Ethnomedicinal Claims on Wound Healing Activity of Certain Leaf Drugs - A Review

Abstract

Plants are traditionally being used as a source of medicine by indigenous people of different ethnic groups inhabiting various terrains for the control of various ailments effecting both human and animals. Recently, focus on plant research has been increased, all over the world, due to the huge potential of medicinal plants used in various traditional systems. Wounds are the result of injuries to the skin that disrupt the soft tissue. Various plants have been used in treatment of wounds over the years in many tribal areas. Many ethno botanical survey reports and books have been published highlighting the use of plant as a whole or its various parts for the management of wounds. Recent research shows that some of these plants are established either experimental or clinical studies for their wound healing activities. Single hand information regarding these plants with their specific parts used for wound healing activity is lacking.

Hence, the present study is an attempt to compile the leaf drugs reported for their wound healing activity from 85 research articles and 14 books related to ethno medicine and ethno botany. It is observed that ethno medicinal plants belonging to 100 families (Asteraceae-51, Fabaceae-38, Euphorbiaceae-34, Lamiaceae-19, Rubiaceae-17 etc.) are reported for their wound healing activity. Among them 202 plants reported for topical application, 11 for oral administration and 9 for both (oral and topical).