Diversity Of Medicinal Plant Species Research Articles

Evaluation of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as Potential Determinants of Medicinal Plant Community Structure in Mihintale Sanctuary, Sri Lanka

Forests of Sri Lanka have higher density and species diversity of medicinal plants. There isan increasing world wide interest in medicinal plants due to growing recognition of naturalproducts, being non toxic having no side effects and easy availability at affordable prices.Due to an increase demand for medicinal plants and to a loss and fragmentation of naturalhabitats medicinal plants of the Sri Lanka face a threat in the wild. Almost all natural plantcommunities except few plant families contain arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Wehypothesized that thevaryingarbuscularmycorrhizal dependencycould have the potential todetermine medicinal plant community structure in MihintaleSanctuary, Sri Lanka.With the objective of testing above hypothesis we conducted a study where ten medicinalplant species in undisturbed site of the MihintaleSanctuarywas randomly selected. For theestimation of the abundance of medicinal plant species, five line transect of 100 m wererandomly derived and calculations were done. Composite root samples of fine roots of eachof the ten species were taken from all five line transects. Ten replicate root samples per oneselected medicinal plant species were analysed for AMF colonization following the standardprocedures of root staining and quantification. Further, along the different points of linetransects moisture content, pH and organic carbon content were estimated. Non parametricanalysis was followed to check whether there any significant difference among selectedmedicinal plant species for the abundance and percentage AMF colonization respectively.Multivariate analysis was performed to establish the relationship with the percentagemycorrhizal colonization and species abundance.All the ten medicinal plants species selected for the present study had AMF associations invarying colonization levels, ranged from 81.43% in Elephantopus scaber to 28.92% inMorinda coreia.There was a significant difference among selected medicinal plant species forabundance (p=0.031) and percentage AMF colonization (p=0.029). For all the testedmedicinal plants correlation studies were shown positive significant correlation at the 0.01level. The results indicated that below ground native AMF community has the potential todetermine medicinal plant community structure above ground in Mihintale Sanctuary.

Medicinal plants from an old Bulgarian medical book

The aim of this study was to conduct an ethnobotanical research of old written sources which give information about medicinal plants and preparation of folk remedies for a particular historical period. The object of the present study is “Canon Prayer to St. Ivan Rilski and Medicinal Text” (1845) - a part of the Bulgarian early printed literature heritage. The 92 submitted recipes cover a wide range of illnesses and symptoms ranging from antiseptic tocures for neurological diseases. High species diversity of medicinal plants is represented in the book - most of them are vascular plants from 36 families (Leguminosae, Umbeliferae, Compositae, Zingiberaceae, Piperaceae, Myristicaceae, Lauraceae, Labiatae, Liliaceae, etc.) and 65 genera. The main components in written folk remedies are medicinal plants (more than 69), followed by the animals and animal products (20) such as honey, eggs, leeches, blood, musk, etc., mineral elements (sulphur (S), mercury (Hg), Au, gold (Au), iron (Fe)) and other organic and inorganic compounds (30). The significant participation of spices such asclove, cinnamon, mastic and ginger in folk remedies sheds new light on the list of speciesthat are traditionally used in the folk medicine. The ethnobotanical study on this book,support the thesis that it was founded on authentic recipes from the healing activity of St. Ivan Rilski, which has increased its historical value a lot. Key words: Ethnobotany, folk remedies, medicinal plants, old book, St. Ivan Rilski.

Considering livestock grazing on the diversity of medicinal plants (Case study: Boz Daghi arid and semi-arid rangelands)

There is this growing trend of using medicinal plants and traditional medicine. Considering the types and diversity of these plants and identifying the effect of management measures on their quality and quantity can affect their development. In this research, in Bozdaghi Region, arid and semi arid rangelands in Maneh-o-Samalghan City of North Khorasan Province, the effect of livestock grazing on types and diversity of medicinal plants is considered. With selection of two enclosures and under grazing area, a number of 100 plates with one square meter are randomly located. The percentage of plant cover and type of medicine density is measured. For this purpose, diversity parametric indices including log series, log normal, geometric model and broken stick McArthor are assessed by using Bio-Dep software. For consideration of significance of measured levels, Ki-Square test is used. The results show that the grazed area tends to Log model and Log- Normal; thus the enclosure causes increase in ecological capacity and species diversity of medicinal plants. The logarithmic curve of frequency-level distribution in under grazing area has a lower level than enclosure area and also both follow log series and Log-Normal. Therefore, that means this region at first is a uniform region but has tended to Log series due to livestock grazing. As a result, we can conclude that this region is an under stress area. Therefore, livestock grazing causes a decrease in diversity of medicinal species in the region.

Ethnomedicinal study of plants used in villages around Kimboza forest reserve in Morogoro, Tanzania

BackgroundAn ethnomedicinal study was conducted to document medicinal plants used in the treatment of ailments in villages surrounding Kimboza forest reserve, a low land catchment forest with high number of endemic plant species.MethodsEthnobotanical interviews on medicinal plants used to treat common illnesses were conducted with the traditional medical practitioners using open-ended semi -structured questionnaires. Diseases treated, methods of preparation, use and habitat of medicinal plants were recorded.ResultsA total of 82 medicinal plant species belonging to 29 families were recorded during the study. The most commonly used plant families recorded were Fabaceae (29%), Euphorbiaceae (20%), Asteraceae and Moraceae (17% each) and Rubiaceae (15%) in that order. The most frequently utilized medicinal plant parts were leaves (41.3%), followed by roots (29.0%), bark (21.7%), seeds (5.31%), and fruits (2.6%). The study revealed that stomach ache was the condition treated with the highest percentage of medicinal plant species (15%), followed by hernia (13%), diarrhea (12), fever and wound (11% each), and coughs (10%). Majority of medicinal plant species (65.9%) were collected from the wild compared to only 26.7% from cultivated land.ConclusionsA rich diversity of medicinal plant species are used for treating different diseases in villages around Kimboza forest reserve, with the wild habitat being the most important reservoir for the majority of the plants. Awareness programmes on sustainable utilization and active involvement of community in conservation programmes are needed.