Phytochemical, Therapeutic, and Ethnopharmacological Overview for a Traditionally Important Herb: Boerhavia diffusa Linn.

Table 4

Ethnopharmacological reports of uses of BD in various parts of India.

S. No.	Disease/organ involved	Plant part/formulation/dose	Method	Geographical area/location	Reference
1	Male reproductive system	Root/15 g powder with 100 mL cow milk twice daily; 20 g powder with 250 mL cow milk twice daily; 20 g powder: 15 mL honey with 250 mL cow milk, twice daily	Interview with Vaidyas	Uttar Pradesh; (5 Districts)	[83]
2	Female reproductive system	Root/decoction	Interview with elderly women	Uttar Pradesh	[84]
		Root/2 g paste with cow’s milk	Questionnaire, survey with traditional practitioners	Churu district; Rajasthan	[85]
		Plant/powder, twice a day for one month	Discussion with elderly women and tribal practitioners	Warli tribe of Maharashtra	[86]
		Root/paste	Survey among aborigine peoples	Tribals of Maharashtra	[87]
3	Hepatic system/Jaundice	Root/decoction	Field surveys	Tribe of Dehradun	[88]
		Leaves/*	Field surveys	Tribe of Madhya Pradesh	[89]
		Root/decoction	Ethnobotanical survey with local Vaidya	Rewa, Madhya Pradesh	[90]
		Whole plant/*	Tribal physician	Tribes of Central India	[91]
		Leaves/extract	Interview with men and women between 20 and 80 years	Tribes of Kerala	[92]
		Root/decoction	Field survey	Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu	[93]
		Root/*	Questionnaire, interviews, and discussions with tribes	Tamil Nadu	[94]
		*/*	Field trips and local villagers	Assam	[95]
		Whole plant/infusion; orally, on empty stomach	Interviews with the traditional practitioners	Assam	[96]
		Leaves/juice, orally twice daily	Enlisting plants	Tribes of Meghalaya	[97]
4	Diuretic/; nephrological; system	Root/decoction, daily for one month	Survey with local healers and herbalists, priests, hakims, and Vaidyas	Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh	[98]
		Leaves/*	Field survey	Tribes of Madhya Pradesh	[89]
		Whole plant/*	Tribal physicians	Tribes of Central India	[91]
		Root/*	Interviews with local villagers and herbalists	Tribes of Maharashtra	Petkar, 2002
		Whole plant/decoction	Field trips and interview with the tribal	Tribes of Northeast Gujarat	Bhat, 2002
		Root or tender shoots/decoction, One teaspoonful twice daily	10-year ethnobotanical field survey	Tribes of Tamil Nadu	[99]
		Leaves/decoction	Interviews with local Vaidyas	Tamil Nadu	[100]
		Whole plant/*	Interviews with local people, Vaidyas	Karnataka	[101]
5	Wound healing	Root/*	Interviews with women having knowledge of medicinal plants	Garhwal Himalaya, Uttaranchal	[102]
		Leaves/paste	Interviews with tribal medicine men	Tribes of Madhya Pradesh	[103]
		Leaves/paste	Field surveys	Tribes of Tamil Nadu	[104]
6	Respiratory system	Plant/infusion	Field surveys	Tribes of Dehradun	[88]
		Root/*	*	Chhattisgarh	[105]
		Whole plant/decoction (15–20 mL) twice a day	Field trips and interview with the tribal	Maharashtra	[106]
		Root/powder with equal amount of sugar candy	Questionnaire and surveys with traditional healers and field survey	Orissa	[107]
		Whole plant/*	Interviews with local people, Vaidyas	Karnataka	[101]
		Root/juice mixed with crushed chillies, taken orally twice daily	Enlisting plants	Tribes of Meghalaya	[97]
		Root/juice, 15 mL taken twice a day orally	Interviews with tribal and nontribal inhabitants and with herbalists	Tribes of Andhra Pradesh	[108]
7	Insect/scorpion/; snake bite	Leaves/whole leaves chewed	5-year survey with medicine men, priests	Rajsthan	[109]
		Leaves/*	Ethnobotanical survey with local; Vaidyas	Rewa, Madhya Pradesh	[90]
		Plant/paste with black pepper, taken orally and applied locally	Questionnaire survey with traditional healers	Orissa	[107]
		Leaves/juice; 2-3 times applied locally and taken orally for 7 days	Interview with traditional healer	Assam	[110]
8	Ophthalmia	Leaves/extract	Field surveys	Tribes of Dehradun	[88]
		Root and leaves/ash	Questionnaire survey with rural folk	Rajsthan	[85]
		Root/decoction	Ethnobotanical survey with local; Vaidyas	Rewa, Madhya Pradesh	[90]
		Root/*	*	Chhattisgarh	[105]
		Root/paste	Ethnomedicinal survey among aborigine peoples	Maharashtra	[87]
		Leaves/juice	Participatory rural appraisal and questionnaire survey	Kerala	[111]
		Leaves/juice with cow milk is applied on eyelids	Questionnaire survey with traditional healers	Orissa	[107]
9	Skin disorders	Leaves/powder; with mustard oil	Questionnaire survey with experienced traditional practitioners	Rajsthan	[85]
		Root bark/paste	Elderly persons	Tamil Nadu	[112]
		Whole plant/*	Tribal physician	Tribals of Central India	[91]
10	Rheumatism	Leaves boiled with rice, garlic, and water are rubbed on the body	Questionnaire survey with experienced traditional practitioners	Rajsthan	[85]
		Root/decoction	Field survey	Kanyakumari	[93]
		Leaves/decoction	Interviews with local Vaidyas	Tamil Nadu	[100]
11	Cardiovascular system	Whole plant/*	Interviews with local people, Vaidyas	Karnataka	[101]
		Leaves/*	Interviews using unstructured questionnaire	Kerala/Western Ghats	[113]
		Leaves/cooked as a curry	Enlisting plants	Tribals of Meghalaya	[97]
12	Inflammation/; edema/; arthritis	Root/decoction	Ethnomedicinal survey among aborigine peoples	Tribes of Maharashtra	[87]
		Root decoction (along with other herbs)	Questionnaires among the tribal practitioners	Tribes of Tamil Nadu	[114]
		Leaves/juice with black pepper, taken orally on empty stomach, twice a day for 7 days	Questionnaire, survey with traditional healers	Orissa	[107]
		Leaves/juice; taken orally 2-3 times and applied locally	Interview with traditional healer	Assam	[110]
		Leaves/juice, thrice a day	Field survey	Uttaranchal	[115]