A Study on the Ethnomedicinal Plants among the Khasis of East Khasi Hills District,

Meghalaya

June 14,2011

Junie Pearl Lyngdoh

Plants provide the predominant ingredients of medicines in most medical

traditions especially among the tribal and aboriginal people. This is also true among

the tribal populations of Meghalaya who possess a very rich traditional knowledge of

medicinal uses of plants. Ethnomedicinal uses of plants are one of the most successful

criteria used by the pharmaceutical industry in finding new therapeutic agents for the

various fields of biomedicine. Research interest and activities in the area of

ethnomedicine have increased tremendously in the last decade. In spite of the renewed

interest in ethnomedicinal plants worldwide, its documentation in the State is still

very scanty. Therefore, this study has been taken up to record and document the

Ethnomedicinal plants used by the Khasis of East Khasi Hills district of the State. The

study was carried out with the following objectives of documenting the medicinal

plants and herbs used by the local herbal practitioners (LHP) or the ‘nong ai dawai

kynbat’ of the District, the herbal preparation, formulations and dosage, etc. The

usage trends of traditional medicine among the local population of the district were

studied and the factors such as literacy and distances from urban centre were

identified contributing factors that can impede or enhance its use. Documentation of

the plants used as Herbal Home Remedies among the population of the study area was

also carried out in the study. The status of the medicinal plants species used

frequently by the people will be determined. In addition, issues such as conservation

and preservation of the medicinal plants have also been looked into.
 To achieve these objectives and acquiring the above mentioned information,

field study which includes survey was carried out. Appropriate samples were drawn

using both random and non-random sampling methods. Non-random sampling has

been adopted for choosing the three C&RD Blocks of the study area. Ten percent

villages from each Block were selected for sampling which was also proportionate to

the population of the study area. Stratified random sampling was selected to stratify

the villages of the three Blocks based on the number of households in the villages. 10

percent respondents (villagers) were taken from each selected villages, so that there

will be an equal representative from the different strata. Information was acquired

through semi-structured questionnaires. 36-39 knowledgeable informants were

selected from each Block to document ethnomedicinal plants used as Herbal Home

Remedies, only. Case study was carried out using in-depth interviews through semi-

structured questionnaire with the Local health Practitioners, to get a comprehensive

detail on the traditional herbal medicine practiced by them. Statistical analysis of the

data obtained was done using SPSS software. A correlation between Usage of HHR,

Literacy rate and Distance from urban centre was done using Pearson’s correlation.

The results obtained were compared with Student’s t-distribution table to check their

significance. Regression coefficients were calculated for individual predictors. Scatter

diagrams were drawn for better visualizations of the findings. Analysis of variance for

the different variables calculated was compared to the F-theoretical value. Bar

diagrams were drawn to show the number of ethnomedicinal plants recorded for use

as herbal home remedies against the various diseases in the three C & RD Blocks and

also those used by the local health practitioners of the district.

The data on the ethnomedicinal plants used by the people as herbal home

remedies and by the Local Health Practitioners for the treatment of common ailments
were also analysed by CSI method, which is an anthropological approach, to

determine the medicinal plants used extensively by the local population of the three

Blocks surveyed and by the LHPs of the district. The CSI method used is as revised

by Silva et al., (2006), with a two point scale for the variables of species management,

preference for a given use and the frequency of use. A consensus method, called

correction factor is also incorporated to reduce the sensitivity of this method to

sampling intensity.

Altogether 35 villages were surveyed. A total of 782 informants among the

villagers and 50 informants among the Traditional medicinal Practitioners or

‘Nongaidawai Kynbat’ belonging to the age group of 27 to 98 years were interviewed

during the survey. A total of 211 species belonging to 88 families were recorded to be

used as Medicinal Plants in the district in which Shella-Bholaganj Block records the

highest number of 136 plant species, Mylliem Block recorded 111 plant species and

Mawkynrew 67 plant species. 25 plant species were found to be used commonly

between the three Blocks. 23 plant species were used commonly between Mylliem

and Shella-Bholaganj Blocks, 9 plant species between Mylliem and Mawkynrew

block and 10 plant species between Mawkynrew and Shella-Bholaganj Block.

The in-depth interview documented 172 ethnomedicinal plants used by the

LHPs of the district. The combination of plants, procedures of preparation and the

dosage given were also documented. The study had also revealed that there were both

full-time and part-time practitioners. There were also practitioners who were

specialized in treating particular anatomy or system or ailments of the body. General

problems and expectations of the LHPs have been identified. Preservation procedures

of herbs and herbal medicine used by them, cultivation methods followed and

information on trade of the medicinal plants were also documented. Of the recorded
ethnomedicinal plants that have been studied, 3 plant species are locally endangered,

9 have become locally rare and 8 are locally vulnerable.

The study recorded a high percentage of usage of herbal home remedies for common

and minor ailments. Between the C&RD Blocks there is some difference with respect

to usage. Further, for all three Blocks studied distance and literacy did not influence

usage of herbal medicine A highly significant difference (p< 0.01) was observed on

the frequencies of herbal medicine consultation per year, by the respondents. A large

majority of the respondents shows duality vis-à-vis allopathic versus local health

practices. Allopathy comes into play when home remedies fails. The difference in the

preferences of respondents between these two systems of medicine is significant at

p<0.01. Amongst the different population categories consulting the LHPs, adults

record the maximum number, in all the three C&RD Blocks. The difference between

the three population categories is significantly high (p<0.01) in Mylliem Block

whereas the difference are insignificant (p>0.01) in Mawkynrew and Shella-

Bholaganj Blocks.Therefore, it was concluded that there are other factors such as faith

and belief in this time immemorial oral tradition of health-care, which contribute to

the usage of herbal remedies or herbal medicines among the Khasi tribal population of

the district. This fact is also substantiated by the high percentage of people who have

a positive perception on the effectiveness of herbal medicine.

The calculated Cultural Significance Indices has elucidated that Zingiber

officnales, Eupatorium adenophorum and Passiflora edulis are important medicinal

plants in Shella- Bholaganj Block, Mylliem Block and Mawkynrew Block

respectively. The CSI of the ethnomedicinal plants used by the LHPs revealed that

Zingiber zerumbet is the plant species that is used extensively by them. The

documentation of the ethnomedicinal plants used as home remedies as well as those

used by the LHPs in disseminating health care to the people has revealed 24 new

medicinal plants which have not been reported in earlier literatures of the State. Most

of the ethnomedicinal plants recorded in the study have also been reported earlier.

However, minor differences lies in the ailments, the combination and mode of

preparations for which they have been reported. A comparison has therefore been

made on the ethnomedicinal plants recorded to the ethnomedicinal plants reported

earlier.

The quantitative study carried out with the respondents among the inhabitants

of the villages has generated information on the usage trend of traditional herbal

medicine. Nearly all of the respondents in interior villages indicated their preference

towards indigenous medicine or home- made remedies and traditional healers at the

primary stage of their illness and only if ailment persist that allopathic treatment is

sought from the nearest town or district headquarter. For villages close to functional

PHCs or CHCs the locals sought the LHPs only for certain identified ailments like

fracture, sprains, burns, cuts and wounds. Thus, scope of indigenous medicine

becomes important. Peoples’ belief in indigenous medicine can play a vital role in

implementing Government programmes on improving and promoting traditional

medicine in rural areas and at the same time giving due recognition to the local

traditional practitioners. The qualitative study carried out with the LHPs and also the

respondents with knowledge of HHR has given insight to the vast traditional

ethnomedicinal knowledge. Based on the observations made through the survey and

pertinent literatures, the researcher has made several recommendations such as

information based awareness that can be made to the LHPs, cultivation and

conservation measures that can be adopted by the concerned government department

of the State and private agencies. Research priority is to be given for validating the
various formulations of the LHPs and claims for success in treating cancer made by

some of them, through clinical trials. In addition, scientific validation of herbal

medicines used for external applications which has a far greater potential of

developing them into medicines or ointments for their market values as they will not

take too much of time for research or trial.