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Medicinal Plants Used for Preventive Medicinal Purposes: a Survey in Muktipara Village, Chuadanga District, Bangladesh

Kakoli Rani Biswas
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Tasneema Ishika
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mehreen Rahman
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Tania Khan
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Auditi Swarna
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mirza Nipa Monalisa
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Sherejad Sanam
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Ishita Malek
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Mohammed Rahmatullah*
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Development Alternative, Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Bangladesh has over 5,000 floral species, approximately a fifth of which are considered as medicinal plants. Such plants form the major base of formulations prescribed by folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, for treatment of diverse ailments. Kavirajes are present in almost every villages of the around 86,000 villages of the country and play a major role in providing primary health care to the rural residents. In our various ethnomedicinal surveys, we noticed that Kavirajes prescribe plants for not only curative but also for preventive purposes. Since such plants can play a major role in avoidance of diseases and so save health-care costs, the objective of the present survey was to document the various plants that were advised by the practicing Kaviraj of Muktipara village in Chuadanga district of Bangladesh. A total of 11 plants distributed into 11 families were found to be advised by the Kaviraj to village residents to be taken at different times of the year towards prevention of several common ailments. The various ailments against which the plants were prescribed included respiratory tract infections like coughs, colds and mucus, syndromes produced by excessive exposure to sun’s heat, hemorrhoids, skin disorders, chicken pox, and flatulency or bloating, i.e. formation of excessive gas in the stomach. Interviews with the rural households of the village indicated that the plants do give positive effects for which the plants are advised to be taken, indicating that these plants can form as good sources of preventive medicine. Since prevention of disease is much more desirable than occurrence of a disease followed by its cure, the plants merit considerable potential for studies to establish them as functional foods.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, Preventive medicine, Muktipara, Bangladesh.

Location: Muktipara Village, Chuadanga District, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Development of Host and Medicinal Plants

Commodity: Medicinal Plants

Objectives:

The objective of the present survey was to document the use of medicinal plants for preventive purposes by the Kaviraj practicing in Muktipara village of Chuadanga district, Bangladesh.

Methodology:

The survey was conducted in Muktipara village, which falls within Chuadanga district of Bangladesh. Sri Gokul Sarkar (48 years old, practicing for 25-26 years) was the practicing Kaviraj in this village. During our interviews with him, it came out that he also advised village residents to partake of several plant preparations, which according to him, have the ability to prevent certain diseases from occurring. With the help of a semistructured questionnaire, the Kaviraj was queried as to the names and formulations of the plants, along with the names of diseases that according to him, can be prevented with the medicinal plants. The various plant species were shown by him to the interviewers during walks through the village and adjoining areas. Plant specimens were collected and identified by Mr. Manjur-ul-Kadir Mia, ex-Curator and Principal Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh National Herbarium at Dhaka. At the same time, randomly selected village residents were queried as to the preventive efficacy of the plants mentioned by the Kaviraj, and their responses noted.

Source of Information: American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 5(2): 247-251, 2011 ISSN 1995-0748

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

1.

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

It is a repeated phrase that ‘prevention is better than cure’. Prevention of diseases from occurring in the first place reduces financial costs and other stresses for both probable patients as well as the Government. The plants reported in this study, from the degree of satisfaction evidenced by the rural population about their disease preventive abilities merit further scientific studies to learn more about their phytochemical constituents and their preventive ability status. Such studies will not only validate the use of the above-mentioned plants for preventive purposes in Bangladesh but throughout the whole world.

Knowledge Management: Journal