ETHNOBOTANICAL AND ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF ARTEMISIA NILAGIRICA, LYONIA OVALIFOLIA, SARCOCOCCA SALIGNA AND TARAXACUM OFFICINALE

Indian medicinal plants and traditional knowledge have been an integral part of our lifestyle since ages and now became an important source for natural product research (NPR) and development. Due to its knowing ability and applications, this knowledge has long been used as a thriving source for discovery of new drug molecules. This study was conducted under the routine drug development program of the Institute with the aim to explore the first-hand ethnobotanical information of 4 important plants i.e. Artemisia nilagirica, Lyonia ovalifolia, Sarcococca saligna and Taraxacum officinale and to correlate their possible applications in future research and developmental activities. The reported information was collected from 86 informants (villagers and herbal practitioners) of Nainital, Almora and Bageshwar districts of Uttarakhand Himalaya, during 2014-2016. The popularity of individual plant species for their ethnopharmacological uses was calculated as percent citation (PC) and cross verified through other informants of studied areas as well as the literature reported for their modern therapeutic applications