Abstract

MEDICINAL PLANTS USED FOR PREVENTIVE MEDICINAL PURPOSES: ETHNOMEDICINAL PRACTICES OF A FOLK MEDICINAL PRACTITIONER OF PARAMTALA VILLAGE OF MURADNAGAR UPAZILA IN COMILLA DISTRICT, BANGLADESH.

Abu Zaffar Shibly, Md. Farzanoor Rahman, Masum Parvez, 1Hasibul Haque Rakib, Md. Sadek Hosen Khoka, Ashrafuzzaman Biplob, Md. Abdul Kader, Binita Shome, *Md. Shariful Islam

ABSTRACT

Background: Folk ayurvedic practitioners are the primary health care providers in rural population in Bangladesh. In Bengali term; these medicinal practitioners are known as “Kavirajes”. Ayurvedic studies are an important feature of traditional medicinal practices in Bangladesh. The major characteristic that separates the folk medicinal practitioners from other systems of existing medicinal practices is their almost exclusive use of simple preparations of medicinal plants for treatment of various ailments. The objective of this study was to make a comparative analysis of reported ethnomedicinal uses of plants used by a folk medicinal practitioner (Kaviraj) of paramtala village of Muradnagar Upazila in comilla district, Bangladesh. Methods: Interviews of the Kaviraj were carried out with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. Results: The Kaviraj used 12 plants distributed into 10 families in hisformulations. Available ethnomedicinal and scientific reports show that the plants used by the Kaviraj can be validated in their uses on the basis of either ethnomedicinal consensus or pharmacological activity studies. Conclusion: The study suggests that the medicinal plants used by the Kaviraj of Comilla district have good probability of new drug discoveries.

Keywords: Ayurvedic practitioners, Ethnomedicine, Kaviraj, Paramtala, Bangladesh, Ailments, Folk medicine.