1
Ambika Prasad Research Foundation, Regional Centre, Imphal, India
2
Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, A national institute under
Department of Biotechnology Govt. of India, India
3
Research Institute of Biotechnology & Medical Converged Science,, Dongguk University, Korea, Republic of
Corresponding author details:
Jayanta Kumar Patra
Research Institute of Biotechnology & Medical Converged Science
Dongguk University
Korea, Republic of
Sanjeet Kumar
Ambika Prasad Research Foundation
Regional Centre
Imphal,India
Copyright: © 2018 Ummalyma SB, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Genus Dioscorea comes under the family of Dioscoreaceae. The tribal and rural
communities of the world used the species of Dioscorea as a source of potent ethanobotanical medicines. An investigation was made for the documentation of common
traditional systems for curing diseases and disorders using available Dioscorea species
of Eastern Ghats (EG), India. The most common species of EG are D. bulbifera, D. hispida,
D. glabra, D. pantaphylla, D. alata, D. spinosa, D. wallichii, D. hamiltonii, D. bellophylla, etc.
Among them, five species (D. bulbifera, D. alata, D. pantaphylla D. puber and D. hispida) were
selected for the documentation of ethno-botanical values. Results showed that the selected
species are used to cure skin infections and birth control.
Eastern Ghats; Dioscorea sp; Ethanomedicinal; Antibacterial; Birth control;
Antioxidant
Forest and its biodiversity are highlighting the importance of existence of all life forms
[1,2]. The richer the diversity of life, the greater is the opportunities for biological discoveries
[3]. The food, shelter and clothes are the basic needs of man, met by the forest resources
[4]. The forest of Odisha is comes under major part of Eastern Ghats. The state enjoys
unique geographical variations such as high and low altitudes, coastal areas, mangroves
and plains. Major portion of the South East Odisha is occupied by Eastern Ghats. There
are limited records and no specific details are available on food and medicinal importance
of wild Dioscorea species available from this regions. However, an attempt was made to
document the ethnobotanical values of Dioscorea species from aforementioned areas. The
results discussed here are based on the field work conducted in Eastern Ghats with tribal
and rural communities during the survey conducted from 2011 to 2016. The methodology
used for the ethno botanical study was done as per the standard techniques of exploration
and germplasm collection protocol (Hawkes 1980), qualitative and quantitative ethnobiological approaches in the field, elicitation methods, data collection, interviews, and
further authentication was done as per earlier reports [5,6]. Figure 1 shows the panoramic
view of Eastern Ghats, India.
Studies showed that Ban Aalu (Local name of Dioscorea in
Eastern Ghats) with antioxidant and nutritive content not only
enrich the diet of the local rural and tribal people but also make them
healthy due to its ethno-botanical values. Tubers of Dioscorea species
are used in different formulations for curing various diseases [7,8].
For birth controlling effect, the plant dried tuber chips are eaten in
an empty stomach in last day of menstrual cycle to next 15 days.
For abdominal pain, skin and other bacterial infections, matured
tubers of D. pentaphylla are used in a macerated form. In order to get
recovery from problem associated with constipation, tubers of the
plants kept overnight under running water and consumed as a chips.
The paste made from Dioscorea species is applied externally up to 6
to 8 days to cure wounds whereas D. puber used asmacerated with
water and Karanja oil (Pongamia pinnata) and final paste is applied
twice a day to get recovery from wounds and other skin infections.
Dried Dioscorea tubers are chopped in water overnight and boiled
with rhizome of Curcuma officinalis and the water is taken during
delivery to reduce labour pain.These kinds of application of Dioscorea
species are documented and reported earlier researchers as well [9-
11]. Several tropical tuber species are exploited for the preparation
of tonics, expectorants, carminatives and stimulants (Mishra et al.,
2008). Indigenous knowledge on wild tubers is an integral part of
the traditional and socio-cultural lives of the people in Eastern
Ghats, India (Figure 2). They have developed a range of processing
methods in accordance to their demands. However this indigenous
knowledge is vanishing day by day due to migratory habit from rural
to urban cities and modern life style in search of better livelihood. A good combination of indigenous knowledge is essential to document
and promote the utilization of such bioresources available in this
particular state. In this context, in present investigation, authors
found some unique and not reported ethno-botanical claims of
Dioscorea species of Eastern Ghats. Table 1 representing the ethnobotanial values of selected Dioscorea species from these regions. The
ethno-botanical survey revealed that utilization of tuber and other
vegetative parts of selected Dioscorea from Eastern Ghats which is
unique among the tribal and rural communities and used as single
and multiple formulation as medicine (Figures 3 and 4). D. alata is
used as food, D. pentaphyllla used as medicine and the tubers are
used against wide range of diseases.
| Species | Parts used | Uses | Collection sites |
| D. bulbifera | Tuber | Paste of the tubers are applied externally
to cure the lesions of skin infections | Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Eastern Ghats,
India |
| D. hispida | Tuber and tender leaves | For birth control | Keonjhar forest division, Eastern Ghats,
India |
| D. puber | Tuber | Raw tubers are eaten to get instant
energy | Jashipur,
Eastern Ghats, India |
| D. pantaphylla | Tuber | Tuber paste is applied to get rid of skin
itchingT | Badampahar Forest Range, Eastern Ghats,
India |
| D. alata | Bulbils, tuber and tender
leaves | Whole parts are used as vegetable and
cooling agent | Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Eastern Ghats, India |
Table 1: Ethnobotanical values of selected Dioscorea species