Traditional Herbal Remedies Used in the Management of Urolithiasis by the Tribals of Purulia District, West Bengal, India

The tribal populations in Purulia district directly or indirectly rely on medicinal plants for their basic medical needs. Urolithiasis is the production of stones (calculi) in the kidney, bladder, or urethra, which is prevalent worldwide. Although the allopathic medical system uses varied technologies to treat urolithiasis or urinary calculi, it has adverse effects and a high recurrence rate. On the other hand, the poor tribal populations of Purulia district were compelled to rely on ethnomedicine as the allopathic mode of treatment was expensive and painful, and hence, the plant-based natural remedy was readily available with little or no ill effects. A few medicinal plants with high success rates were identified during the Purulia district, West Bengal survey. In the current study, 52 traditional healers from 17 villages were interviewed, and various ethnobotanical indices viz. use value (UV), informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL) and direct matrix ranking (DMR) values were calculated. The results revealed that a few plants, such as Phyllanthus virgatus, Bryophyllum pinnatum, Vernonia cinerea, parts had a high use value of 1.00 and a fidelity level of 100%. The DMR score of plants such as Moringa oleifera was the highest, followed by Aegle marmelos and Terminalia chebula. Accurate identification of the plant species exploited, documentation of herbal preparations, and the indigenous knowledge of traditional remedies were recorded as it was vital to inform the community about both sustainable use and conservation of indigenous flora in the region.