Leguminosae (Fabaceae) in Tribal Medicines

Abstract

According to Sushruta, no plant in this world is useless. A large number of crude drugs used in Ayurvedic system employ plants of family Fabaceae. The family Fabaceae popularly known as legumes, is the third largest order of seed-plants containing about 600 genera with 12,000 speices. All the three subfamilies of Fabaceae have been given the status of family and hence they will be treated here as distinct families. Details of medicinal plants of these families and their uses are presented here. Keyword: Fabaceae, Acacia, Tribal medicine, Ethnobotany