Ethnobotanical documentation of medicinal plants used during COVID-19 by the Meitei Community in Manipur, India.

Background: Medicinal plants played an important role during the COVID-19 by acting as an immune booster to protect our body against various ailments. The study’s main objective was to document the traditional practice of medicinal plants during pandemic from the indigenous Meitei people of Manipur, India. Methods: Information was collected as online questionnaire survey through “KoBotoolbox” software in 2 district of Manipur, populated by the Meitei community. We evaluate the indices such as UV, ICF and FL from the obtained data. The therapeutic activities of reported plants also retrieved from various databases as a secondary data. Results: The findings showed a total of 40 plants belonging to 24 families having therapeutic importance against 10 different ailments. Zingiberaceae family was most dominated (6 sp.) followed by Lamiaceae (4 sp.) while leaves (60%) part were frequently used as fresh (65%). An oral route of administration (82.5%) was popularly used methods for consumption. Zingiber officinale scored favourable UV of 0.23 with the highest ICF value (0.85) was recorded for the treatment of fever and physical pain. The Fidelity Level ranges from 10 – 100%, Centella asiatica was the only species with 100% of FL report for curing of headache. Conclusions: The present report is the first ethnomedicinal studies during COVID-19 from Manipur. The evaluation of data by different quantitative indices was useful to identify the valuable plants so that further research can be conducted to find out their phytochemistry and pharmacological activities. It may also help local plants and their traditional practices for conservation. Keywords: COVID-19, India, Medicinal plants, Meitei people, Traditional practice