Introduction

India is a land rich in biodiversity and medicinal plant resources. From the dawn of civilization, human beings have been dependent primarily on plants for food, shelter, and healthcare (Dubey et al., 2004). With this background; this study highlights some ethnomedicinal plants used for the treatment of bone fracture in Jhargram district, West Bengal, India.

An extensive season-wise field survey was conducted from December 2018 to February 2020 in eight blocks, namely Binpur-I, Binpur-II, Jhargram, Jamboni, Gopiballavpur-I, Gopiballavpur-II, Sankrail, and Nayagram of Jhargram district. Most of the area contains lateritic and alluvial soil. Subarnarekha, Kangshabati, Dulung, and Tarafeni rivers are all found in this district. Three types of vegetation, such as Sal coppice forests, shrub jungle, and plantation, are also found in this area. The important tribal communities in this district are Santal, Munda, Lodha, Sabar, and Bhumij. A total of 39 informants were selected from different village areas of this district for the purpose of collecting valuable information about medicinal plants through standard questionnaires, oral interviews, and finally cross-checking with the help of published literature. Two quantitative tools were used for surveying data analysis, such as the relative frequency of citation (RFC) (Tardìo & Pardo-De-Santayana, 2008) and the fidelity level (FL) (Friedman et al., 1986).

The present study exhibits a total of 14 plant species belonging to 12 genera and 12 families that are used to cure bone fractures. Also documented that are local name (different languages), time of collection, usable parts, actual mode of utilization, mode of administration, and combination with other ingredients. The main aim of the present study is to address the urgent need for conservation and documentation of valuable medicinal plants and traditional ethno-medical knowledge for future generations and to create awareness among the tribal people about medicinal plants and the urgent need to initiate mass propagation and stop the overexploitation of local medicinal plants. Otherwise, many valuable plants lose their own habitat.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area

The present study on ethnomedicinal practices of different tribal communities has been carried out in eight blocks of Jhargram District, West Bengal, India. The district covers an area of 3,037.64 km². It is situated in south west corner of the West Bengal, lying between 22.45º north and 86.98º East longitude (Figure 1) and sharing borders with neighboring states of Jharkhand and Odisha. The district has 8 community development blocks, viz. Binpur-I, Binpur-II, Jhargram, Jamboni, Gopiballavpur-I, Gopiballavpur-II, Sankrail, and Nayagram (Anonymous, 2011). The total population of the district is 11, 37,163 as per 2011 census. About of 96.52% population lives in rural area and 3.48% population lives in urban areas of Jhargram district.

Field survey, informant’s selection, and data collection

An extensive season-wise field survey was conducted from December 2018 to February 2020 in different village areas of Jhargram district, following the standard methodology described by Jain (1991).

Firstly, the local people were befriended to create confidence and credibility about the survey; otherwise they would not expose their traditional knowledge about medicinal plants.

During the survey, a total of 39 informants were selected to collect valuable information about medicinal plants to cure bone fractures. Information was gathered through oral interviews with the informants using standard questionnaires (Table 1). The informants are getting detailed information about medicinal plants, local names of the plants, morphology, habit, habited time of collection, usable plant parts, medicinal uses, methods of medicine preparation, and actual dosage and duration. The plant species were collected from their own habitats with the help of informants for identification, and herbarium was prepared following conventional methods and deposited in the Botany department of the Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, India. The ethnomedicinal data were verified and cross checked by different tribal communities and finally verified with the help of available published literature (Pal & Jain, 1998; Bhakat & Pandit, 2003; Pakrashi & Mukhopadhya, 2004; Bandyopadhyay & Mukherjee, 2005; Paria, 2005; Bandyopadhyay & Mukherjee, 2006; Das & Mondal, 2009; Upadhya et al., 2009; Mitra & Mukherjee, 2010; Chekole, 2017; Sadat-Hosseini et al., 2017; Bhakat & Sen, 2018; Demie et al., 2018; Dutta, 2018; Faruque et al., 2018; Marin et al., 2018; Sen, 2018; Faruque et al., 2019; Dutta et al., 2020; Kassa et al., 2020; Das, 2021; George & Hautier, 2021; Raghuvanshi et al., 2021; Sen & Bhakat, 2021).

The plants were identified through relevant flora and monographs and the validity of the correct scientific name, author citation, and family names were confirmed using www.theplantlist.org.

Quantitative tools for ethno medicinal data analysis

Two quantitative tools are as follows-

• Relative frequency of citation (RFC)

RFC: The RFC is calculated by using the formula:

RFC= FCs/N

Here, FCs is the no. of informants who informs the use of a particular species.

N is the total no. of informants.

Theoretically, it varies from 0 (zero) to 1 (one) when few informants inform a species; the value will be close to 0 (zero); the upper limit 1 is possible when all the informants inform a particular species.

• Fidelity level (FL): The FL is calculated using following formula:

FL=NP/N×100

Here, NP is the no. of informants who informs the particular use of the species.

N is the total no. of informants.

Fidelity levels indicate the significant of plant species for a particular use.

Table 1. A questionnaire used during field survey

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A total of 14 species belonging to 12 genera and 12 families are used by the tribal medicine man to cure bone fractures. The most dominant family is Fabaceae and Vitaceae representing the highest 2 species each. Then Capparaceae, Costaceae, Zingiberaceae, Convolvulaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Ulmaceae, Lauraceae, Ochnaceae, Malvaceae, Lythraceae contribute 1 species each (Figure 2). Various uses of plants, alone or in combination with other species, were recorded, as were discussable parts of the species of the mode of administration of herbal drugs given with an RFC value given in Table 2.

During the survey, it was revealed that treesrepresent 4 species, followed by herbs 4 species, shrubs 4 species, and climbers 2 species (Figure 3). Plant parts such asthe whole plant, leaves, root and root bark, tuber root, rhizome, stembark and stem paste are used for the preparation of herbal drugs. Most of the herbal drugs are prepared insingle parts or inmixture with other ingredients such as halud (Curcuma longa), lime, moram stone, and soil of earthen, woven looms, rock, salt, and black pepper (Figure 4). Mainly, paste forms of herbal medicine are used as plasters for the treatment of bone fractures. These traditional medicinal men used various units of measurement like finger length, numbers, pinch, and spoon to estimate the actual doses of medicine.

A total of 14 species (Figure 5) with RFC values were calculated. The RFC values range between 0.15 and 1. The highest value of RFC is 1 in Litsea glutinosa and is followed by Curcuma longa (0.94), Cissus quadrangularis (0.89), and Euphorbia neriifolia (0.84). Litsea glutinosa is commonly called Piplus, Kukrchita (Bengali), Garur, Poj, or Leda (Sanali). Its stem bark paste mildly heated and applied as a plaster form on bone fracture, joint twisting and swelling portion.

Lowest RFC 0.15 in Urena lobata. This RFC value calculation depends on the collected ethnomedicinal data. The upper RFC values of 1 (one) indicate that all informants know about a particular species and also their abundant use. The small RFC value of 0.15 is indicates that few informants inform a particular species.

Table 2. Details of ethnomedicinal plants used for the treatment of bone fracture in Jhargram district

Table 3. Plants species with their Fidelity level (FL)