Herbal Medicine: A Case Study of Kherias, Lodhas, and Mundas Tribes in Southwest Bengal of India

Ethnobotany is a well-established branch of science today. It includes in its totality the idea and concept of people about plants as living organisms including beliefs and actions about survival, attitudes of people toward the destruction of vegetation, its careful conservation through faith (taboos, totems, clan, etc.), or practical understanding of plants and their continued improvement by selection or manipulation. Ethnobotany has great relevance in a region whose flora is associated with various uses. The present ethnobotanical study deals with tribes like Kheria (Sabar), Lodha, and Munda of southwest Bengal. These tribes are somewhat primitive to this region and have lived for a long period in the natural settings of the region. During this period, a total of 249 plant species have been collected from the study area of lateritic West Bengal. These plants belong to 84 families and 205 genera of the plant kingdom. According to the uses made by Kherias, Lodhas, and Mundas, the plants can be classified as foods and drinks, fodder, medicine (human), veterinary medicine, value-added items, magical beliefs, cultural practices, etc. Besides this, periments have been done to ascertain the phytochemicals present in the claimed five medicinal plants like Curculigo orchioides (Amaryllidaceae), Asparagus racemosus (Liliaceae), Smilax ovalifoila (Liliaceae), Elephantopus scaber (Asteraceae), and Hemidesmus indicus (Asclepiadaceae). To make it imperative to society, the traditional tribal system of medicine and wisdom must be documented not only because it has always helped to make a breakthrough in the treatment of virulent diseases but also to acknowledge the tribal heritage of using plant resources.