Ethnomedicinal survey in two villages of Cumilla district, Bangladesh

Introduction: Folk medicines play an important part among the village people in Bangladesh. The main objective of the present study was to carry out a randomized ethnomedicinal survey among the folk medicine practitioners (Kavirajes) of two villages, Parati and Panjab, located in Cumilla Sadar south sub-district of Cumilla district in Bangladesh. Methods: Informed consent was obtained from the Kavirajes and surveys were conducted with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. Interviews were carried on in the Kaviraje’s native language – Bengali. After completing the survey, voucher specimens were deposited into the Bangladesh National Herbarium for complete identification. Results: It was observed that the Kavirajes of the two villages used 16 plant species which were distributed into 16 distinct families. Plants belonging to these 16 families were used for the treatment of various ailments such as jaundice, blood dysentery, asthma in infants, leukorrhea, dysentery, abdominal pain, lower abdominal fat, lower back pain, tachycardia, and painful abscess. The major plant part used were leaves (50%), followed by bark and gum (13.2% each), and young shoot, whole plant, pith, and bulb (6% each). Kavirajes, once plentiful are becoming scarce both as to numbers and to their medicinal knowledge. The present survey points to possible plants that need to be pharmacologically assessed as to their traditional uses. Conclusion: The plant information collected in the present survey is suggestive of significant prospects for further scientific research towards discovery of lead compounds and possibly better drugs.