Ethno Medicinal Value of Plants in Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu, India

The present investigation has been carried out to find the ethno medicinal value of plants in Thanjuvur District of Tamil Nadu, India. This study of ethno medicinal value of plants and cure the various disease of around the Thanjuvur District. Ancient methods of treatment by ethno medicinal value of various types of trees, shrubs, herbs and underground modification such as root, stem, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits and seed. The ethno medicinal value of plants make grounded plant parts, and juices used to cure the various diseases like, cough, cold, asthma, eye disease, ulcer, jaundice, rheumatic arthritis, memory stimulants, wound healing and cardiovascular disease. We have identified and reported more than 38 species of medicinally important plants belonging to 25 families.


INTRODUCTION
India is commonly called the Botanical Garden of the world, owing to her wealth of herbal medicines.India with its great topographic and climatic diversity has a very rich and diverse flora and fauna.The uses of plants as medicines have been practiced from an ancient time.From around 1500 B.C. Rig Veda is one of the important earliest available documents which emphasizes about herbal medicinal knowledge.Later on Indian herbalists such as Maharshi Charaka and Sushruta worked in searchof different herbal plant parts for different aliments of human body.Later on, it is reported that traditional healers use near about 2500 plant species and 100 species of plants serve as regular sources of medicine.World Health organization has stated that 80% of the world's population depends on traditional medicine for its primary health care and has become indispensable for its survival Since times immemorial, plants have been put to medicinal use by the traditional herbalists, Hakims, Vaidays, Ayurvedic practioners and the common man.Herbal medicine is the study and use of medicinal properties of plants.Therefore medicinal plants constitute precious resources for mankind.(Akgul, 2008 andSinhababu andBanerjee, 2013).Documentation of the indigenous knowledge through ethno-botanical studies is important for the conservation and utilization of biological resources (Muthu et al., 2006 andMacia et al., 2005).Therefore, determining the local names and indigenous uses of plants has significant potential societal benefits (Kargioglu, et al., 2008 andJayakumar, 2013b).The present study investigated the plants traditionally used in the treatment of specific diseases, and the local names of these plants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Tamil Nadu is ethnobotanically very rich, having a wide variety of medicinal plants.With its (Cauvery) diverse topographical condition, the region is well situated for a range of medicinal plant species.Kumbakonam (Aduthurai) is located at 10.97°N 79.42°E.It is situated 273 km (170 mi) south of Chennai, 96 km (60 mi) east of Tiruchirappalli, and about 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Thanjavur.It lies in the region called the "Old delta" which comprises the north-western taluks of Thanjavur district that have been naturally irrigated by the waters of the Cauvery and its tributaries for centuries in contrast to the "New Delta" comprising the southern taluks that were brought under irrigation by the construction of the Grand Anicut canal and the Vadavar canal in 1934.It has an average elevation of 26 meters (85 ft).The town is bounded by two rivers, the Cauvery River on the north and Arasalar River on the south.Although the Cauvery delta is usually hot, the climate of Kumbakonam and other surrounding towns is generally healthy and moderate.Kumbakonam is cooler than Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.
The maximum temperature in summer is about 40 °C (104 F) while the minimum temperature is about 20 °C (68 F).Kumbakonam receives an annual rainfall of 114.78 cm (45.19 in) every year.The region is covered with mainly alluvial or black soil which is conducive for rice cultivation.Other crops grown in Aduthurai include mulberry, cereals and sugarcane.The town of Aduthurai is surrounded by extensive paddy fields.Methods of irrigation were considerably improved following the opening of the Mettur Dam in 1934.The fauna of the Cauvery Delta is limited to cattle and goats.
The town is situated at the western flank of the Kumbakonam-Shiyali ridge which runs along the Kollidam river basin separating the Ariyalur-Puducherry depression from the Nagapattinam depression.This granular ridge projects further eastwards penetrating the Puducherry depression and forms a hard layer of cretaceous rock underneath the sedimentary top soil.The climate of Aduthurai is similar to the climate prevailing in the rest of the Cauvery Delta.The average maximum temperature is 39.4 °C while the average minimum temperature is 32.8 °C.The average annual rainfall is 1,125 mm.The plants were collected with the help of traditional healers and the information regarding the use of plants were recorded in the field note books.

1. Interviews with Local People
A questionnaire was administered to the local people, through face to face interviews.The questionnaire was administered only to people who had knowledge of medical plants.During the interviews, demographic characteristics of the participants, and local names, used parts and preparation methods of the plants were recorded.In addition, the participants were asked to show the researchers these wild plants in the field.Then specimens of these plants were collected.

Plant Materials
Field study was carried out over a period of approximately Five month (2014).During this period, a totally calculated vascular plant specimens were collected.The plants were

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International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 29 pressed in the field and prepared for identification.Plants were identified using the standard text, cambel of flora the names of plant families were listed in alphabetic order.After the taxon names were identified, instances of endemism and hazard categories (Ekim et al., 2000) were specified.

3. Identification of Plants
The information recorded was further ascertained or cross checked by consulting the beneficiary's villagers and other traditional physicians.The plant specimens were also identified according to different references concerning the medicinal plants of South India.The medicinal information given in this paper includes botanical term family local name parts used and their medicinal use.International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 29 Medicinal plants from forests provide health security to the millions of people depending upon traditional systems of medicine.In present study, we have reported 38 species belonging to 25 families.The information detailed about the botanical name of the plants and plant parts medicinal used.The records were documented from the local and tribal people of Tamil Nadu.The collected various species of plants were used to treat 27 types of diseases such as wound and related injuries, body sickness, diarrhoea, skin problems, body pain, knee problem, cough, cold, fever, asthma, kidney problem, tonic, chronic disorders, several aches, hair growth, stomach problems, ulcer, sore throat, leprosy, opthalmia, typhoid, urinary bladder and rheumatism in terms of the number of plants collected in Aduthurai, Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu.
Ethno-medical practices are preferred largely because medicinal plants are less expensive, readily available and reliable, and they are considered to have fewer side effects than modern medicines.This study assessed the survey of ethno-medicinal plant species used by Aduthurai, Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu (Jayakumar, 2013a and Sathees kannan et al., 2013).

CONCLUSION
This survey of traditional knowledge and utility of medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments among people living in Aduthurai is still a major part of their life and culture.They use plants, weeds, fruit plants, vegetables, spices and ornamental plants as traditional medicine.Many plant species are used in the treatment of many diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, gastrointestinal diseases, respiratory diseases and hemorrhoids.Therefore, this type of work may assist ethno-botanical survey and also be used in treatments.