Ethnomedicinal knowledge of Valaiyan community residing in the foothills of Nagamalai hills, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu

An ethnomedicinal study was carried out in five villages in the foot hills of Nagamalai hills, Madurai. The villages are predominantly settled by Valaiyans, an ethnic group and they reside along with other communities such as Ambattan, Paraiyar, Kallar, Vannar and Konar. Ethnomedicinal survey was carried out during September 2011 to March 2013. The traditional medicnal practitioners were interviewed based on an open-ended questionnai re prepared. All the informants are of above 45 years of age. Plants used by the people were collected, dried and made herbarium specimens. The herbarium specimens were then identified at The Botanical survey of India, Southern circle, Coimbatore and deposited in the herbarium at the Department of Plant Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. A total of 38 medicinal preparations used for treating 33 diseases were recorded in the present study. Majority of these preparations were made from plant based medicinal preparations. In some preparations animal products such as milk, ghee, meat etc were also used. Uses of 49 medicinal plants belonging to 35 families were enumerated in the present study. This study gives a clear picture about the traditional knowledge of the Vailaiyan community.