Medicinal plant usage by traditional medical practitioners of rural villages in Chuadanga district, Bangladesh
2013
Rahman, M Mizanur | Masum, Gazi Ziaul Haque | Sharkar, Priyanka | Sima, Shamima Nasrin
Traditional medical practitioners (Kavirajes) administer primary health care to most of the rural population in Bangladesh. They use medicinal plants for various formulations to treat ailments. The medicinal plants used by the traditional medical practitioners vary considerably from region to region. The objectives of this study were to identify native medicinal plants and their ethno-medicinal use among the traditional medical practitioners of Chuadanga district, Bangladesh. After obtaining informed consent, interviews were conducted with the Kavirajes with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. Plant specimens, as pointed out by respondents, were collected and identified at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. The results show 119 plant species belonging to 64 families were used by the traditional medical practitioners for treatment of various ailments. The most frequently used families were Asteracea with six species followed by Moraceae, Solanaceae and Apocynaceae with five species. Among the selected species the maximum contribution was recorded for herbs with 38% species followed by trees (32%), shrubs (21%), climbers (7%) and palm (2%). Assessments of reported ethno-medicinal activity indicate that these plant species can potentially be of pharmacological interest as well as for conservation of biodiversity.
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