Indigenous Knowledge on Healthcare Practices by the Reang Tribe of Dhalai District of Tripura, North East India

The present study aimed to prepare an inventory of ethnomedicinal plants used by the Reang tribe Dhalai district of Tripura state, India. Reangs are mostly residing in deep forest and depend on their own traditional health care system. The survey was conducted during 2003 to 2004 in the different villages of Dhalai district of the state covering all the seasons. In the present work a total of 58 medicinal plants species belonging to 57 genera and 39 families are presented. Out of the total collection, in maximum cases leaves (48.28%) are used which is followed by root/rhizome (29.31%), bark (10.34%), fruit/seed (8.62%), stem (3.45%) and whole plant (1.72%), against different ailments. The collected plants are mostly used in blood coagulation, cough and cold, fever and headache, diarrhoea and dysentery, stomach problem and gastritis, bone fracture and sprains, carbuncle, jaundice, leucorrhoe, rheumatism, ringworm etc. Plant parts used, their preparation, and doses are discussed along with the family and local names of the collected herbs