Keywords

10.1 Introduction

Nature has been very kind to humanity and offers services for its long-term survival and continuous regeneration. The future of the human race is difficult to foresee if the earth does not have plants. From ancient times, plants have been considered as valuable and esteemed bio-resource that work in manifold ways and are used for food, fuel, and medicinal goals (Dixena and Patel 2019b; Aslam and Ahmad 2016). Plants are actually “natural industries” and act as a source of raw material to perfumery, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industry without having any harmful impact on the environment (Jain et al. 2006). Before the chemical drug species were introduced to the world, people were dependent on the healing properties of the medicinal plant species (Ahvazi et al. 2012).

Medicinal plants are being used in health care systems since prehistoric times (Samal 2016). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “a medicinal plant is a plant which in one or more of its organs, contains a substance that can be used for therapeutic purposes, or which are precursors for chemo-pharmaceutical semi-synthesis”(Husain et al. 2008). Owing to their high therapeutic effectiveness, low toxicity, local availability, and economic feasibility, herbal drugs are being explored in recent scientific advancements worldwide. People are globally returning to nature, i.e. shifting from the use of synthetic drugs to the herbal medicines (Shakya 2016; Bandaranayake 2006; Ekor 2014). As per the reports of the world health WHO, almost 8 billion people comprising about 80% of the global population particularly in developing countries largely rely on herbal medicines (Faruque et al. 2018; Ekor 2014; Calixto 2000). Therapeutic medicinal plants are an important part of research advancements in the pharmaceutical industry. This research focuses on identifying, isolating, and using either the active medicinal products directly or to develop semi-synthetic drugs or screening of natural products to obtain synthetically pharmacological active ingredient (Singh 2015; Süntar 2020). The therapeutic effectiveness of the medicinal plants is mainly due to secondary metabolites produced by them, including alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, tannins, and volatile oils (Dar et al. 2017; Shakya 2016; Larayetan et al. 2019; Seca and Pinto 2019). In present times, the pharmacological efficacy of various medicinal plants is found to be a potential future drug candidate to combat various ailments (Shakya 2016; Pan et al. 2013). Various institutions have followed a “reverse pharmacology” strategy to examine the clinical efficacy or therapeutic effectiveness of medicinal plants and their functional utility in health services (Samal 2016; Atanasov et al. 2015).

Medicinal plants also generate revenue for millions of people around the world (Dar et al. 2018). The global market approaches many billion dollars per year for plant-based pharmaceuticals, flavors, chemicals, coloring components, and fragrances. Global trade in medicinal plants is believed to be around US$ 800 million per year (Singh 2015).

Nature has blessed an incredible richness of medicinal plants to India and hence it is often referred to as “World’s medicinal garden”(Shakya 2016). Medicinal plants had attained an important place in the spiritual, social, cultural, and health aspects of Indian people living in rural and tribal areas (Gupta and Gupta 2017). India is considered as Asia’s one of the leading nations as far as the indigenous herbal knowledge system is concerned (Malik et al. 2018). India houses several medicinal plant species and is listed in the seventh position among the 17 mega-diversity centers of the world. India has a range of ecosystems including forests, desert, marine, coastal, and wetlands that habitats various plant species which contribute towards the well-being (Singh and Shahi 2017). India has a distinctive status in the world because of its well renowned traditional system of medicine such as Ayurveda, Siddha, homeopathy, and Unani (Shakya 2016; Samal 2016; Mukeshwar et al. 2011). About 95% of the medicinal formulations used in these traditional systems of medicine are plant-based products (Balamurugan et al. 2017; Pandey et al. 2013). There are around 17,000 higher plant species in India of which 8000 are recognized to have medicinal value and are used by the people living in villages and tribal communities (Singh 2015). Over 70% of the Indian population depends on herbal medicines to address health related issues (Samal 2016). In India, there are approximately 550 tribes inhabited with 227 ethnic groups living in 5000 villages within forest areas (Sahu et al. 2014; Pandey et al. 2018). Since times immemorial these tribal people have been practicing the usage of medicinal plants for treating various health ailments. This traditional knowledge of medicinal plants has been disseminated over generations and has contributed greatly to the conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use. Chhattisgarh state located in East-Central India came into existence on 1 November 2000 after separation from Madhya Pradesh. It is bordered by Uttar Pradesh to the north, Jharkhand to the north-east, Orissa to the west, Andhra Pradesh to the south-east, Maharashtra to the south-west, and Madhya Pradesh to the west and north-west. The state is spread over the area of 192,000 km2with 59,772km2 under forest coverage. Chhattisgarh has approximately 44% forest cover of its total geographical area which accounts for about 8% of India’s total forest cover. Chhattisgarh is considered as an “Herbal state” because of its rich biodiversity of medicinal plants. The state is also renowned for its distinctive tribal people such as Baiga, Gongs, Sahu, Ahir, Oraon, Kunbi, Gwalas, Kols, Korwa, etc. These indigenous people have the accessibility of plants with medicinal and nutraceutical advantage and gather the valuable parts of these plants for their service (Gupta and Gupta 2017; Pandey et al. 2018; Patel et al. 2019).

The present book chapter provides a compilation of existing information of various edible medicinal plants used in some selected districts (Durg, Jashpur, Balod, Janjgir-Champa, Korea, Bastar, Bilaspur, Gariaband, Dhamtari, Kabirdham, and Surguja) of Chhattisgarh. We emphasized on the knowledge that researchers can easily access and do not assert to have included all the existing information or claim to have done a comprehensive review of all the published literature on the medicinal plants of Chhattisgarh state. The purpose of documentation is to expand the scope and scientific value of the local use of these medicinal plants that may help to raise awareness among people and the scientific community so that conservative initiatives can be implemented for their sustainable use.

The present chapter documents 149 medicinal plant species used traditionally by the tribal people of Chhattisgarh state for treating various ailments. The results are provided in Table 10.1 with botanical name, local name, family, habitat, parts used, and ethnomedicinal use.

Table 10.1 Edible plants of used traditionally by the tribal people of Chhattisgarh state for treating various ailments
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10.2 Taxonomic Categories

The vast majority of edible medicinal plant species were angiosperms belonging to 59 families. The highest number of medicinal plant species reviewed were found to belong to Fabaceae (13 species) followed by Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae (08 species each), Solanaceae and Caesalpiniaceae (07 species each), Apocynaceae (06 species), Apiaceae and Liliaceae (05 species each), Combretaceae, Moraceae, Rutaceae, and Zingiberaceae (04 species each), Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Annonaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae, Rhamnaceae, Verbenaceae (03 species each), Araceae, Cleomaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Dioscoreaceae, Malvaceae, Meliaceae, Menispermaceae, Mimosaceae, Sapotaceae (02 species) (Fig. 10.1). The rest of the plant species reviewed were represented by 01 species each.

Fig. 10.1
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Family distribution of medicinal plants

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Based on the morphology (Fig. 10.2) of medicinal plant species, 67species were found to be herbs, 44 species of trees, 22 species of shrubs, and 16 species of climber.

Fig. 10.2
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Morphological distribution of medicinal plant species

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10.3 Plant Parts Used for Medicinal Purpose

The most commonly used plant parts in the preparation of herbal formulations were found to be roots, rhizomes, fruits, flowers, seeds leaves, stems, or the whole plant (Table 10.1). The use of multiple plant parts was also observed for some plant species. These plant parts were found to be consumed either fresh or cooked or used in the form of decoction or infusion. The use of specific plant parts indicates that these parts may be associated with potent biological properties and further phytochemical screening is needed to validate the ethnomedicinal claims scientifically.

10.3.1 Ailment Categories Treated

A total of 20 major ailment categories were treated with medicinal plant species (Fig. 10.3). The main ailment categories that are treated include diarrhea (37 species), respiratory disease (33 species), diabetes (30 species), gastric disorders (28 species), Fever (21 species), cough/cold (20 species), abdominal disorders (15 species), circulatory problems and arthritis (14 species each), liver disorders (13 species), diuretic (12 species), skin problems, and hypertension (11 species each). The majority of plant species were used to treat multiple ailments, some were used to treat few ailments, while only a small proportion of plant species were used to treat only a single ailment (Table 10.1).

Fig. 10.3
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Ailment categories treated by medicinal plants

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10.4 Economic Importance

The world has witnessed the scientific and commercial interests in edible plant and plant-based products due to their immense economic potential and widespread cultural acceptability, but only less than 5 percent of species have been analyzed as potential medicinal products while rest of the plant remain to be unexplored. Varieties in family diet and food security in houses are due to the diversity in edible plants. It is clear that edible plant use is not negligible in many parts of the world, but this is the truth that today human plant foods are based on a very small number of crops (Hood 2010).

The cultural consumption of wild edible plants by various tribal and non-tribal groups living in rural and semi-urban areas as food and medicine has been extensively exercised. Particularly, the accessibility of plants collected from anthropogenic landscapes (i.e., homesteads, forest patches, the vicinity of rice fields, or fallow lands) which allows large group of people to rely on them as a valuable nutritional resource due to their easy access. The nutritional value of conventional edible plant is often higher than many known fruits and vegetables. Edible plants throughout the world, and especially in developing countries, make a marked contribution to the local community life (Ray et al. 2020).

The actual guardians of nature’s wealth and herbal medicine experts are mainly the ethnic groups of various regions of the world. For centuries, the traditional native knowledgepassed orally is disappearing rapidly due to the developments in technologies and cultural change of ethnic groups. Despite all these disruptions, the ancient phytocure methods among the various tribes are being restored, as it is a part of their culture. Besides, ethnic tribal people the people in ethnic tribes are against cultural changes and changing mode of their life. Also, there is a need to preserve this traditional medical knowledge in various forms for future generation as it is diminishing slowly. The native ethnic groups possess their own evident religious rituals, culture, food habit, and a rich knowledge of traditional medicine. Due to the topographic diversity and variable climatic condition, Chhattisgarh has a rich and varied flora. In four different zones like Eastern, Western, Central, Northern, and Southern zones around 20–25 tribes are living either isolated or in combination. About one-third (10%) of the total population of the state in India is contributed by tribes of Chhattisgarh. Among all the tribes found in Jashpur region of Chhattisgarh, Oraon is one of the populous areas (Painkra et al. 2015). Agriculture is the major occupation of tribal people, even though forest and their products are also essential livelihood of tribal’s and folk people, which meets their numerous day-to-day requirements like fibers, food, medicine, etc. Food requirement is fulfilled mainly through agriculture, but flowers, fruits, leaves, roots, and tubers are also collected from the forest as supplementary foods (Ekka and Ekka 2016b). For deprived communities, medicinal plants acts as the alternate income generating source (Lacuna-Richman 2002; Myers 1990). Thus, this sector helps to improve socio-economic with living standard of rural people/tribes.

10.5 Conclusion and Future Prospective

The worldwide utilization of medicinal plants particularly in India is inevitable. Around 80% of world’s population relies primarily on medicinal plants as a first source of therapy. Chhattisgarh is considered as an “Herbal state“because of its rich biodiversity of medicinal plants. These medicinal plants not only provide food but also are the promising source of future drug candidates. Further these plants have high economic importance and acts as a source of income for the people. In this chapter an attempt is made to review the details of edible medicinal plants of Chhattisgarh used by tribal communities to cure many ailments such as respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, etc. The aim of documentation of these medicinal plants is to broaden the scope and importance of the local use of medicinal plants. With time the knowledge of medicinal plants among tribal people is disappearing, therefore it is imperative to record traditional knowledge about the medicinal plants. Measures aimed at improving the efficacy, effectiveness, and appropriate use of the medicinal plants must be implemented mainly by incorporating them in regional, national, and health policies and programs. In view of economic significance of the medicinal herbs, it is crucial to cultivate them consistently and save them from extinction by taking conservative measures for their sustainable use. Research need to be conducted to further analyze the nutritional and medicinal values of the plants.