Research Report
Medicinal Plants Used as Antipyretic Agents by the Tribes of Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh 
,
Reddy T.V.V. Seetharami 
Author Correspondence author
Medicinal Plant Research, 2017, Vol. 7, No. 1 doi: 10.5376/mpr.2017.07.0001
Received: 05 Sep., 2016 Accepted: 15 Oct., 2016 Published: 05 Aug., 2017
Suryanarayana S.N., and Seetharami Reddi T.V.V., 2017, Medicinal plants used as antipyretic agents by the tribes of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, Medicinal Plant Research, 7(1): 1-6 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2017.07.0001)
Ethnobotanical explorations were conducted in tribal localities of Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh with an aim to unearth medicinal plants used by the tribes for curing different fevers prevailing in their habitat. It resulted in isolating 60 species of plants covering 56 genera and 32 families. Mimosaceae is the dominant family with 5 species followed by Fabaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Rubiaceae each with 3 species and others. Habit-wise analysis showed the dominance of herbs with 22 species followed by trees, shrubs and others. Plant part-wise analysis showed the maximum utilization of leaf in 18 practices followed by whole plant and root 13 each, stem bark (8) and others. Of the 64 practices, 53 involve single plant only, 10 with two plants and 1 with three plants. Dolichandrone atrovirens, Neptunia oleracea, Pupalia lappacea and 36 practices were found to be new or less known.
1 Introduction
The rise in body temperature above 37.22°C is called fever. It generally occurs due to the infections by virus, bacteria, protozoa and other microorganisms that produce pyrogens. Most traditional medical systems believe that fever is not a disease by itself but symptoms of some other diseases. Herbal antipyretic agents are favored over the chemical ones for their compatibility to the human physiological system, easy availability and rich knowledge about the traditional healing systems.
Adilabad district is situated between 770 47/ and 800 0/ of the eastern longitudes and 180 40/ and 190 56/ of northern latitudes. It is bounded on North by Yeotmal and Chanda districts of Maharashtra, on the East by Chanda district, on the South by Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts and on the West by Nanded district of Maharashtra state. It ranks second among all the districts in the state in forest area occupying about 44.5 percent (7,218.86 Sq km). The total tribal population of the district is 416,511 (16.74%) as per 2001 census with the main tribes Gonds, Kolams, Koyas, Lambadas, Mannes, Naikpods, Pradhans, Thoties and Yerukalas.
Though fever is the most common disease among the tribes of India exclusive publications on fevers alone are not many (Vedavathy and Rao, 1991; Aminuddin et al., 1993; Singh and Kaushal Kumar, 1999; Goud et al., 1999; Chhetri, 2004; Tomar, 2007; Jadhav, 2007; Mishra, 2009; Naidu et al., 2009; Naidu et al., 2010; Ratna Manjula et al., 2014) necessitating the present study.
2 Material and Methods
Extensive ethnobotanical explorations were conducted in 42 tribal pockets with good forest cover in Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, during 2006-2009. Knowledgeable informants including the vaidyas and elderly persons (42) of the tribal communities were interviewed and elicited information on the plants used for curing various fevers prevailing in their habitat. The data were verified in different villages among the interviewers showing the same plant sample and even with same informants on different occasions. The knowledgeable informants were taken to the field and along with collection of plants for the voucher specimens, the use of the plants as given by the tribal informants were recorded. The plant species collected were identified with the help of Flora of Presidency of Madras (Gamble, 1916-1935) and Flora of Adilabad district (Pullaiah et al., 1985-1989). The voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of the Department of Botany, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
3 Enumeration
The plants are enumerated and arranged in a tabular form with Vernacular name followed by Latin name, Voucher No., Part(s) used and Method of preparation (Table 1). Plants and practices marked with an asterisk (*) are considered to be new or less known.
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Table 1 Ethnomedicinal plants used for curing fevers by the tribes of Adilabad district |
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4 Results and Discussion
The present study yielded 60 species of plants covering 56 genera and 39 families used by the tribes of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, for curing different fevers, viz., fever, intermittent fever, puerperal fever, malaria and typhoid. Mimosaceae is the dominant family with 5 species followed by Fabaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Rubiaceae each with 3 species; Malvaceae, Rutaceae, Meliaceae, Rhamnaceae, Asteraceae, Apocynaceae, Acanthaceae, Verbenaceae, Lamiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Cyperaceae with 2 species each and others each with one species. Habit-wise analysis showed the dominance of herbs with 22 species followed by trees (20 spp), shrubs (15 spp) and climbers (3 spp). Plant part-wise analysis showed the maximum utilization of leaf in 18 practices followed by whole plant and root (13 each), stem bark (8), root bark (4), fruit (3), stem (2), tuber, wood and seed (1 each). They are administered either in the form of extract, powder, paste, decoction, juice, infusion, poultice or pills along with either water, hot water, breast milk, honey, jaggery, sugar candy, coconut oil or common salt. Of the 64 practices, 53 involve single plant only, 10 practices with two plants and 1 practice with three plants. Dolichandrone atrovirens, Neptunia oleracea, Pupalia lappacea and 36 practices were found to be new or less known (Jain, 1991; Kirtikar and Basu, 2003).
Some species with similar usage recorded in different parts of India are: Azadirachta indica, (for malaria) by the tribes of Orissa (Aminuddin et al., 1993); Andrographis paniculata, Azadirachta indica, Catunaregam spinosa, Tinospora cordifolia by the Yanadi, Nakkala, Irula, Yerukula, Sugali/Lambada, Chenchu tribes of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh (Vedavathy et al., 1997); Alangium salvifolium, Andrographis paniculata, Azadirachta indica (for malaria); Celastrus paniculatus Cyperus rotundus Mimosa púdica, Pergularia daemia, Terminalia bellirica, Tinospora cordifolia by the tribes, Chenchus, Sugalis and Yerukulas of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh (Goud et al., 1999); Cassia tora, Ziziphus mauritiana (malaria); Celastrus paniculatus, Rauvolfia serpentina Tephrosia purpurea,Tinospora cordifolia by the tribes Tharu, Kol, Gond, Kharwar, Korwa of Uttar Pradesh and Santhal, Paharia, Oraon, Munda of Bihar (Singh and Kumar, 1999); Sida cordifolia in Meerut district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh (Tomar, 2007); Andrographis paniculata, Clerodendrum serratum, Cyperus rotundus, Mimosa púdica, Pavonia odorata, Pueraria tuberosa, Punica granatum, Ricinus communis, Santalum album, Sida cordifolia, Terminalia bellirica, Vetiveria zizanioides, Tinospora cordifolia were among the 105 plant species reported for curing fever in Madhavacikitsa tradition (Mishra, 2009); Celastrus paniculatus, Clerodendrum serratum, Cyperus rotundus, Dalbergia latifolia, Mimosa púdica, Pergularia daemia, Prosopis cineraria, Rauvolfia serpentina, Ricinus communis, Tephrosia purpurea, Terminalia bellirica, Tinospora cordifolia, Tragia involucrata (fever); Naringi crenulata, Strychnos potatorum (puerperal fever); Xanthium strumarium, Ziziphus mauritiana (malaria) by the Gadaba, Jatapu, Konda dora, Kuttiya, Savara, Yerukula tribes of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh (Naidu et al., 2009); Ocimum tenuiflorum, Ricinus communis, Santalum album, Tinospora cordifolia; Toddalia asiática (malaria) in 10 southern and one northern districts of Karnataka (Shiddamallayya et al., 2010); Acacia sinuata, Azadirachta indica, Mimosa púdica, Ocimum tenuiflorum (for malaria) by the tribes of Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh (Naidu et al., 2010); Ocimum tenuiflorum, Ricinus communis by the Gond, Kol, Baiga, Panica, Khairwar, Manjhi, Mawasi and Agaria tribes of Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh (Shukla et al., 2010); Acacia torta, Azadirachta indica, Cleome viscosa, Clerodendrum serratum, Eclipta prostrata, Ocimum tenuiflorum, Pergularia daemia, Punica granatum, Rauvolfia serpentina, Soymida febrífuga, Tinospora cordifolia by the Gadaba, Khond, Porja and Savara primitive tribal groups of north coastal Andhra Pradesh (Rao et al., 2013) and Andrographis paniculata, Azadirachta indica, Celastrus paniculatus, Clerodendrum serratum, Cyperus rotundus, Mimosa púdica, Ocimum basilicum, O. tenuiflorum, Santalum album, Sida cordifolia, Soymida febrífuga, Tephrosia purpurea, Tinospora cordifolia, Vetiveria zizanioides by the Koya, Lambada, Gond/Naikpod, Nayak, Konda reddi, Yerukula tribes of Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh (Ratna Manjula et al., 2014). Acacia sinuata, Argemone mexicana, Azadirachta indica, Lantana cámara, Mimosa púdica, Ocimum basilicum, O. tenuiflorum, Oldenlandia herbacea, Toddalia asiática, Xanthium strumarium, Ziziphus mauritiana and Adiantum lunulatum, Merremia tridentata, Polygala arvensis are used for curing malaria and typhoid respectively. Whereas Clerodendrum serratum is used for curing both malaria and typhoid. Andrographis paniculata, Azadirachta indica and Tinospora cordifolia are the most exclusively used plants for curing fevers throughout the country. Identical use of the same plant by different tribes in different parts of India indicate its established curative property and therapeutic significance. The study represents a contribution to the existing knowledge of folk remedies that are in current practice for the treatment of fevers which happens to be the most common ailment amongst the tribes because of treacherous habitat, mosquito menace and water contamination especially during monsoon season (June-September).
5 Conclusion
This study provides basic ethnomedicinal data on the use of traditional medicine to cure fevers and helps in preserving indigenous knowledge in India. It is anticipated that these data will open new avenues to develop new drugs that can help to alleviate human sufferings. The promising plants be subjected to phytochemical analysis and biological activity before recommending them for further use.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the tribes of Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh, for their cooperation during field work and sharing their valuable knowledge on fevers.
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