Abstract            Volume:12  Issue-5  Year-2024         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

This study aimed to collaborate with local traditional healers in Vadakku Kalankarai to document their knowledge of medicinal plants, their uses, and the illnesses they treat. We obtained verbal consent from 32 selected informants, ranging in age from 20 to 85, including 8 men and 24 women. We surveyed and gathered information on 37 medicinal plants in 26 families. The Piperaceae and Malvaceae families had the most species (3 each) used by traditional healers to treat various ailments. The survey includes information on the botanical name, local name (in Tamil), family name, parts of the plant used to treat ailments, and the name of the disease treated by using the medicinal plants. Out of the 37 medicinal plants used, 18 (48.65%) were herbs, 10 (27.03%) were trees, 7 (18.92%) were shrubs, and 2 (5.40%) were climbers. The traditional healers utilised leaves from 15 plants, fruits from 7 plants, seeds from 4 plants, roots, flowers, and whole plants from 3 plants each, and stem, husk fibre and bulb from 1 plant each. The species of medicinal plants, such as Azadirchta indica (0.375), Cynodon dactylon (0.187), Phyllanthus amarus (0.187), Acalypha indica (0.156), and Aloe vera (0.156), showed the highest use values. These medicinal plants can be incorporated into primary healthcare, as people feel safer with indigenous cures.

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