Ethnobotanical investigations among the Lushai tribes in North Cachar Hills district of Assam, Northeast India

Abstract

Traditional use of plants from the Northeastern part of India has been documented for decades' altogether. The ethnic community still depend upon their indigenous knowledge for healing their ailments (both intrinsic and extrinsic). The study documents the usage of 31 medicinal plant species belonging to 26 families and 31 genera by the indigenous Lushai tribes of Northeast India. The study was done through structured questionnaires in consultations with the tribal practitioners. The use of aboveground plant parts was higher (79.06%) than the underground plant parts (20.93%). Leaf was used in the majority of cases (23 species), followed by fruit (4). However, different underground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were also found to be in use by the Lushai tribe as a medicine. About 41 types of ailments have been reported to be cured by using these 31 medicinal plant species. The study thus emphasizes the need to pursue meticulous ethnobotanical research in finding solutions to major fatal diseases and ensure its application in improving human health and medical care facilities.