A compiled knowledge repository of Indigenous traditional medicinal plants in Ghaziabad India as obtained from Vaidya and Hakims

Abstract

Medicinal plants are an essential source of therapeutically active drugs and play a primary role in the healthcare system throughout world. The Indian system of medicines has been an integral part of the civilization and tradition of India down the centuries. Plant based medicines were being used extensively for the amelioration, prevention and treatment of chronic and acute human diseases by people who were known as traditional healers i.e.., vaidya, hakims whom we know as doctors in the present times. In terms of wealth of traditional knowledge India is one of the leading countries in Asia, as we know traditional medicine is an all-inclusive term used to describe two systems such as organized systems which includes all the Ayurveda, siddha, Unani, Greek medicines and several types of unorganized medicinal practices (i.e. indigenous, folk or tribal medicine). In India traditional knowledge till today majorly remains undocumented, most of this important information were passed through generations in the form of folklores, hence it is very important to tap this ethno-botanical knowledge of people and document the useful plants of that particular region, it can prove to be an essential tool that might help in the understanding of human-environment association. Our work involves a survey on the use of traditional medicinal plants by the villagers for the prevention and treatment of several diseases and disorders, this information was passed through generations in the form of folklores. The present study was carried out in the villages of Muradnagar district Ghaziabad all the information was gathered from young and old age people, vaidya, traditional healers and hakim who were aged between 30-65 years.