INTRODUCTION:

Medicinal plants are considered rich sources of ingredients that can be used in drug development. Ethnobotany is the study of a region’s plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of local culture and people ^1-3. The use of plants for medicinal purposes has been practice in India since the Vedic age. A tribal dwelling in remote places depends on the forest that includes a rich diversity of flora and fauna to meet their lively hood and health care needs ^{4, 5}.

Experiments proved that plants offer immense scope for researchers engaged in the validation of traditional claims for the development of novel drugs. Since interest in traditional medicine has been increasing the world over, ethnobotanical studies have gained prominence to explore the traditional, knowledge particularly in developing countries ^6-8.

Tridax procumbens is a species of angiosperm belong to the family Asteraceace. It is best known as a weed and pest plant. The plant bears white or yellow flowers. Stems procumbent branched at base. Leaves are few, shortly petiolate; blade ovate to ovate-lanceolate. The calyx is represented by scale or reduced to pappus ^{9, 10}.

Antimicrobial activity refers to the process of killing or inhibiting the disease-causing microbes. Various antimicrobial agents are used for this purpose. Jaundice is a common disease in the tribal area, due to the unpurified water used by the peoples. The tribal people mostly use Tridax procumbens to cure the disease. The plant is very common in appearance and has many medicinal values; it is proven that from many experiments earlier by many researchers ^11-14. The current investigation has been undertaken to set up the study of traditional medicinal plants by tribes and the antibacterial activity of selected plants for example Tridax procumbens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Study area:

The study area Kundra block is situated in the Koraput district of Odisha, India. Kundra is surrounded by the blocks, namely Jeypore, Boipariguda and Koptpad. The geographical distribution of the Kundra is latitude 18.9300561 and longitude 82.38950109. The main populations of the block are the tribal person belongs to the community Paraja, Gadaba, Bhatra, Bisoi, Kondh, Harijan, Mali etc. The tribal peoples use the local plants as their traditional faith and medicinal uses.

Fig. 1: Map of study area

Field survey and data Collection:

A Field survey was carried out for the survey of various types of traditional herbs in the study area from 2019-2020. Uses of plants were studied with the help of the local tribal people. Collection, identification, and ethnobotanical uses of plants were studied and preserved in the form of the herbarium. The voucher specimens were identified by using standard local flora books ^{15, 16}. Various ethnomedicinal plants and their mode of administration were collected and documented by using standard questionnaires (Fig. 2)^17,18.

Collection of plant materials:

The diseases-free plant of Tridax procumbens was collected from the survey area.

Sample and extract preparation:

Fresh plant samples were washed and air-dried under the shade at room temperature for 7-10 days. After drying, the samples were grounded into coarse powder by using a mortar pestle. Powdered samples were successively extracted with different solvents such as petroleum and aqueous in the soxhlet apparatus. The dried extracts were dissolved in 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)^19-21

Bacterial strain:

The test bacterial cultures, including Escherichia coli (MTC No. 614) and Salmonella typhimurium (MTCC No.3224) were collected from IMTECH Chandigarh. This two organism was maintained in nutrient agar were maintained slants which were kept in a refrigerator for further use during experimentation^20,22.

Determination of antimicrobial activity:

A standardized concentration of inoculum with a set volume is spread equally on the surface of the agar plate. A hole of about 6 mm in diameter is punched with a sterile cork borer. The well is filled with plant extract with the help of a micropipette and incubated at the optimum temperature (bacteria- 37 ̊C)^23-25.

Fig. 2. Questionnaries

Statistical analysis:

All experimental results were statistically analyzed and expressed as a mean ± standard deviation.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

In this present ethnomedicinal study, it was found that 26 medicinal plants belong to 17 families were documented (Table-1). The most dominated families belong to Fabaceae followed by Moraceae, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae (fig.3.). Of the plant species described, 9 are herb (35%), 4 are shrubs (15%), 8 are tree (31%) (fig.4.). The plant parts used for the preparation of traditional drugs were root, bark, leaves, whole plant, flower, fruit, and latex. A wide range of diseases was cured using these plant parts starting from minor injuries to various diseases.

Table 1: List of ethnomedicinal plants used by tribals and local healers of Kundra block of Koraput district, Odisha

SL. No.	Botanical name	Family	Local name	Part used for medicine	Mode of use
1	Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile	Fabaceae	Babul	Bark	The bark is chewing daily morning on an empty stomach to cure asthma.
2	Acacia concinna (Willd.) DC.	Fabaceae	Sikai, Chilli (T)	Leaves	The leaves were boiled (5-10 g) with water and take once a day for 7 days to cure allergies.
3	Achyranthes aspera L.	Amaranthaceae	Apamaraga, Chir-chiri (T)	Root	About 20 g of the root was ground mixed with goat milk and the juice is used in the eye for the treatment of night blindness.
4	Acmella oleraceae (L.) R.K. Jansen	Asteraceae	Madhia	Flower	The raw flower is used once daily on tongue to cure the tongue infection.
5	Azadirachta indica A. Juss.	Meliaceae	Nimba	Root	Powder of the root (50 g) is mixed with cold water and taken orally to cure stomach pain
6	Boerhavia diffusa L.	Nyctaginaceae	Punarnava, Atikapodi (T)	Leaves	Leaves (10-15 g) ground with raw milk taken orally two times daily for 10 days to cure sick line.
7	Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Oken	Crassulaceae	Amarpoi, Basanta (T)	Leaves	Leave was ground and taken orally for the treatment of diarrhea.
8	Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt	Cucurbitaceae	Bana-kundri, Tundri (T)	Leaves	Leaves (15-20 g) were boiled with Jatropha gossypifolia oil and poured in the ear to ear pain.
9	Coriander sativum L.	Apiaceae	Dhania	Leaves	The paste of the leaves was used for the treatment of measles.
10	Datura stramonium L.	Solanaceae	Dudura	Leaves	Leaves (10 g) were ground and apply in the swelling area of the chick.
11	Euphorbia hirta L.	Euphorbiaceae	Chitakuteai, Dodhari (T)	Latex	Latex was directly used on the skin for the treatment of skin diseases.
12	Ficus religiosa L.	Moraceae	Aswattha	Bark	About 50 g of dried bark was ground and mixed with coconut oil to cure old wounds.
13	Ficus racemosa L.	Moraceae	Dimiri	Fruit	Fruits were cooked and eaten daily for 30 days to treat eye and stomach problems.
14	Ficus benghalensis L.	Moraceae	Bara	Latex	Latex was dried and ground into a powder and taken with banana once a day for 7 days to cure stomach related problems.
15	Jatropha gossypiifolia L.	Euphorbiaceae	Gaba	Latex	Latex was taken orally to cure rectal bleeding and tooth bleeding.
16	Marcotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc.	Fabaceae	Kolatha	Seed	Boiled with reddish and taken empty stomach once a day for 20 days to cure kidney stones.
17	Mimosa pudica L.	Fabaceae	Lajakoli	Root	Roots (15 g) were mixed with raw turmeric (10 g) ground and make the paste and taken orally for 30 days to cure piles.
18	Milletia pinnata (L.) Panigrahi	Fabaceae	Karanja	Seed	Oil was extracted from seeds. The oil massage on white spots on the body for 10 days to cure the white spot.
19	Moringa oleifera Lam.	Moringaceae	Munga	Bark	About 20-25 g barks were grounded and the paste used externally to cure measles.
20	Musa paradisiaca L.	Musaceae	Kadali	Inner stem	Stem mixed with turmeric and taken orally once a day to cure cough.
21	Ocimum gratissimum L.	Lamiaceae	Bana tulsi	Seed	About 15 g of seeds were grounded into a paste and used external part of the stomach to cure stomach pain.
22	Rauwolfia serpentine (L.) Benth. ex Kurz	Apocynaceae	Patalagaruda	Root	Paste of root is used to cure snakebite.
23	Senna tora (L.) Roxb.	Fabaceae	Chakunda	Seed	Dried seeds (2-3 g) are powder, mixed with castor oil to cure eczema and other skin diseases.
24	Solanum virginianum L.	Solanaceae	Kanta baigana	Seed	Seeds (2-3 g) were burnt and the smoke is taken orally to cure tooth pain.
25	Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Hook.f. and Thoms.	Menispermaceae	Guduchi	Leaves	About 2-3 leaf is warm with mustard oil and used externally to cure joint pain and swelling.
26	Tridax procumbens L.	Asteraceae	Bisalyakarani	Whole plant	The whole plant was grounded into a paste, mixed with curd, and taken empty stomach once a day for 15 days to cure jaundice, stomach pain, ulcer, diarrhea etc.

*Note: T: Tribal name

Table 2:Antibacterial activity of different extracts of T. procumbens

Bacterial Strains	Extracts	Zone of inhibition (mm) ± SD		Ciprofloxacin (0.1 mg/ml)
Bacterial Strains	Extracts	5 mg/ml	10 mg/ml
E. coli	Aqueous	14 ± 0.5	18 ± 0.6	17.4 ± 1.02
E. coli	Petroleum ether	15 ± 0.8	25 ± 0.6	17.4 ± 1.02
S. typhimurium	Aqueous	10 ± 0.3	12 ± 0.2	16.0 ± 0.4
	Petroleum ether	12 ± 0.8	14 ± 0.6	16.0 ± 0.4

*Note: Data’s in the table are mean and standard deviation of 5 replicates

Fig. 3: Dominated family of study area

Fig. 4: Habit wise distribution of plant species (%)

Antimicrobial analysis

The present study revealed that aqueous and petroleum ether extracts of Tridax procumbens showed inhibition against both the tested bacterial strains (E. coli and S. typhimurium) (Table 2). At 5 mg/ml, aqueous extracts showed highest zone of inhibition against E. coli followed by S. typhimurium i.e. 14 mm and 10 mm respectively. At 10 mg/ml the aqueous extracts of T. procumbens resulted in 18 mm and 12 mm for E. coli and S. typhimurium respectively. Petroleum ether extracts resulted in the highest inhibition against E. coli followed by S. typhimurium that corresponds to 25 mm and 14 mm zone of inhibition at 10 mg/ml respectively. The extracts showed the significant inhibition against the tested strains which was found at par with the standard antibiotic taken i.e. ciprofloxacin (0.1mg/ml).

CONCLUSION:

The finding of these studies revealed that the plants which are having medicinal value playing a vital role in maintaining the primary health care of the tribes and people lived in forest pockets of Koraput. The study has also contributed to the documentation of vulnerable indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants and their mode of preparation. This also suggested that different medicinal plants can serve as a substitute for conventional drugs to which bacteria are gradually becoming resistant. From the antibacterial analysis, Tridax procumbens extract showed significant inhibiting activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. It may be concluded that the effectiveness of the selected plant may be due to the presence of a bioactive compound for which they inhibited the tested bacteria. There stays a requirement for additional pharmacological examinations to further investigate the scientific basis of the abundance of indigenous information accessible on the employments of this intriguing medicinal plant.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

We would like to thanks the tribals and local people of Kundra block of Koraput district of Odisha, for their valuable knowledge transfer. The authors are also grateful to HOD, Department of Botany, SoAS, Centurion University of Technology and Management, for their help and suggestions to carry out research work successfully.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors declare no conflict of interest

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Received on 30.09.2020 Modified on 31.12.2020

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2022;15(1):219-223.

DOI: 10.52711/0974-360X.2022.00036