Abstract
The native communities have been using their unique traditional knowledge system (TKS), culture, indigenous skills and expertise since the ancient times. India has witnessed its legacy from the time of Charaka & Susruta for TKS of medicinal plants. The objective of the study is to carry out inter-disciplinary work by integrating ethno-medicinal findings with Geographical Information System (GIS) tools to develop spatio-temporal maps covering antimalarial plants prevalent in three rural districts of Eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. Two sources Flora Gorakhpurensis & Flora of Upper Gangetic Plains have been considered to evaluate all possible antimalarials prevalent in the study region and are cross validated with research papers and journals. GPS coordinates were recorded for marked locations and under GIS environment maps of antimalarials are generated to highlight geographical distribution of such plants. Further, these are analysed with respect to various natural plant habitats. 48 plants belonging to 25 families were found and its geographical distribution is illustrated through series of GIS maps. The developed map highlights the geographical location of antimalarial plants and facilitates easy access of plant’s natural habitat. It is believed that the work would help researchers to find out the novel antimalarials towards open source drug discovery projects.
Highlights
There is increased biotic pressure due to excessive increase in human population and over harvesting of nature and natural resource, resulting in increased attention to bio-prospecting [1]
global positioning system (GPS) coordinates were recorded for marked locations and under Geographical Information System (GIS) environment maps of antimalarials are generated to highlight geographical distribution of such plants
Ethnobotanical Data 48 plants belonging to 25 families were found and its geographical distribution is illustrated through series of GIS based maps (Figure 4 to Figure 8)
Summary
There is increased biotic pressure due to excessive increase in human population and over harvesting of nature and natural resource, resulting in increased attention to bio-prospecting [1]. India possesses rich floristic wealth and diversified genetic resources of medicinal plants. Several plants are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of vector borne diseases including malaria in many parts of the world [2]. Modern drugs have been deducted from folklore and traditional medicines [3] and the search for additional antimalarials from higher plants must continue to fight the deadly disease. About 36% of world population is at risk of malaria. In the Tarai region of Eastern UP the spreading of vector borne diseases become uncontrolled especially during rainy seasons [4]. GIS provides the architecture and analysis tools to perform spatio-temporal modeling of disease transmission, and other factors relevant to the understanding of impacts and risk associated with malaria [5]. Investigation of insecticidal properties of plant-derived materials is environmentally safe, degradable and target specific
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