the medicinally important convolvulacean members used by the kattunaikkan tribe of wayand district

8/12/2019 The Medicinally Important Convolvulacean Members Used by the Kattunaikkan Tribe of Wayand District.

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The Medicinally important Convolvulacean members used by the

Kattunaikkan Tribe of Wayand District.

Keywords:Kattunaikkan, Wayand, Convolvulaceae.

ABSTRACT:

A floristic and ethnobotanical studies on the kattunaikan tribe of Wayand

district was carried out. The study documented the use of 11 plant species of the

family Convolvulaceae by the Kattunaika tribe. The different parts like leaves, stem,

fruits, flowers and sometimes the whole plant are used to cure various diseases.

093-097 | JRPS | 2012 | Vol 1 | No 2

This article is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/

licenses/by/2.0), which gives permission for unrestricted use, non-commercial, distribution, andreproduction in all medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

www.plantsciences.info

Authors:

Joseph MA1and

Antony VT2.

Institution:1. Research andDevelopment centre,

Bharathiar University,

Coimbatore.

2. Postgraduate and

Research Department of

Botany, St.BerchmansCollege, Changanassery,

Kerala.

Corresponding author:

Joseph MA.

Email:[email protected]

Web Address:http:/www.plantsciences.info

documents/PS0025.pdf.

Dates:Received: 08 Mar 2012 Accepted: 27 Mar 2012 Published: 07 Jun 2012

Article Citation:

Joseph MA and Antony VT.

The medicinally important convolvulacean members used by the

Kattunaikkan Tribe of Wayand District.

Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1(2): 093-097

Original Research

ournal of Research in Plant Sciences

JournalofResearch

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PlantScienc

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Journal of Research

in Plant SciencesAn International Scientific

Research Journal

An International Scientific Research Journal


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INTRODUCTION

For about four thousands of years, the tribal

people have been using various medicinal plants in the

treatment different diseases. After centuries of trial and

error they discovered the miraculous healing power of

certain plants. From their observation they formulated

some basic concepts of science which they have passed

on to the future generation. Hence a considerable part of

the knowledge of the primitive men regarding the uses of

plants have been transferred to the indigenous societies

which are the descendants of the primitive human

communities. The documentation of indigenous

knowledge on the utilization of local plant resources by

different ethnic groups or communities is one of the mainobjective of ethnobotanical research. (Sasi et al., 2011).

In Kerala the major tribal communities are nearly forty in

number. Some of them are still nomadic and living in the

forests. The major tribes of Kerala are Kani, Kurichiar,

Kurumar, Eravallan, Kattunaikkan etc. Kattunaikans are

seen in and in the vicinity of forests in the Wayand

district of Kerala state, India.

Wayanad district lies between north latitude

110

27' and 150

58' and east 750

47' and 700

27'. It isbounded on the east by Nilgiris and Mysore districts of

Tamilnadu and Karnataka, on the north by Coorg district

of Karnataka, on the south by Malappuram and on the

west by Kozhikode and Kannur respectively. The total

geographical area of Wayand is 2124 km2which consists

of 5.48% of Kerala state. It is situated on the southern

top of the Deccan plateau. Its main feature is the majestic

Western Ghats with thick forest and deep valleys.

The unique feature of this district is the large aboriginal

tribal population, consisting mainly of Paniyas,

Kurumas, Adiyars, Kurichyas, Ooralis, Kadar,

Kattunaikkans. Wayanad district stands first in the case

of adivasi population (about 36%) among other districts

in the state.

The people of kattunaikan or Kattunaikka are

peculaiar in their habit and in their daily routine and are

variously referred to as Jenu Kuruman, Tenu kuruman

and Naikkan (Ratheesh Narayan et al., 2011). They are

seen in deep forests of high mountains. Their name

shows that they are the kings of the jungle. These people

mainly depend on forest for their livelihood. Their name

Tenu Kurumans indicate the habit of collecting honey.

In the ancient times they used bark of trees instead of

clothes to cover their nakedness. They are tall, long

armed and black skinned tribe with curly or wavy hair

(Louiz, 1962). Traditionally they were honey collectors,

food gatherers and hunters (Mathur, 1977). Majority of

them lives on vegetables, honey and fish. Some are

employed by the forest department and the rest lead the

life of food gatherers. Recently some have begun to raisecash crops. Even today most of the tribal people depend

on the medicinal plants for various ailments. They collect

these plants from their local settlements. They use these

plants in treating various diseases and sometimes the

same plant is used for the treatment of different diseases.

Pawar SM and Sonawane SR (2011) enumerated

important medicinal plants along kanher and mahadare

reservoir from Satara District, Maharashtra and give a

detailed information on the medicinal uses of the plants.A lot of ethnobotanical studies have been

conducted on the various tribes of Wayanad. Nagendra

Prasad and Abraham (1984) collected Ethnobotanical

information from the Nayadis of Wayanadu and

documented 74 medicinal plants. Thomas & Britto

(1999) collected information on different tribal groups of

Wayand. Pramod et al., (2003) have conducted study on

the ethnobotany of religious and supernatural beliefs of

Kurichya of Wayanad District, Kerala, India and

reported 40 plant species related to magico-religious

beliefs. Mini and Sivadasan (2007) collected information

from Kurichya tribe about the ethno veterinary plants

used by them. Udayan et al., (2008) studied the

kurichiar tribes of Tirunelli forest, Wayanad Dt.

They have investigated 48 plants used by the tribe in

medicine and other traditional uses. But no member of

Joseph and Antony, 2012

094 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1(2): 093-097


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the family Convolvulaceae has been reported. Silija et

al., (2008) have studied the Mullukurma tribe in detail to

collect information regarding ethnomedicinal plant

knowledge. Their study included 136 plant species.

Ipomoea marginata found to be the only

Convolvulaceaen member among other species.

Ethnobotanically important trees and their uses by

Kattunaika tribe in Wayand wild life sanctuary by

Ratheesh Narayan et al., (2011).

Eventhough a lot of studies have been done on

the tribals of Wayand no detailed study on various plant

species of the family Convolvulaceae used by the

kattunaikan tribe of wayand district is not yet conducted.

The present study has been undertaken with the aim of

recording various Convolvulacean members used by

them.

METHODOLOGY

Extensive field trips were carried out between

August 2010May 2011 in different kattunaikan colonies

of Wayand district. Five tribal colonies were randomly

selected for documenting the traditional knowledge.

The information about the medicinal use of the plants

were collected by interviewing people both men and

women of age ranging from 20-70. Repeated field trips

were carried out in different seasons to collect the

flowers and fruits of the plants (Plate 1).

DISCUSSION

A large number of plant species occur in their

localities where these tribal people live. They possess

tremendous knowledge regarding the use of these plants.

In the study 11 plant species belonging to the family

Convolvulaceae were found to be useful in curing

various diseases. Roots, leaves, fruits and sometimes the

whole plant is used in preparing the medicine. They are

taken either internally or applied externally in the formof decoction, paste or powder.

CONCLUSION

The present study shows that the Kattunaika

communities possess great knowledge about the use of

various herbal medicines to cure different ailments and

they are also conscious about the loss of their traditional

medicinal practices. As the tribal communities are

getting modernized there is an imminent danger in losing

their traditional medicinal knowledge. Due to human

invasion, modernization and habitat destruction many of

valuable plant species are vanishing from the face of the

earth. So efforts should be taken to preserve our plant

resources for a right management of our biodiversity.


Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1(2): 093-097 095

Plate 1.A Argyreia nervosa; B. Cuscuta reflexe;

C Evolvulus alsinoides varalsinoides; D. Ipomoea

carnea ssp. Fistulosa; E.Ipomoea obscura; F.Ipomoes pes-tigridis; G.Ipomoea quamoclit; H.

Xenostegia tridentate ssp. Tridentate.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors express their sincere gratitude to the

principal, St. Berchmans College, Changanassery,

Kerala. They also extend their gratitude to the members

of the tribal group (Kattunaikkan) in Wayand district.

REFERENCE:

Louiz AAD. 1962. Tribes of Kerala. New Delhi.

Bhaathiya Adimajati Seva Sang.

Mathur PGR. 1977. The tribal situation in Kerala.

Kerala historical society, Trivandrum.

Mini V and Sivadasan M. 2007. Plants used in Ethno

veterinary medicine by Kurichya tribe of Wayanad

District in Kerala, India. Ethnobotany 19:94-99.

Nagendra Prasad P and Abraham Z. 1984.

Ethnobotany of the Nayadis of north Kerala.

J.Econ.Tax.Bot., 5(1):41-48.

Pawar SM and Sonawane SR. 2011. Enumeration of

medicinal plants along kanher and mahadare reservoir

from Satara District, Maharashtra, India. Journal of

Research in Biology. 6: 461-466.


096 Journal of Research in Plant Sciences (2012) 1(2): 093-097

SI No. Botanical Name /Local Name Parts used Used for Mode of use

1.

Argyreia nervosa(Burm.f.) Bojer.

Local name:Marikkunni,

Samudrappacha

Leaf AcidityLeaf paste is made into a

decoction and administered orally

2.Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.

Local name:Moodillathali

Whole plantSwelling in

joints

The whole plant is cookedwithout salt and taken internally

to reduce swelling in joints.

3.

Ipomoea obscura (L.)

Ker-Gawl

Local name:Thiruthali

Leaf, flower

and fruitMalaria

The leaves, flower and fruits are

crushed and made in to paste and

is applied on the head against

malarial fever

4.Ipomoea pes tigridis l.

Local name:Pulichevidu

LeavesBody pain

Leaves are crushed together with

coconut and made in to paste and

is administered orally to reduce

pain

5.Ipomoea marginata(Desr.) Verdc.Local name: Kolambi

LeavesCough

Ten to twenty leaves are folded

together and kept in a pot on an

oven. When it is cooked it is

taken out and eaten

6.Ipomoea deccana Austin

Local name:Mooval Kodileaves furuncles

The leaves are crushed along withoil and applied on the affected

part.

7.

Xenostegia tridentate (L.)Austin & StaplesLocal name:Pradharini,

Prasarini, Thalanili

LeavesMad dog bite

Leaves are crushed and is then

mixed with milk and administered

orally

8.Evolvulus alsinoides(L.)

L. var.alsinoidesLocal name:Krishnakranth

Whole plantTo increase

memory

Whole plant is made into a paste

and is mixed with milk and takenorally

9.Ipomoea quamoclit L.Local name:Akasha-mulla

Leaves Head ache

Leaves are pressed the juice

obtained is applied on the

forehead

10.Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq.Local name:Anchilathali,

Palmuthukku, Mutalakizhang

Tuber Impotency The tuber is made into a paste andis administered orally twice a

day to treat impotency

11.Ipomoea carnea Jack. ssp.fistulosa( Mart.ex Choisy)

Austin Local name: Vellappo

Leaves Ulcers andboils

Leaf paste is applied over boils


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the medicinally important convolvulacean members used by the kattunaikkan tribe of wayand district

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