Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 7(3), July 2008, pp. 414-416

Some folk medicines from Lakhimpur district,

Dilip * & Rajib Lochan *Botany Department, Dibru College, 786003, Assam; Botany Department, DHSK College, Dibrugarh 786 001, Assam

Received 10 February 2006; revised 10 January 2007

An attempt has been made to study the folk medicine used by some rural people of the Lakhimpur district, Assam for the treatment of 14 different diseases like ascites, allergy, blood dysentery, cough, constipation, epilepsy, eczema, gastritis, gout, loss of appetite, loosening of teeth, piles, tonsillitis and pinworm infection, which are prevalent in the study areas.

Keywords: Lakhimpur, Folk medicine, Bej, Bejini

IPC Int. Cl.8: A61K36/00, A61P1/04, A61P1/12, A61P1/16, A61P9/14, A61P11/00, A61P17/00, A61P21/00, A61P25/00, A61P31/00

Assam is situated in the Northeast corner of . Lakhimpur district situated in the Eastern corner of Assam lies between 26°48′ and 27°53′ northern latitude and 93°42′ and 94°20′ eastern longitude (Fig. 1). The district is bounded on the North by and on the East by district. district stands on the South and is on the West. The district covers an area of 2,977 sq km. Lakhimpur district abounds many small and large ethnic groups and communities. The main non tribal ethnic groups are Kalita, Keut, Brahmin, Ahom, Chutiya, Koch-Rajbonshi, etc. The main tribal groups of Lakhimpur district are Mishings, Deuris and Sonowal-Kacharis. Kaibarta and Hari are main scheduled caste communities. The rural people of Lakhimpur district are exclusively dependent upon natural resources for their food, shelter, medicines, Fig. 1−Map showing the study area etc. They have strong belief and knowledge on plant based medicine. The knowledge regarding sources Methodology and of various traditional medicine is usually confined The study was conducted during the year 2005. to local medicine men and women popularly known Some rural areas of the district were visited to meet as bej and bejini. The local medicine men and women bej and bejini and to collect the plant species with the have sufficient knowledge on plant and animal based reproductive parts. The plant specimens were folk medicine, i.e. ethnomedicine. Although ethno- preserved according to the conventional herbarium medicobotanical lore of the people is very rich, but techniques5. Plants collected were identified and there are little research work has been done from the deposited to the herbarium of Botany department, area1-4. Dibru College, Dibrugarh, Assam6. The folk medicine ______used by some rural people of Lakhimpur district are *Corresponding author presented in the Table 1. KALITA & BORA: SOME FOLK MEDICINE FROM LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT, ASSAM 415

Table 1―Diseases with their treatment in Lakhimpur district, Assam Diseases Plant name/ family Local name Uses

Ascites Clitoria ternatea L. Aparajita About 2 spoonful leaf or root extract is given orally twice (Papillionaceae) daily for a week. Ascites Wedelia chinensis Merrill. Bhringaraj About half cup of aerial parts extract mixed with equal (Asteraceae) amount of fresh cow milk is given orally once daily. Ascites Aegle marmelos Correa ex Roxb. Bel Matured fruit of C. annum crushed and mixed with 3 (Rutaceae) spoonful leaf extract of the A. marmelos and half cup of Capsicum annum L. Jalakia cow milk is given twice daily for a week. (Solanaceae) Allergy Heliotropium indicum L. Hatishuria Root extract is applied over the affected areas thrice daily (Boraginaceae) until cure. Allergy Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus Nees. Teetaful Curry prepared from aerial portion is given orally with rice (Acamthaceae) once daily until cure. Blood Clitoria ternatea L. Aparajita Leaf extract is given orally thrice daily until cure. dysentery (Papillionaceae) Blood Mangifera indica L. L. Am Two or three spoonful leaf extract mixed with about 20 ml dysentery (Anacardiaceae) of honey and 100 ml goat milk is given twice daily for 3 Syzygium cumini L. Kalajamu days. (Myrtaceae) Emblica officinalis Gaertn. Amlakhi (Euphorbiaceae) Cough Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. Narasingha Leaf extract mixed with honey is given 5 times. (Rutaceae) Cough Annanas comosus (L.) Merrill. Matikathal Fruit juice mixed with honey and crushed A. sativum is (Bromeliaceae) given thrice daily until cure. Allium sativum L. Naharu (Liliaceae) Constipation Terminalia chekula Retz. Hilikha Powdered dried fruit mixed with cow urine is given orally (Combretaceae) twice daily until cure. Epilepsy Moringa oleifera Lam. Chajina Root extract is given to inhale. (Moringaceae) Eczema Oxalis corniculata L. Tengesi Crushed aerial portion is applied over the infected portion (Oxalidaceae) thrice daily. Gastritis Trichosanthes cordata Roxb. Patal Ash of dried peel of ripe fruit of M. balbisiana soaked (Cucurbitaceae) overnight in water and filtrate is obtained. Dried leaf Musa balbisiana Colla Bhimkal powder of T. cordata and small amount of soot is mixed (Musaceae) with the filtrate and pills are made from this mixture. One pill is given twice daily. Gout Ficus bungalensts L. Borgach Crushed leaves are applied over the affected part for 2 hrs. (Moraceae) Same is repeated for a fortnight. Gout Citrullus colocynthis Schrad. Kuwabhaturi Crushed leaves are applied over the affected part for 2 hrs. (Cucurbitaceae) Same is repeated for a fortnight. Loss of Raphanus sativus L. Mula Leaf extract is given twice daily. appetite (Brassicaceae) Loosening of Mimosops elengi L. Bakul Stem bark extract mixed with water is gargled thrice daily teeth (Sapotaceae) for several days. Along with this, one fruit is given to chew at 3 hrs intervals until cure. Piles Amorphophallus campanulatus Ulkachu Finely crushed A. campanulatus corm and T. indica leaf is Blum ex Decne given orally once daily for a fortnight. (Araceae) Tamarindus indica L. Teteli (Caesalpiniaceae) Tonsillitis Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile Tarua kadam Bark extract mixed with lukewarm water is gargled twice (Mimosaceae) daily until cure. Pinworm Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng Narasingha Leaf extract is given twice daily for a week. infection (Rutaceae) 416 INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 7, No. 3, JULY 2008

Results and discussion 2 Kalita D, Ethnobotanical Notes on of Of 25 different plant species studied, 22 are , Assam, Vasundhara, 6 (2001) 21-32. dicotyledons and 3 are monocotyledons. Both wild 3 Kalita D & Deb B, Some Folk uses of plants by Sonowal Kacharis of Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, Environ Biol and cultivated plant species are used for preparation Conserve, 7 (2002) 29-32. of ethnomedicine by the rural people of the study 4 Kalita D & Deb B, Some Folk medicines used by Sonowal area. Although some plant species mentioned were Kacharis tribe of the Brahmaputra valley, Assam, Nat Prod already reported, but uses are quite different. As for Radiance, 3(4) (2004) 240-245. example Allium sativum L. being reported for the 5 Mitra, J N, An introduction to Systematic Botany and treatment of diarrhoea in cow, Murraya coenigii (L.) Ecology, (The World Press Private Limited, Calcutta), 1947. Spreng. in diddiness, Musa balbisiana Colla in 6 Kanjilal U N, Kanjilal P C & Das P, The Flora of Assam, Vol diabetes, Annanas commosus (L.) Merrill. in I-V, (Publication Division, , Shillong, India), 1934-40. indigestion7-10. The reported use in earlier works is 7 Boissya, C L & Kalita D, Some folk medicines used by the quite different than the presented one. The Mishings of Assam for controlling animal diseases, biochemical analysis and pharmacological Vasundhara, 3 (1998) 63-65. investigations of plant species will bring some new 8 Kalita D & Boissya C L, Some folk uses of plants by information, which will have immense scientific Mishing tribal of Assam, Vasundhara, 5 (2000) 79-84. values. 9 Kalita D & Deb B, Medicinal plants used by Sonowal Kacharis of Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India, J Trop Med References Plants, 4 (1) (2003) 115-122. 1 Kalita D, Ethnobotanical study of Mishing community of 10 Kalita D & Dutta M & Islam N F, Few plants and animal Sonitpur, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam, (PhD based folk medicines from , Assam, Indian Thesis, University of Gauhati, , Assam), 1997. J Traditional Knowledge, 4 (1) (2005) 81-85.