna, 2009). In order to use the informant consensus fac-tor (Fic), we classified the illnesses into broad disease categories.The Fic values in our study are ranged from 0.63 to 0.88. The usecategories with more than 50 use-reports were dermatological



Table 3Ingredients added for the preparation of herbal medicines by the Kani traditional healers.

Botanical name Other plants added in medicinal preparation Other ingredients added

A. indicum Asparagus racemosus, Cassia auriculata, Cynodon dactylon, M. koenigii Neem oilA. indica Albizia lebbeck, A. indica, M. pudica –A. aspera A. nilotica, Carmona retusa, Hibiscus tiliaceus, Wrightia tinctoria –A. vasica Piper nigrum (headache, earache, cold), Solanum trilobatum (asthma) HoneyA. lanata Cynodon dactylon, Hemidesmus indicus, Solanum trilobatum, Cassia auriculata, S.

nux-vomica (asthma, chest pain)Honey/milk

A. cepa Santalum album, Scilla indica Gingelly oilA. vera – Ghee, sugarA. galanga A. vasica, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale –A. sessilis A. vera, A. occidentale, Elephantopus scaber Castor oilA. occidentale A. comosus, Withania somnifera (asthma) –A. comosus Baccaurea courtallensis SugarAreca catechu P. betle (refreshment) Sunnambu for refreshment (calcium

mix); coconut oil (burns)A. monophylla A. vasica, Eucalyptus globules, L. aspera, Ocimum basilicum (cold)

P. amarus, Psidium guajava, Thespesia populnea, Vitex negundo (poison bites)–

A. indica Ficus retusa, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Pedalium murex, Pergularia daemia, P.granatum (poison bites, stomachache)Amorphophallus campanulatus, Elephantopus scaber (scabies)

Pungam oil (M. pinnata)

Mustard oilB. arundinacea A. indicum, A. vasica, B. malabarica, Clitoria ternatea, S. cumini, Withania

somnifera–

B. malabarica Cardiospermum halicacabum, Elephantopus scaber –C. inophyllum A. vasica, E. hirta, Toddalia asiatica (fungal infection on head, earache,

headache, hair care)–

Capsicum frutescens – Coconut, honeyCardiospermum halicacabum M. koenigii, Pedalium murex, S. surattense (rheumatism) Boiled rice (delivery pain)Carica papaya – Salt (toothache)Carissa carandas – FoodC. alata Carica papaya, P. granatum, S. surattense –Cassia auriculata –

A. indicum, Acorus calamus, Alpinia calcarata, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Lippianodiflora, M. pinnata (skin diseases)

Honey (stomachache)Coconut oil

C. asiatica Cleome viscosa, Cynodon dactylon, E. hirta (headache, hair care) Salt, milkC. quadrangularis – Honey (stomachache)C. aurantifolia Coriandrum sativam –C. viscosa A. indica, Mirabilis jalapa, Pergularia daemia (fever, headache) Mustard oil

Castor oil (wounds, swellings)Clitoria ternatea Aristida setacea, C. indica (swellings) –C. indica Canna indica, P. emblica, T. zeylanicus, Ziziphus zizyphus GheeC. benghalensis Areca catechu, Canna indica –Costus speciosus Canna indica, Cynodon dactylon, Glycerrhiza glabra, P. granatum (wounds) –Cynodon dactylon A. nilotica, A. vasica, S. cumini (asthma) –D. metel – Gingelly oilElettaria cardamomum A. galanga, Piper nigrum, Zingiber officinale (headache, asthma) SugarE. hirta A. indica, Begonia fallox, Cissampelos pareira, C. benghalensis (wounds) –E. nummularius Bidens pilosa, Datura innoxia, R. communis, Vitex altissima –F. religiosa Ficus retusa, Acacia pennata, B. malabarica, Cocculus hirsutus (indigestion, breast

pain)Honey

G. sylvestre – MilkHibiscus rosa-sinensis –

A. sessilis, C. asiatica, Hemidesmus indicus, Pavetta indica, Vetiveria zizanioides(venereal diseases, stomachache)

HoneyMilk

H. auriculata – HoneyJatropha gossypifolia A. nilotica, Carica papaya (foul odour, toothache) –L. inermis B. malabarica, Costus speciosus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (disease resistance in

children)–

M. indica Asparagus racemosus, A. indica, S. nux-vomica (delivery pain) Gingelly oilM. azedarach Aristolochia indica, Mirabilis jalapa, Mucuna pruriens (to increase sperm

production)Ghee

M. champaca A. sessilis, Cocculus hirsutus, Cynodon dactylon, Tabernaemontana divaricata –M. pudica C. indica, Evolvulus alsinoides, Hemidesmus indicus –M. elengi A. sessilis, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Solanum melangena, Wedelia calandulacea –M. nudicaulis A. vera, C. asiatica, Coldenia procumbens, Madhuca longifolia, P. emblica

(stomachache, venereal diseases)Sugar

M. dioica A. galanga, Piper hymenophyllum, Piper nigrum –M. pubescens A. vasica (rheumatism) Gingelly oilM. oleifera A. cepa, Cuminum cyminum –M. koenigii A. vera, A. sessilis, Solanum trilobatum (hair care) –O. tenuiflorum Andrographis lineata, Andrographis paniculata, Sesbania sesban –O. dillenii A. vera –Phoenix sylvestris – HoneyP. amarus – MilkP. emblica Terminalia bellirica, T. chebula GheeP. betle Piper nigrum –Piper nigrum – HoneyS. indicum – Coconut oil



Table 3 (Continued)

Botanical name Other plants added in medicinal preparation Other ingredients added

S. grandiflora – ButtermilkS. nigrum A. cepa, Cuminum cyminum –Solanum trilobatum A. cepa, C. asiatica (constipation) –S. cumini – Honey/milk (diabetes); goat’s milk

(indigestion)T. grandis A. vera, Cocculus hirsutus, Helicteres isora (hair care) Coconut oilT. purpurea Carmona retusa, Piper hymenophyllum, Piper nigrum (gastric problems) –T. chebula – Ghee (ulcer); honey (to stimulate

sexual power)T. portulacastrum Azima tetracantha, Cocculus hirsutus, Cuminum cyminum, Madhuca longifolia –T. terrestris A. indica, F. religiosa, L. aspera, M. indica, Vitex negundo (fever, heel cracks) –T. zeylanicus subsp. travancoricus M. indica (venereal diseases) Honey (asthma, body strength)T. procumbens Cocculus hirsutus, Scilla indica Castor oilVitex negundo A. vasica (body pain); Thespesia populnea (poison bites) –

infections/diseases (81 use-reports, 26 species), gastro-intestinaldiseases (70 use-reports, 21 species) and skeleto-muscular sys-tem disorders (61 use-reports, 23 species) (Fig. 6). In the presentstudy, endocrinal disorders and liver problems had the highest Ficof 0.88 and 0.86 respectively and it is in agreement with the pre-vious studies among the neighboring indigenous communities inTamil Nadu, India; diabetes and jaundice had the highest Fic of 1.00among the Irulas in Thanjavur district (Ragupathy and Newmaster,2009), jaundice has the highest Fic of 0.92 among the Malasar trib-als in Coimbatore district (Ragupathy et al., 2008) and 0.923 amongthe Paliyar tribals in Theni district (Pandikumar et al., 2011). Phyl-lanthus amarus and G. sylvestre were very commonly used for thetreatment of jaundice and diabetes correspondingly in these stud-ies.

The least agreement between the informants was observed inthe skeleto-muscular system disorders with a Fic of 0.63 followedby poisonous bites with a Fic of 0.64, genito-urinary ailments andear, nose, throat problems with a Fic of 0.65 each (Table 4). In thestudy by Rokaya et al. (2010) the highest Fic is 0.40 and the lowestFic is 0.00, on the contrary our survey exemplified the lowest Fic is0.63. Thus the study indicated the degree of knowledge shared bythe users in the study area regarding the use of medicinal plants inthe treatment of ailments is high.

We found that dermatological infections/diseases, skeleto-muscular system disorders and gastro-intestinal ailments

employed the most plants with 26, 23 and 21 species respec-tively which was in agreement with the study of Andrade-Cetto(2009). Skeleto-muscular system disorders had the lowest Fic of0.63, but this ailment category ranks third in the number of use-reports (61) and number of taxa (23) attributed to this category. Itmay be due to the lack of communication among the informantsin the study area who are practicing this ailment category (Rokayaet al., 2010) or it may due to the lack of skeleto-muscular systemdisorders among the studied tribal people (Ragupathy et al., 2008).Heinrich et al. (1998) reported that gastro-intestinal, dermato-logical and respiratory diseases have a high informant consensusamong the Maya, Nahua and Zapotech people in Mexico. Ourfindings showed that these ailment categories had high number ofuse-reports among the Kani tribals with moderate Fic values.

3.7. Fidelity level

We analyzed the categories with major agreements to high-light the most important plants in each category (Table 5). Ofthe reported plants, 29 species had highest fidelity level of 100%,most of which were used in single ailment category with multipleinformants. For this analysis the plants with less than three use-reports were not considered. The plants with highest FL of 100%were Acacia nilotica, Solanum surattense (DC), Acalypha indica, Com-melina benghalensis, Euphorbia hirta, Mimosa pudica, O. dillenii, Piper

Fig. 6. Categories of ailments treated by Kani tribals arranged by number of use-reports.



Table 4Informant consensus factor for commonly used medicinal plants.

Ailment category Number of use-reports (Nur) Number of taxa (Nt) Informant consensus factor (Fic)

Endocrinal disorders 17 3 0.88Liver problems 8 2 0.86Circulatory system/cardiovascular disorders 10 3 0.78Dental care 26 7 0.76Hair care 17 5 0.75Gastro-intestinal ailments 70 21 0.71General health 35 11 0.71Dermatological infections/diseases 81 26 0.69Respiratory system diseases 43 14 0.69Fever 17 6 0.69Cooling agent 16 6 0.67Ear, nose, throat problems 27 10 0.65Genito-urinary ailments 44 16 0.65Poisonous bites 15 6 0.64Skeleto-muscular system disorders 61 23 0.63

Total 487 159*

* A taxa may be reported in more than one ailment category.

betle, Milletia pinnata (DID), Aloe vera, Cissus quadrangularis, Cit-rus aurantifolia, E. nummularius, Momordica dioica, Solanum nigrum(GIA), Alternanthera sessilis, D. metel (ENT), B. arundinacea, Ricinuscommunis, Tridax procumbens (GUA), Hygrophila auriculata (RSD),Kalanchoe pinnata (CA), Mukia maderaspatana, Phyllanthus emblica(GH), P. amarus (ED) and Wedelia calendulacea (HC).

The maximum FL for the above plants indicated the 100% choiceof the interviewed informants for treating specific ailments and

this could be an indication of their healing potential. In support toour study, 100% FL was reported in P. amarus for jaundice amongthe herbal healers in Shimoga district of Karnataka (Rajakumar andShivanna, 2009) and Malasar tribals in Velliangiri hills of TamilNadu (Ragupathy et al., 2008), India. On the contrary, R. commu-nis and P. granatum were documented to have 50% of FL for skindiseases and digestive disorders respectively by the local people ofPalestine (Ali-Shtayeh et al., 2000).

Table 5Fidelity level (FL) values for common medicinal plants used by Kani traditional healers by ailment category.

Ailment category Most preferred species with specific ailment FL (%)

Circulatory system/cardiovascular disorders Ziziphus zizyphus (weight loss) 66.67Cooling agent K. pinnata

Tamarindus indica100.0066.70

Dental care A. nilotica (foul odour, toothache)S. surattense (toothache, to kill worms in gums and teeth)Jatropha gossypifolia (foul odour, toothache)F. benghalensis (to strengthen the teeth)

100.00100.0066.6760.00

Dermatological infections/diseases A. indica (itching, wounds)C. benghalensis, E. hirta, O. dillenii, M. pinnata (wounds)M. pudica (pimples)P. betle (itching, skin irritation)Cassia auriculata (skin irritation, itching)

100.00100.00100.00100.0071.50

Ear, nose, throat problems A. sessilis (eye pain)D. metel (earache)Clitoria ternatea (throat pain)

100.00100.0060.00

Endocrinal disorders Costus speciosus (diabetes) 71.40Fever A. galanga

O. tenuiflorum40.0050.00

Gastro-intestinal ailments A. vera, C. quadrangularis, M. dioica (stomachache)C. aurantifolia (Indigestion)E. nummularius (dysentery)S. nigrum (intestinal ulcer)

100.00100.00100.00100.00

General health M. maderaspatana, P. emblica (body strength)T. zeylanicus (body strength)

100.0066.70

Genito-urinary ailments Capsicum frutescens (delivery pain)M. oleifera (to increase sperm production)P. minima (venereal diseases, lactation)Solanum trilobatum (male fertility)

100.00100.00100.0060.00

Hair care W. calendulacea (hair loss, greying of hair)M. koenigii (dandruff, hair loss)

100.0054.50

Liver problems P. amarus (jaundice) 100.00Poisonous bites Vitex negundo (poison bites) 80.00Respiratory system diseases H. auriculata (cough)

Piper nigrum (cough, bronchitis)100.0071.40

Skeleto-muscular system disorders B. arundinacea (rheumatism)R. communis (joint pain, muscle pain)T. procumbens (swellings)Cardiospermum halicacabum (body pain, rheumatism)M. indica (body pain)

100.00100.00100.0083.0066.70



3.8. Relative importance

The collected medicinal plants possessed number of pharmaco-logical properties (Khare, 2007). The plant with more number ofpharmacological properties (PH) was Moringa oleifera (20 PH); so,it had a normalized PH value of 1.00 (20/20). Mollugo nudicauliswas employed to treat five body systems and had a normalized BSvalue of 1.00 (5/5). C. inophyllum and M. azedarach had the highestRI of 75.0 and it was followed by Leucas aspera (70.0), M. nudi-caulis, T. chebula, O. tenuiflorum, Tribulus terrestris (each with theRI of 67.5), G. sylvestre (65.0), A. galanga and A. indica (62.5), L. iner-mis and A. cepa (60.0), C. viscosa and S. cumini (57.5). These plantswere also used to treat more body systems and were consideredas most versatile taxa in the study area. According to Upadhyayet al. (2010) A. indica was recognized as most versatile taxa since itwas mentioned by most of the informants among the tribal prac-titioners in Eastern Rajasthan, India. Many of the most versatilespecies reported in this study were similar for some neighboringindigenous communities in India (Muthu et al., 2006; Ignacimuthuet al., 2006, 2008; Poonam and Singh, 2009; Pandikumar et al.,2011).

3.9. Reliability of reported uses

According to Trotter and Logan (1986), plants which are used inrepetitive fashion in any ailment could be more likely to have bio-logically active component or pharmacologically active. The Kanitribals used the fruit of T. zeylanicus for body strength and to treatasthma and venereal diseases with a use value of 1.5, RI of 37.5and FL of 66.7%. It is claimed that one can live for days togetherwithout food and still be able to perform rigorous physical work byeating a few fruits of Arokyapachilai everyday and they named theplant as ‘Arokyapachilai’ (greener of health). Due to its vital role intraditional medicine and nutritional efficiency it was recognized as‘Ginseng’ of Kani tribals (Pushpangadan, 1988).

Most of the plants reported in this study has good evidenceof effectiveness and were scientifically validated as significantpharmacological agents. For example, A. vasica is one of the mostfrequently used medicinal plants among various indigenous com-munities all over the World for respiratory problems, especiallycold, cough and asthma and drugs with this plant has been usedfor a long period of time which does not has serious adverse effects(Claeson et al., 2000), and most of the studied Kani traditional heal-ers using this plant for treating asthma and cold as well as headacheand earache; G. sylvestre has been used in the treatment of diabetesfor a long time in Indian traditional medicine and elsewhere in theWorld and it claimed to has blood glucose lowering activity bothin vitro and in vivo by a number of reports (Mukherjee et al., 2006)and all the informants in the present study using this plant in thetreatment of diabetes as well as poisonous bites and skin diseases.In support of our study, P. amarus has been scientifically provedto control hepatitis B and C viruses and possess hepatoprotective,immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory activity (Thyagarajanet al., 2002). A. indica, Anacardium occidentale, C. viscosa, E. hirta, O.dillenii and M. pinnata were used in the treatment of wound andrelated injuries by the Kani traditional healers and these plantsshowed significant wound healing and anti-inflammatory activityin experimental animals (Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2009a).

The ethnomedicinal studies evidently pointed out that, insteadof trying to identify the active components and pharmacologicalactions of plants through massive collection of plants from naturalsources, it is better to start investigating the efficacy of the plantbased on their use in folk medicine, since most of the commer-cially proven drugs used in modern medicine were initially triedin crude form in traditional or folk healing practices (Fabricant andFarnsworth, 2001).

4. Conclusion

The present study revealed that traditional medicines were stillin common use by the Kani tribal communities and accurate knowl-edge of the plants and their medicinal properties were held by onlya few individuals in this community. Hence a need for detailedinvestigation of ethnobotanical knowledge held by each tribal com-munity is required before such valuable knowledge vanishes. Thus,our work would be useful in preventing the loss of ethnomedici-nal traditions of Kani tribal communities. The new claims which arerecorded from the study area showed that still much can be learnedfrom investigating herbals available abundantly in the forests. Theplants with highest fidelity level and use values in the present studymay indicate the possible occurrence of valuable phytochemicalcompounds and it requires a search for potential new drugs to treatvarious ailments.

The efficacy and safety of all the reported ethnomedicinal plantsneeds to be evaluated for phytochemical and pharmacological stud-ies especially the plants with high informant consensus factor, usevalue, fidelity level and relative importance should be given priorityto carry out bioassay and toxicity studies. As a result of the studywe are suggesting the plants A. galanga, A. indica, C. inophyllum,G. sylvestre, L. aspera, M. azedarach, M. nudicaulis, O. tenuiflorum, S.cumini, T. chebula and T. terrestris for further ethnopharmacologi-cal studies, since these plants had the high UV and RI values. Of thenewly reported claims in the present study B. arundinacea, D. metel,E. nummularius, O. dillenii and P. minima had highest FL of 100% forspecific ailments and these plants can also be further analyzed forthe associated pharmacological studies.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR), New Delhi, India (Ref. No. 52/2-2000/BMS/TRM)for providing fund for this project. The first author gratefullyacknowledges University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi forfinancial support in the form of Dr. D. S. Kothari Post DoctoralFellowship (Ref. No. F.4-2/2006(BSR)/13-98/2008(BSR)) for prepa-ration of this manuscript. We specially express our thanks to Kanitribals in the study area for revealing their traditional knowledge.We are also grateful to two anonymous referees for their criticalreviews and useful comments on the manuscript.

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