ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THE DIFFERENT TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN NILAKH- SRIPANI AREA OF DHEMAJI DISTRICT, ASSAM

Due to plentiful wild plant diversity, poor road conditions to connect modern medical facilities, and age-old folk knowledge on medicinal plants, the tribal communities of Dhemaji District, Assam, India, still practice traditional plant-based therapy in the management of primary healthcare. The present investigation aims to represent the ethnobotanical knowledge of different ethnic community peoples of the Nilakh- Sripani area, a fringe area laying the Assam- Arunachal border. The ethnobotanical field survey (2018- 2020) was carried out based on formal and informal semi-structured questionnaires with village headmen, traditional healers, and well-educated persons from 11 villages belonging to Nilakh and Sripanigaon panchayat. Analysis of the demographic profile of informants, local names of plants, parts used, used in ailments, preparation and route of administration was investigated during the survey. The documented data were also quantitatively analyzed by using standard ethnobotanical parameters like Use Value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL) and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF). A total of 102 plant species belonging to 57 families were recorded. During the time of the study, 33 plant species having new ethnobotanical potential were recorded. Besides the uses of plant species in different human ailment categories, 8 plant species are reported in managing livestock diseases especially in  poultries, pigs and cattle,  and 2 species used as a bio-pesticide in the study area. The study further should be helpful for the valid discovery of a new active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or drug formulation from natural origin.