An ethnomedicinal survey of medicinal plants used as food supplements by the Chakma tribe of Bandarban district, Bangladesh

Abstract

Medicinal plants serve as food supplements and provide essential nutrients to the body in addition to their use as prophylactic and curative measures for some diseases. We conducted a survey among the traditional healers of the Chakma tribe, which is the largest tribe in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in the southeast part of Bangladesh with the objective of obtaining information on plants, which can serve as food supplements. Information was obtained from the traditional healers with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-work method. It was observed that several medicinal plants or plant parts are used as food supplements by the tribe. The plants included Aegle marmelos, Coccinia grandis, Hyptis suaveolens, Mangifera longipes, Nymphaea nouchali, Terminalia chebula, and Syzygium cumini. The plants serve as food supplements and plant parts can be taken on a regular basis for treatment and prevention of several diseases.