Hui Tag
Mississippi State University, USA
Title: Biodiversity of wild food and medicinal plants of Eastern Himalayas
Biography
Biography: Hui Tag
Abstract
Eastern Himalaya comprises of State of Eastern Nepal, Bhutan and Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh endowed with rich cultural and biological diversity. Th is region has been rated as one among the top 12 Global Biodiversity Hotspot by IUCN (2000, 2005). Th e cultural and biodiversity of Arunachal Pradesh is exceptionally unique and rich with presence of several linguistic group and endemic biological taxa most of them being signifi cant medicinal and food plants which help in sustaining local culture and economy of the Eastern Himalayan tribes. Present paper highlights ethnobotanical aspects of the selected food and medicinal plants used by the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from ethnobotanical knowledge bases, paper also deals with physio-biochemical and pharmacological aspects of selected species including which include Centella asiatica, Chloranthus erectus, Potentilla peduncularis, Vaccinium glauco album, Drynaria propinqua, Rosa sericea, Quercus griffi thii, and Quercus semecarpifolia. Th e fi eld and lab result shows that the local communities of Eastern Himalayan region of India are rich in diverse uses of traditional food and medicinal plants. Food and medicinal plants used by the local tribes are rich in antioxidant bioactive constituents which could be used as anti-infl ammatory and anticancer agents.
