నైరూప్య

Ethnobotany: The Boon for Mankind

Pramada Sharan

India being one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world has plants that are rich in medicinal values which has a major impact on healthcare field. The study of traditional knowledge of plants in a local region is called ethnobotany. It has various fields such as ethnomedicine, ethnoarchaeology, ethnobryology, ethnoecology, ethnoagriculture, ethnonarcotics, ethnopharmacology etc in which ethnomedicine has always excited mankind. The role of ethnobotany in pharmaceutical applications and drug discovery is of great importance. The ethnobotanical survey on the paliyar tribe of Tamil Nadu has done major revelations of how herbal plants are helpful to cure diseases. Thus, it can be stated that ethnobotany helps us to preserve our traditional knowledge.