Experimental validation of folk medicinal knowledge used by ‘Santal’ tribes of Mayurbhanj District for the treatment of Dermatophytosis

TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE TO TREAT DERMATOPHYTOSIS

Abstract

Medicinal plants held a very specific space in every field related to the traditional health care system. Dermatophytosis, or ringworm, is a keratinophilic infection in humans, and approximately 25% of the world’s population is affected by this disease. This is a contagious disease caused by a group of filamentous pathogenic fungi termed dermatophytes. Herbal drugs are used as the primary health care of the poor rural people, tribal and other indigenous communities because of the lack of modern health facilities. Though antibiotics and other synthetic drugs are more effective, they still rely on the healing properties of plant sources and the active compounds also proved to be beneficial for the dermatophytic species showing resistance to various synthetic antifungal drugs. An increase in fungal resistance leads to the need to find new potential alternatives which would be less toxic and more effective for the target disease. This study documents the indigenous use of traditional plants in the treatment of skin diseases by the indigenous community of three villages of the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Ten plant parts are collected from the survey areas and evaluated for their antifungal activity. Out of 10 folklore claimed plant sources, seed oils from three plant species, viz., Millettia pinnata, Ricinus communis, and Talisia esculenta, were validated experimentally for their antifungal activity against dermatophytosis caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The objective behind this study is the scientific validation of the effectiveness of the indigenous knowledge, which may help in the discovery of new drugs.