A comparative study on indigenous usage of Bambo shoot in the health care practices in NE India Kalita Tarali, Dutta Uma* Department of Zoology, Cotton College, Guwahati, India *Corresponding author: umadutta@yahoo.com
Online published on 2 July, 2012. Abstract In the recent years, naturopathy becomes more popular day by day for the treatment of human diseases due to the various side effects of synthetic medicines. NE region of India is the great treasurer of bio-resources especially in plant diversity and has become source of thousands of medicinal plants. Besides, it harbors a number of tribes of different ethnic groups having unique cultural heritage and have indigenous knowledge of using different plants to treat various physical ailments. Amongst such traditional knowledge, ethnobotanical usage of bamboo shoot play an important role in food habits, lifestyle, earn of living and health care of the tribes in this region. It is evident that bamboo shoots contain low cholesterol and fat contents but rich in potassium, carbohydrates, dietary fibers, phytosterol and have antioxidant and anti thyroidal properties. Therefore, a preliminary survey work was undertaken to study the usage of traditional knowledge of bamboo shoot in various health care practices among the people in certain places of north east with special emphasis on the tribal community. The work was carried out from March’ 2010 to Feb’ 2012 on the people, those who voluntarily participated in the programme, through standard questionnaire followed by personal interaction. The data obtained from surveys clearly depicted that bamboo shoots are widely used by the local tribes to treat various physical ailments such as stomach problem, wound healing, hypertension, kidney diseases and extensively for treating gynecological disorders. Data on the mode of usages and effectiveness were also recorded during the study period. The analysis of the present study revealed the ethnobotanical importance of bamboo shoot for the greater benefit of mankind. Therefore, a thorough epidemiological as well as experimental studies on neutraceuticals properties of bamboo shoot and its mechanism of action in vivo model are very much required. Top Keywords Bamboo shoot, Indigenous knowledge, Physical ailments, Tribal community. Top |