Quantifying traditional medicinal uses of parasitic plants: An ethnobotanical study for future pharmaceutical agents

Parasitic plants with their unique characteristics, are also known for their traditional therapeutic practices. Many parasitic plants belonging to families Loranthaceae and Santalaceae are used as traditional medicines to treat various ailments including hypertension, jaundice, and respiratory problems. The present study was designed to perform a quantitative analysis of ethnomedicinal parasitic plants used by different tribes of Odisha state using quantitative ethnobotanical indices. The information was obtained through extensive and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative indices such as informant relative frequency of citation (RFC), use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), consensus factor (ICF), and relative importance index (RI) were used to quantify the advantages, significance, and coverage of ethnomedicine. A total of 12 parasitic plant species, distributed in 11 genera under 6 families were enumerated. The information was obtained from interviews in 99 villages within 12 districts with 158 informants. Whole plant were the most common plant parts (91.66%) used for the preparation of medicine while the paste form (91.66%) was used as the most popular formulation. The highest RFC was recorded for Cuscuta reflexa (0.47), followed by Dendrophthoe falcata (0.29). The use value (UV) of Viscum monoicum and Dendrophthoe falcata was found to be 0.015 and 0.014 respectively, showing the significance of the local therapeutic practice. Cuscuta reflexa has the highest FL% (23.41). ICF values ranged between 0.93 to 1. For diseases such as antifertility agent, asthma, birth control, bone fracture, chickenpox, cold has the ICF value 1 that is complete agreement. The most utilized ethnomedicinal parasitic plant-based RI had the highest value in Cuscuta reflexa (1.00) followed by Dendrophthoe falcata (0.81). The results showed that the traditional practices of parasitic plants are still widely used in the study areas. Documentation of novel ethnomedicinal parasitic plant species and their therapeutic practices will promote additional phytochemical and pharmacological investigation, which may result in the discovery of new drug formulations.