A Quantitative Study on Indigenous Medicinal Plants used by Tribes of Kerala

Abstract

A quantitative study of indigenous medicinal plants with detailed documentation among tribal people was carried out in Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary, Idukki District, Kerala State. Nine tribal settlements were selected for the study based on the area and availability of information. Accordingly 120 informants were selected purposively. Direct observation, semi structured interview and group discussion were used to collect the data from the informants. The collected data was analysed using Micro-soft Excel spreadsheet 2010 and summarized using descriptive statistical methods. Five different quantitative statistical tools such as Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Use value (UV), Relative Importance Index (RI), Relative Importance Index (RI), Fidelity Level (FL) and Informants’ Consensus Factor (ICF) were analysed with score. Acacia caesia (L.) Wild had the highest RFC with rank I,; Adhatoda beddomei C.B. Clarke gave the highest use value with the maximum number of medicinal purposes (four). A majority of species were found to be most used among the community. The highest level of ICF was obtained for urological ailments (UA) followed by gynaecological ailments (GAA) and Dermatological ailments (DA) in that order.

Keywords

• Indigenous Medicinal Plants
• Quantitative factors
• Idukki district
• Kerala