Ethnobotanical Investigation on Plants Used by Traditional Healers to Cure Liver Disorder (Jaundice) from Sikkim Himalaya

The present survey was conducted in Sikkim's south and east districts and interacted with 6 traditional healers/informants from the selected areas. The methodology adopted during the survey was face-to-face interview, field survey, open-ended survey, and pre-prepared semi-structured questionnaires. A total of 30 ethnomedicinal plant species belonging to 24 families, 25 genera were presented in this work for the treatment of jaundice by the traditional healers from Gangtok and Namchi districts of Sikkim. The study revealed that the most of the traditional healers were more the 50 years of age, 6/6 (100%) were male and are mainly herbalist; all were literate, done middle level of education at least (50%). Based on plant family utilization, Asreraceae and Rutaceae (10%) followed by Fabaceae, Aristolochiaceae and Berberidaceae (5%) were reported. Further, root followed by leaf and stem are the highest plant parts used and the most commonly used form of preparation was juice followed by decoction. In case of mode of administration, oral route of administration was highest as compare to topical route. The ethno-botanical index-Use Value (UV)-0.83 was found to be highest for Cuscuta reflexa followed by Curcuma longa (0.5), Andrographics paniculate (0.5) respectively. From the findings, it was revealed that, the traditional healers are using the different plants to treat jaundice since ages with different types of preparations. Therefore, such traditional knowledge should be explored more for the scientific development and motivate such practices leading edge in pharmacological activity found in these plants having more UV value may lead to the identification of novel therapeutic candidates in the future.