PMC:1615867 / 5255-9148 JSONTXT

{"target":"http://pubannotation.org/docs/sourcedb/PMC/sourceid/1615867","sourcedb":"PMC","sourceid":"1615867","source_url":"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/1615867","text":"Materials and methods\n\nThe study area and ethnobotanical survey\nTamil Nadu is the 11th largest state in India with a geographical area of 130058 km2 and lies between 11° 00' to 12° 00' North latitudes and 77° 28' to 78° 50' East longitudes. The total forest cover Tamil Nadu is 21482 km2 (16.52%). This includes 12,499 km2 of dense forests (9.61%) and 8,963 km2 of open forests (6.91%). Of the total forest area of Tamil Nadu, 3305 km2 are under protected area (15%) which includes, 8 Wildlife sanctuaries, 12 Bird sanctuaries, 5 National parks, 3 Biosphere reserves and one Tiger reserve [26].\nKancheepuram district in north Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1) is placed 19th in the forest cover with a geographical area of 4474 Sq.kms and recorded forest in the district is 5.32% [26]. This district is situated on the northern East Coast of Tamil Nadu and is adjacent to Bay of Bengal and Chennai city and is bounded in the west by Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts, in the north by Thiruvallur and Chennai districts, in the south by Villupuram district and in the east by Bay of Bengal [27]. Paddy is the major crop cultivated in this district followed by groundnuts, sugarcane, cereals, millets and pulses. The river Palar is one of the most important rivers running through the district. There are only a few hills of considerable elevation in the district [27].\nFigure 1 Location of the study area.\n\nLocal traditional healers\nLocal traditional healers having practical knowledge of plants in medicine were interviewed in 12 villages of the district during October 2003 – April 2004. During the course of the study, four field trips were carried out in the study area totaling 40 days. Methods of selecting informants depended upon the distribution of local people having folk knowledge. They were requested to collect specimens of the plants they knew or to show the plant species on site. These informants were traditional healers themselves or had tradition of healing in their families and had knowledge of the medicinal use of the plants. Fuel wood from the surroundings was the main energy source for cooking and eating. The wealth of medicinal plant knowledge among the people of this district is based on hundreds of years of beliefs and observations. This knowledge has been transmitted orally from generation to generation; however it seems that it is vanishing from the modern society since younger people are not interested to carry on this tradition.\n\nInterview with traditional healers\nAdopting the methods of Jain [28], ethnomedicinal data were collected through general conversations with the informants. The questionnaires were used to obtain information on medicinal plants with their local names, parts used, mode of preparation and administration. A total of 10 informants, comprising 8 males and 2 females were identified between the ages of 48 and 74. They were selected based on their knowledge of medicinal plants either for self-medication or for treating others. Informants were asked to come to field and show the plants with local name; the species mentioned by the informants were taxonomically identified.\n\nPreservation of plant specimens\nStandard method was followed with regard to collection of plant materials, drying, mounting, preparation and preservation of plant specimens [29]. Voucher specimens of medicinal plants in triplicates were collected, prepared and identified. Plants with their correct nomenclature were arranged alphabetically by family name, vernacular name and ethnomedicinal uses. The identification and nomenclature of the listed plants were based on The Flora of Presidency of Madras [30] and The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic [31]. They were later verified at Botanical Survey of India, Southern Circle, Coimbatore, India. All the preserved specimens were deposited at the Herbarium of Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai.\n","divisions":[{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":0,"end":21}},{"label":"Section","span":{"begin":23,"end":1397}},{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":23,"end":63}},{"label":"Figure caption","span":{"begin":1357,"end":1396}},{"label":"Section","span":{"begin":1396,"end":2458}},{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":1396,"end":1421}},{"label":"Section","span":{"begin":2460,"end":3130}},{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":2460,"end":2494}},{"label":"Section","span":{"begin":3132,"end":3892}},{"label":"Title","span":{"begin":3132,"end":3163}}],"tracks":[]}