Documentation of 'Plant Drugs' dispensed via local weekly shanties of Madurai City, India.

BACKGROUND: The Valaiyar (Moopanar) communities of Tamil Nadu are traditionally known for catching rats and snakes from the agricultural fields. Prior to independence, some of these families have faced socio-economic changes and chosen to become herbalists in Madurai city. They are mainly engaged in collecting and dispensing fresh and dried plant drugs in its 'natural form' at Tilagar tidal market of Madurai city. Their business is unique, because customers receive 'prescriptions' and 'plant drugs', unlike the conventional dispensaries. Their world view is: 'to cure the ailing in natural way'. OBJECTIVES: To document plant drugs collected and dispensed by some of the families belonging to Valaiyar (Moopanar) community in the Tilagar tidal market. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethnobotanical tools were employed to document various aspects of the practices including resource and knowledge base, medicinal uses, dosage, collection of herbarium and raw drug specimens. Integrative approach was adapted to document the trade dynamics. RESULTS: During the study, 133 medicinal plant species belonging to 50 families were documented. 71% of species were sourced from wild and non-forest areas. 272 simple and compound remedies were recorded. CONCLUSION: Local markets/shanties like these are 'Traditional Medicine (TM) health care services at door step'. They cater to local health care needs along with conventional system in a synergistic manner and provide adaptable, local solutions using local resources.

Botanical identity of plant sources of Dasamula drugs through an analysis of published literature.

BACKGROUND: Dasamula (DM) is a top-traded group of medicinal plants used by the Ayurvedic industry. Through literature survey and analysis, this article has enlisted the botanical sources of DM, as correlated by several scholars. Such a list is not available from any single, earlier publication. It brings to light the confusion that exists in terms of botanical sources correlated to Ayurvedic entities. There is quite a bit of difference in the botanical correlation, parts, and substitutes reported in the different scholarly works, particularly for Prsniparni, and Agnimantha. For e.g., is Uraria picta the original intended Prsniparni, as the Ayurvedic Formulary of India (AFI) stipulates or is it U. lagopoidiodes or Desmodium gangeticum as other scholars report? While AFI provides two botanical correlations to Agnimantha in its two editions, namely Premna integrifolia and Clerodendrum phlomidis, other scholars correlate it to other Premna and Clerodendrum species. Why has AFI provided stem bark and whole plant as substitutes for roots of DM? Are substitutes recommended by AFI only for ecological or practical convenience or is there an Ayurvedic or pharmacological explanation for the same? AIM: There are many species used in the name of Dasamula,, in this article all the species are listed out to find the differences in the usage of the drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ayurveda texts and lexicons along with the texts which have done correlation work were considered to arrive at a list of various species used as Dasmula. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Since neither the methodology nor the logic behind the correlation have been discussed in these scholarly works, including the AFI, the same is not available for analysis or scrutiny. Such a list as provided in this article can form an essential base for a much needed systematic approach at etymological analysis, botanical correlation, and further scientific work to establish legitimacy of substitutes prescribed.