Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by Lois community of Kakching district, Manipur, India

Abstract

The majority of Manipuri still rely on medicinal plants, which have been utilized for generations. The Lois people, who live in the Kakching district of Manipur, have a rich cultural heritage and have long used plants for various purposes, including the production of traditional herbal medicine. Despite the usage of indigenous medicinal plants in the Kakching district, ethnobotanical research has not yet been conducted. The present study aims to document and analyze traditional medicinal plants as well as their associated knowledge and practices among local communities. Quantitative ethnobotanical data was documented from October 2022 to December 2023 using semi-structured interviews, in-person discussions, group discussions, and guided field trips. There were 140 informants for this cross sectional study. Maximum informants were characterized by mostly male practitioners, age around 45–60 years, with high school and diploma level education, farmers and herbalists by occupation. All the collected data were analyzed using MS Excel Spreadsheet, Graph Pad Prism, and ethnobotany R package in R software. We identified 236 traditional medicinal plant species distributed in 80 families and 184 genera used for treating 59 distinct medical conditions under 13 recognized categories of ailments in the present study. With the biggest number of species given and the highest number of dominant families in the area, the Fabaceae and Lamiaceae (20 species) were identified. The most often employed plant parts were leaves and the primary method of preparing cures was decoction. Fidelity level (FL) values ranged from 36.4 % (Ocimum americanum) to 80.4 % (Cucurma domestica). The medicinal plants with comparatively lower FL (below 40 FL value) need proper attention. Informant consensus factor (ICF) value ranged from 0.41 to 0.9. The disease category relating to digestive disorders and cardiovascular diseases had the highest consensus scores (0.9). With 192 use report scores, the greatest number of plant taxa Oroxylum indicum was used to treat stomachache. The Lois people possess considerable traditional ethnomedical expertise. The vegetation in the area supports rich diversity of medicinal plants, but droughts, agriculture, and deforestation pose great threat to their existence. Of the 5 factors studied considering selected informant based ranking, deforestation records to be the highest risk factor. In-depth studies of prospective species for medication development are crucial, as is scientific backing for local conservation initiatives. Prioritizing species with higher-use reports is also necessary.