Quantitative analysis of medicinal plants used by traditional healers of the Khasi tribe in East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, India

Abstract

Traditional healers in India hold a prominent place within the country’s healthcare landscape due to their deep-rooted cultural heritage and holistic approaches to well-being spanning diverse systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and indigenous tribal practices. These healers offer natural remedies and personalized care, often in rural or remote areas of the state of Meghalaya where traditional healers play a highly significant role in rural health care since access to modern medical facilities are limited or non-existent. The study was carried out in selected villages across East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya to quantitatively analyze the medicinal plants used by the traditional healers. Field surveys were carried out during the year 2021–2022 in order to document the medicinal plants used by the traditional healers in the selected villages. A total of 4 villages were selected i.e. Mawlyngbna, Lawbah, Thyllaw and Sohbar village. Of the selected villages, 10 traditional healers were interviewed and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data on local plant names, uses, parts used, and modes of preparation and administration; the collected data was analyzed through informant consensus factor (Fic), use value (UV), Informant agreement ratio (IAR) and fidelity level (FL).