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Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics

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Medicinal Plants Used to Heal Wound in Karandamalai of Dindigul District in Tamil Nadu, Southern India

Yasothkumar N*

Department of Botany, Yadava College, Tiruppalai, Madurai – 625014, Tamil Nadu, India

1. INTRODUCTION

Medicinal plants can perform a significant role in the prevention of pathogenic attacks in the body. Plants are a great source of primary health care due to the presence of certain chemical compounds. They have been reported to be very beneficial in wound care, promoting the rate of wound healing with minimal pain, discomfort, and scarring to the patient ¹. Skin is the largest organ of the human body, as such plants showing dermatological properties and the ability to stop bleeding, and to heal wounds and burns are of great significance to human health ².

Research on the traditional knowledge related to plants used for wound healing still needs adequate attention. In this concern, the present study was carried out to document the therapeutic uses of medicinal plants existing in various locations of Karandamalai in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu to heal wounds.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1. Geographical profile of the study area – Karandamalai

Karandamalai is one of the reserved forests located in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu. It is situated south of Malaiyur and southeast of Chengaimedu. Geographically, Karandamalai is lies between 19.2849º N latitude and 78.2169º E longitude. The altitude of the study area ranged from 180 to 780 m above mean sea level. The temperature of the study area is about 13 – 38º C and annual rainfall reaches 105 mm.

2.2. Methodology

Frequent field visits were made in different localities of Karandamalai from October 2019 to January 2020. Ethnomedicinal data on plants used to heal wounds were collected according to the methodology suggested by Jain ³. The ethnomedcinal data (local name, mode of preparation, medicinal uses) were collected through questionnaire, interviews and discussions among the herbal practitioner in their local language. Totally 17 peoples were interviewed during this study and it includes 11 men and 6 women. The age of the informants was ranged from 34 – 62. The plants were botanically identified by using regional floras ^4,5 and authenticated as per APG IV classification ⁶.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Wound healing medicinal plants

A total of 24 medicinal plants used for the treatment of wounds were recorded by this present investigation. The 24 plant species were belongs to 18 families (Table 1). Asteraceae was found as dominant family with 3 species. It was followed by Asclepiadaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae and Liliaceae (2 species each). The remaining 13 families were recorded with one species each (Table 2). According to the life form of the plants documented, herbs were found maximum (14 nos., 58.33%) than trees (5 nos., 20.83%), shrubs (3 nos., 12.50%) and climbers (2 nos., 8.33%) (Fig 1).

Table 1: List of wound healing plants recorded in the study area

Table 2: Families with no. of species

3.2. Plant parts used

The results of the present study also highlighted that leaves were used in 13 cases with 54.15% which was found as most preferable plant part used to cure wounds and whole plant was used in 5 cases (20.83%). The following parts were used in only one case with low use percentage (4.17% each): Bulb, Leaf gel, Root, Stem bark and Stem latex (Fig 2). Most of the earlier ethnobotanical studies conducted in various regions of Tamil Nadu confirmed that leaves are the preferable plant part used in the preparation of medicine ^7-15.

Figure 1: Number and Percentage of different habits

Figure 2: Number and Percentage of plant parts used

Figure 3: Number and Percentage of medicinal preparation

Figure 4: Number and Percentage of medicinal application

3.3. Mode of medicinal preparation and application

By this current research work, it was also found that the medicine were prepared mostly in the form of paste (87.50%), followed by extract (8.33%) and powder (4.17%) (Fig 3). In case of administration of medicine, in 23 cases (95.83%), it was applied topically and in one case (4.17%) it was used as wash to heal the wound (Fig 4). These results were concordance with other ethnobotanical surveys conducted in other districts of Tamil Nadu, by which it was confirmed that the use of medicines as paste was mostly used in the treatment of skin diseases including wounds ^16-18.

4. CONCLUSION

Phytochemical and pharmacological values of these plants should be tested and attention should also be made on proper exploitation and utilization of these plants; otherwise, there will be the possibility of extinction of particular species in the future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author is cordially grateful to the informants of the study area for their valuable data.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The author has declared that there is no conflict of interest.

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