Review on Herbal Remedies for Dysentery and Diarrhea from the Melghat Region of Maharashtra State, India

Abstract

The rapid advancement in fast pacing lifestyle of people and more dependent on fast food is the major leading cause of the increase in stomach infections leading to dysentery and diarrhea. Diarrhoea / Diarrhea and Dysentery are major causes of morbidity and mortality in rural communities of the developing world. The current review focus on herbal remedies from the Melghat region for dysentery and diarrhea-related symptoms. A total of 287 medicinal plant species from 90 families have been compiled for Dysentery (210) and Diarrhea (243). Most reported plant families were Fabaceae contributing 11.14% plants of the total population, followed by Asteraceae (5.57%), Malvaceae (4.52%), Apocynaceae (3.48%), Rubiaceae (3.48%), Lamiaceae (3.13%), Combretaceae (3.13%), Amaranthaceae (2.78%), Euphorbiaceae (2.78%), Moraceae (2.78%), Mimosoideae (2.43%), etc. In this study, out of 287 species reviewed, trees represented 34.49% of species, followed by herbs (32.75%), shrubs (21.95%), climbers (8.01%), grasses (2.43%), and orchids (0.34%). Curated data presented along with the plant's botanical name, plant's family, category (habit), ailments, the part used with relevant traditional, folk, ethnobotanical uses and patterns with cross citations offers scope for researchers engaged in herbal drug discovery and development to dwell into the herbal reservoir and find suitable plant compounds for fighting this disease.