Preliminary study of ethno-medicinal plants used to cure different diseases in coastal district of Orissa, India.

Abstract

This study documents phy totherapeutic practices in K endrapara district of O rissa, India. It is primarily based on field surveys carried out in villages, where dwellers provided information on plant species used as medicine, parts used to prepare the remedies, and the illnesses to which the remedies were prescribed. The plant parts, viz. leaf, bark, seed, root, tuber, fruit and whole plant were used in raw or cooked forms for the treatment of piles, asthma, skin disease, fever, rheumatism etc. The species used as medicinal drug comprise 28 families. The most important families were Euphorbiaceae, Combretaceae, Liliaceae, Melliaceae and Zingiberaceae.These phytotherapeutical resources were used for the cure of 26 illnesses.