Threatened Medicinal Plants of Eastern Ghats and Their Conservation

Traditional medicine has a long history of cultural heritage and ethnic practices in India and in recent years has gained much recognition worldwide. The Eastern Ghats, inhabited by nearly 54 tribal communities, constituting nearly 30% of total population, are a diverse and rich source of threatened medicinal and aromatic plants used in drug, pharmaceutical, and perfumery industries. Out of 2500 species of flowering plants belonging to angiosperms, gymnosperms, and pteridophytes known to occur in Eastern Ghats, about 77 species (67 dicots, 9 monocots, and 1 gymnosperm) are endemic. The variations in altitude and climatic conditions, especially in rainfall, have immensely contributed to the evolution of rich ethnic floristic diversity in the Eastern Ghats. At least 788 medicinal plant taxa and 40 aromatic plants are concentrated in this area which are used in various medicinal systems including codified and folklore which belong to 132 families and 384 genera. The dominant medicinal plant families in the Eastern Ghats are Leguminosae (67 spp.), Apocynaceae (29 spp.), Malvaceae (26 spp.), Euphorbiaceae (25 spp.), Orchidaceae (22 spp.), Solanaceae and Rubiaceae (16 spp. each), Asteraceae (15 spp.), Acanthaceae, Asteraceae and Lamiaceae (14 spp. each), Cucurbitaceae and Zingiberaceae (13 spp. each), Rutaceae (12 spp.), and Araceae (10 spp.). These medicinal plant genetic resources are distributed in various vegetation types in the Eastern Ghats region. Ethnobotanical knowledge from the Eastern Ghats region has been recorded by several workers. Indian systems of medicine are reported to utilize around 2500 plant species of which about 800 species are used by the industry and approximately 25% of species are under cultivation. India ranks sixth in essential oil production and export of products derived from medicinal plants. It is estimated that India has a potential to export plant base crude drugs to the tune of Rs. 400 billion but manages to export produce worth only about Rs. 12.6 billion. India with its rich biodiversity and tradition of use of herbal drugs in healthcare holds tremendous opportunity for growth in a multibillion global trade, particularly in the herbal area, which has vast potential for developing multiple products for nutrition, cosmetics, and prevention and cure of diseases. This article provides an overview of the threatened medicinal plants of the Eastern Ghats, their distribution, and reported uses in local health traditions. Blending traditional knowledge with modern science including genomics is a priority area to meet the forthcoming challenges in the light of climate change, and thus conservation strategies, both ex situ and in situ, for these diverse species are also discussed.