Ethnobotany and nutritional importance of four selected medicinal plants from Eastern Himalaya, Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

The medicinal plants have traditionally played an important role in the socio-cultural, spiritual and medicinal arena of the peoples of Eastern Himalaya. The Eastern Himalaya region is inhabited by a large number of ethnic communities and tribes. The indigenous people use various medicinal plants traditionally either in the form of extract or decoction for treating various ailments. Four plants species viz. Drymaria cordata, Solanum spirale, Solanum torvum and Spilanthes paniculata, widely used in folk medicine and food in this region were selected to assess their nutritional values. The investigation revealed that S. paniculata contains Fibre (27.82 % in leaves), Na (50.05 mg/100g in flowers), and Ca (78.49 mg/100g and 77.53 mg/100g in flowers and leaves respectively) while S. torvum contains Protein (15.71%), Total Carbohydrate (28.14%) and D. cordata contains Ash (17.11%), K (317.51 mg/100g) highest amongst all. Present manuscript focuses on ethnobotanical information as well as nutritional importance of four selected plants