Ethnobotanical Review of Medicinal Plants Used Against Diarrhea and Dysentery in Northeast India (Assam)

Title:Ethnobotanical Review of Medicinal Plants Used Against Diarrhea and Dysentery in Northeast India (Assam)

Volume: 7 Issue: 6

Author(s): Sameeran Gam*, Dhiren Deka, Biswajit Das, Dhrubajyoti Sarma, Suman Kumar, Susankar Kushari, Arundhati Saikia and Himangshu Sarma*

Affiliation:

• NETES Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Guwahati -781125, Assam,India

• Life Sciences Division, Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Guwahati-781035, Assam,India

Keywords: Biodiversity hotspot, diarrhea, dysentery, ethnomedicine, traditional medicine, phytochemical

Abstract: Background: Since primitive times, plants have been extensively utilized in conventional remedies for primary health care. It is observed that medicinal plants have various bioactive components. It becomes an alternative choice for synthetic medications to treat diarrhea and dysentery, which are the primary waterborne diseases with high mortality rates that bring substantial health threats to global populations.

Objective: The present review aims to look over the ethnobotanical knowledge for the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery and folklore practices by the people prevailing in Assam.

Methods: In this perspective, an extensive literature survey was carried out to understand the mechanism, control, and treatment of diarrhea and dysentery in different online academic databases and books. An advanced search was carried out in 'PubMed' and 'Google Scholar' using the term "Phytoconstituents" and "antidiarrheal" along with "Phytoconstituents" and "anti-amoebic".

Results: Data retrieved from databases were analyzed and interpreted to conclude that in Assam, diarrhea and dysentery are the primary leading causes of mortality among children under five years. It is mainly due to the unhygienic livelihood, unavailability of safe drinking water, unhealthy food, seasonal rainfall, flood, and open defecation. The present investigations reveal that the people of Assam use 39 plant species belonging to 36 families to cure diarrhea and dysentery.

Conclusion: The present study established the effective use of medicinal plants by various communities in Assam to treat diarrhea and dysentery. Furthermore, it can be used to develop a new therapeutic approach to create new chemical entities (NCE) in drug discovery, which are safe, fruitful, and inexpensive.

Cite this article as:

Gam Sameeran *, Deka Dhiren , Das Biswajit , Sarma Dhrubajyoti , Kumar Suman , Kushari Susankar , Saikia Arundhati and Sarma Himangshu*, Ethnobotanical Review of Medicinal Plants Used Against Diarrhea and Dysentery in Northeast India (Assam), Current Traditional Medicine 2021; 7 (6) : e291021197463 . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2215083807666211029104102