Herbal Remedies Used to Treat Skin Disorders in Arasankulam Region of Thoothukudi District in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

As lacking in attention given to the ethnomedicinal plants to be used for the treatment of skin diseases in many areas, an ethnomedicinal study was carried out to enumerate the traditional uses followed to treat skin diseases among the people living in Arasankulam and Kottarakurichi villages located in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. The medicinal uses of 24 species belonging to 20 families were reported from the study area. Euphorbiaceae was noted as largest families comprising of 3 species each. Herbs (50.0%) were found more in number than other life forms of plants. Leaves (50.0%) were the mostly used plant part to prepare the medicine and paste (61.54%) was the dominant mode to treat the skin ailments. By this research work, it was also noted that a total of 6 plants were used to heal wound, 4 plants for the treatment of cut, 3 plants each to cure boil and eczema, 2 plants to treat heel crack and 1 plant each for abrasion, chicken pox, dandruff, itch, leprosy, lip crack, scabies, skin allergy, small pox and tumor. Further studies on phytochemical and pharmacological aspects of these plants will contribute new dimensions to these medicinal plants. Keywords: Medicinal plants, Skin diseases, Arasankulam region, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu.