The Use of Plants in Indigenous Health Care Practice of the Hajong Tribe Community in North Eastern Bangladesh

An ethno-medical investigation was carried out to understand the use of plants in indigenous health care practice of the Hajong tribe community in North Eastern Bangladesh. The study of ethnobotany relating to any tribe is in itself a very intricate or long-winded process. The present study was done through structured questionnaires in consultations with the tribal practitioners and has resulted in the documentation of 25 plant species belonging to 21 families including herbs (36%), shrubs (32%), trees (28%) and climber (4%) were frequently used by the Hajong tribe for curing 27 ailments. For curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (86.67%) than the underground plant parts (13.33%). Leaf was used in the majority of cases for medicinal preparation (13 species), followed by fruits (7 species), root/rhizome (4 species), whole plant (3 species) and besides these, seed, latex and bark were used one species each, respectively. The study thus underlines the potentials of the ethnobotanical research and the need for the documentation of indigenous healthcare knowledge pertaining to the medicinal plant utilization for the greater benefit of mankind.