Mohammad Fahim Kadir
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Muhammad Shahdaat Bin Sayeed
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Nurul Islam Setu
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Asif Mostafa
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
M.M.K. Mia
Former Principal Scientific Officer and Consultant, Bangladesh National Herbarium, Bangladesh
Bandarban Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, Chemical constituents, Ethnopharmacological survey, Traditional health practitioners
Thanchi Upazila (Bandarban district), Bangladesh
Development of Host and Medicinal Plants
Medicinal Plants
2.1. Study area Thanchi Upazila (Bandarban district) with an area of 1020.82 km2 , is bounded by Ramu upazila on the north, Arakan (Myanmar) on the south, Chin (Myanmar) and Belaichhari upazila on the east, Alikadam and Lama upazilas on the west. The principal river is Sangu (Shankha). Total population is 16104 of which 22.36% is ethnic nationals (Marma, Murong, Tripura, Khumi, Boam, Chakma, Tonchangya, and Khyan) (Banglapedia: National encyclopedia of Bangladesh (2003)). Among them Marma was the most prominent one. They are relatively illiterate but possess vast knowledge in traditional medicine. On the other hand Chakma are relatively educated and hence tend to use modern medicine largely. These tribes are native to this area for so many years and possess more or less similar culture. This ethnomedicinal survey was conducted in Thanchi sadar, Tindu, Remecree, Choto madok and Boro madok in Thanchi Upazila, Bandarban. 2.2. Sampling of informants The ethnopharmacological survey was conducted during January 2011–December 2012. Six field visits consisting of 6 days per survey were conducted. Interviewees were local traditional health practitioners (THPs) with practical or empirical knowledge on medicinal plants. A total of 53 people mostly from predominant tribals such as Marma, Tonchangya, Chakma, Khumi and Tripura tribals were interviewed for this purpose. During the selection of informants, gender, age, educational background and experience on use of traditional medicinal plants were taken into consideration. 2.3. Ethnomedicinal data collection The objectives of the study were clearly explained and written consent was obtained by interviewers from each informant. The participating THPs were identified with the help of local people familiar with traditional healers and who could communicate with local communities. Each THP was interviewed alone to ensure confidentiality among them. However two group meetings were also organized participated by 15 THPs who had given consent to discuss about their practice. Open-ended and semi structured questionnaire (Cotton, 1996; Bruni et al., 1997) were used for the purpose. The record questionnaires used included two sections: Section 1 dealt with personal information including age, sex, educational background and experiences of the THPs related to medicinal plants and Section 2 was about their practice including the following information: (a) the local name of the plants (b) plants part/s used (c) the method of preparation (d) nature of plant material (e) relative abundance at the area (f) habitat of the plant species (g) mode of application (h) medicinal uses of particular plant. Interviews were conducted using the Bengali language. Informants were asked to collect the plants they used for the treatment of various ailments. These specimens were pressed, preserved and later identified by identified by one of the authors (the Botanist M.M.K. Mia, Principal Scientific Officer and Consultant of Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka). The voucher specimens of each plant were deposited in the Bangladesh National Herbarium. Research articles, books and relevant web pages were also studied with the aim to accumulate data of phytochemical compounds as well as any known toxicity present in the plants. The compounds that were frequently found in the reported plant species were also documented. 2.4. Data analysis The species were listed in alphabetical order by scientific name, family, local name, general name, plants part/s used, mode of preparation, mode of application, habit, habitat, relative abundance, conservation status, nature, solvent used and frequency of citation (FC). The FC of the species of plants being utilized was evaluated using the formula: FC¼(Number of times a particular species was mentioned/Total number of times that all species were mentioned) 100 Frequency distribution was calculated by using the IBM SPSS Statistics.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2014),
Journal