Documentation of ‘Plant Drugs’ dispensed via local weekly shanties of Madurai City, India

Abstract

Background: The Valaiyār (Moopanar) communities of Tamil Nadu are traditionally known for catching rats and snakes from the agricultural fields. Prior to independence, some of these families have faced socio-economic changes and chosen to become herbalists in Madurai city. They are mainly engaged in collecting and dispensing fresh and dried plant drugs in its ‘natural form’ at Tiḷagar tīḍal market of Madurai city. Their business is unique, because customers receive ‘prescriptions’ and ‘plant drugs’, unlike the conventional dispensaries. Their world view is: ‘to cure the ailing in natural way’. Objectives: To document plant drugs collected and dispensed by some of the families belonging to Valaiyār (Moopanar) community in the Tiḷagar tīḍal market. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical tools were employed to document various aspects of the practices including resource and knowledge base, medicinal uses, dosage, collection of herbarium and raw drug specimens. Integrative approach was adapted to document the trade dynamics. Results: During the study, 133 medicinal plant species belonging to 50 families were documented. 71% of species were sourced from wild and non-forest areas. 272 simple and compound remedies were recorded. Conclusion: Local markets/shanties like these are ‘Traditional Medicine (TM) health care services at door step’. They cater to local health care needs along with conventional system in a synergistic manner and provide adaptable, local solutions using local resources. Keywords: Fresh and dried plant drugs, Madurai, Shanties, Trade, Valaiyār