A Taxonomic and Ethno-Medicinal Study of Species from Moraceae (Mulberry) Family in Bangladesh Flora

A.H.M. Mahbubur Rahman^1, and Anamika Khanom¹

¹Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Cite this paper:
A.H.M. Mahbubur Rahman and Anamika Khanom. A Taxonomic and Ethno-Medicinal Study of Species from Moraceae (Mulberry) Family in Bangladesh Flora. Research in Plant Sciences. 2013; 1(3):53-57. doi: 10.12691/plant-1-3-1

Abstract

Taxonomy and ethno-medicinal investigation on the family Moraceae growing throughout the Rajshahi city, Bangladesh was carried out during September 2012 to August 2013. A total of 9 species under 7 genera belonging to the family Moraceae were collected and recorded for their use in various ailments. Herbal medicines have a strong traditional or conceptual base and the potential to be useful as drugs in terms of safely and effectiveness, leads for treating different diseases. The present article gives an account of such a medicinally important family Moraceae which comprise both wild and cultivated species. Out of the total number of species Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk., Artocarpus lacucha Buch-Ham., Ficus benghalensis L., Ficus hispida L., Ficus racemosa L., Ficus religiosa L., Morus alba L. were very common and Ficus elastica Roxb ex Hornem. and Ficus pumila L. were rare species in the study area. Thus a survey was carried out, to record the traditional health care remedies currently practiced by the local people.

Keywords:
Moraceae Taxonomy Ethnobotany herbal medicine

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Ahmed, Z. U., Begum, Z. N. T., Hassan, M. A., Khondker, M., Kabir, S. M. H., Ahmad, M., Ahmed, A. T. A., Rahman, A. K. A., Haque, E. U.(Eds). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh.. Angiosperms; Dicotyledons. Vol 6-12. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Dhaka. 2007-2009.
[2]	Cronquist, A. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants. Columbia University Press. New York. 1981.
[3]	Darlington, C.D., Wylie, A.P. Chromosome Atlas of Flowering Plants. George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London. 1950.
[4]	Gilani, A.H., Rahman, A. Trends in ethnopharmacology. J. Ethnopharmacol. 100: 43. 2005.
[5]	Hooker, J.D. Flora of British India. L. Vol. 1-7. Reeve and Co. Ltd. London.1961.
[6]	Huq, A.M. Plant Names of Bangladesh. Bangladesh National Herbarium, BARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 1986.
[7]	Judd, W.S., Campbell, C.S., Kellog, Stevens, P.F. Plant Systematics: a Phylogenetic Approach. Sunderland Massachussetts: Sinauer Associates Inc. Publisher pp. 464. 1999.
[8]	Kirtikar, K.R., Basu, B.D. Indian Medicinal Plants. Vol. 1-4. Lalit Mohan Basu, Alhabad, India. 1987.
[9]	Mazid, M., Khan, T.A., Mohammad, F. Medicinal Plants of Rural India: A Review of use of medicinal plant by Indian Folks. Indo Global J. Pharm. Sci. 2(3): 286-304. 2012.
[10]	Mukherjee, P.K. Quality control of herbal drugs an approach to evaluation of botanical. Business Horizon Pharmaceutical Publishers. India. 2008.
[11]	Mukherjee, P.K., Wahile, A. Integrated approach towards drug development from Ayurveda and other Indian system of medicines. J. Ethnopharmacol. 103: 25. 2006.
[12]	Pandey, M.M., Rastogi, S., Rawat, A.K. Indian herbal drug for general health care-An overview. The Internet J. Alternative Med. 6(1): 1-10. 2008.
[13]	Pasha, M.K., Uddin, S.B. Dictionary of Plant Names of Bangladesh (Vascular Plants). Janokalyan Prokashani. Chittagong, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 2013.
[14]	Prain, D. Bengal Plants. Vol. 1-2. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. India. 1963.
[15]	Srivastava, J., Lambert, J., Vietmeyer, N. Medicinal Plants: An expanding role in development. World bank Technical paper. No. 320. 1996.
[16]	Tijani, Y., Uguru, M.O., Salawu, W.A. Anti-pyretic, anti-inflaamatory and anti-diarrhoel properties of Faidherbia albida in rats. African J. Biotech. 7(6): 696-700. 2008.
[17]	Uniyal, S.K., Singh, K.N., Jainwal, P., Lal, B. Traditional use of medicinal plant among the tribal communities of Chhota Bnangal, Western Himalayan. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed. 2: 1-14. 2006.
[18]	Vijayan, A., Liju, V.B., Reena, J.V., Parthipan, B., Renuka, C. Traditional remedies of Kani Tribes of Kottor reserve forest Agasthavanam, Thiruvanthapuram, Kerela. Indian J. Traditional Knowledge 6(4): 589-594. 2007.