Ethnomedicinal knowledge on Rai community of Ramprasadrai rural municipality, Bhojpur district, eastern Nepal

Abstract

In Nepal, about 7000 vascular plants are noted. Some plants are medicinally important, so need to be explore for their medicinal value. Primary data for this research was collected by interviewing respondents. Secondary data was collected by reviewing early published research works on the internet. All herbaria were identified with the help of villagers, books, the internet, and by visiting of National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL), Nepal. 35 plant species belonging to 28 families and 35 genera were documented as medicinal plants in the study area. Among these species, more plants were found to be herbs (51%) and the most useful parts were leaves (27%). Throat pain was the most common disease cured by more plant species (8 spp.). The most-used plant species were Acorus calamus, Terminalia chebula, Zanthoxylum armatum, Swertia chirayita, Phyllanthus emblica, Ageratina adenophora, Drymaria cordata, Curcuma caesia, Amomum subulatum, and Cinnamomum camphora. The Rai community of this area is rich in knowledge of traditional medicines. Elderly persons are found to be more thinkable about the curative properties of plants, methods of preparation, and diseases diagnosis than young people. Ethnomedicinal knowledge is important for various diseases in the Rai community. Conservation and preserve these plants for future generation as well for the reasons of traditional knowledge is going extinct gradually. The main purpose of this research was to find out the medicinal plants used by the Rai community of Khoksik village in Ramprasadrai Rural Municipality-8 in Bhojpur district. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5139721

Keywords

• Ailments
• Ethnic groups
• Herbarium
• Medicinal plants
• Traditional knowledge