Ethno-medicinal plants of tribal people: A case study in Pakyong subdivision of East Sikkim, India

Background: Tribal people of India still use ancient traditional health care practices, using available plants in their surroundings. Traditional knowledge of medicine is vanishing due to urbanization and outmigration thus its urgent need to preserve this valuable knowledge. Methods: This recent study was carried out in Pakyong subdivision of East Sikkim during 2016-17, and information was collected interviewing 71 informants of the Lepcha, Bhotia, and Nepali tribes. Results: Present study documenting 60 useful plant species belonging to 38 families, used for local health care needs including ten veterinary useful species. Herbaceous plants were used in high proportion (32 species, 54%) followed by trees (20, 33%), shrubs (20, 8%) and climbers (3, 5%). Leaves were the most frequently used plant parts and decoction was the common drug formulation among the inhabitants. The Informant consensus factor (ICF) ranged between 0.88 and 0.97, and fidelity levels in the study region were varied from 11.53% to 100%. Conclusion: Documentation of local plant uses by tribal people will be helpful in sustainable use of indigenous practices of medicinal plants, and further information may be used for pharmacological investigation and novel phytoconstituents isolation.