Ethnomedicinal plants used by Primitive Nuka Dora Tribes Paderu Division Alluri Sitaramaraju District, Andhra Pradesh,

An ethnomedicinal survey was carried out among the ethnic group of Nuka Dora tribes inhabited in Paderu division, Alluri Sitarama Raju District, Andhra Pradesh during 2021-2022. A total of 98 plant species belonging to 88 genera and 35 families. All the plants need to be evaluated through phytochemical investigations to discover their potentiality as drugs. The study shows a high degree novelty in the use of plants among the tribal people reflecting the revival of interest in traditional medicine.


Introduction
Since the beginning of civilization, people have used plants as medicine.Ethnobotanical study of traditional plant wealth has resulted in many valuable discoveries.A discussion of human life on this planet would not be complete without a look at the role of plants.Ayurveda, the indigenous system of medicine in India, dates back to Vedic ages (1500-800 BC).It has been an integral part of Indian culture [2].It is not only a science of treatment of illness but covers the whole gamut of happy human life involving the physical, meta-physical and spiritual aspects [3].Ethnobotanical investigations have led to the documentation of a large number of wild plants used by tribals for meeting their multifarious requirements [4].Some recent notable contribution on ethnomedicine of north coastal Andhra Pradesh [5][6][7][8][9][10].The objectives of the present research are collection, identification and documentation of the plants used by Nuka Dora tribal community, an extensive exploration studies in the area to record firsthand information from the Nuka Dora tribal practitioners.

Study area
The study area includes the Paderu Division of Alluri Sitaramaraju District, Andhra Pradesh.Paderu Division is the higher altitude zone in the hilly tracts of Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh.It has the second highest tribal population in Andhra Pradesh.Paderu division lies in between latitudes of 17 o_ 50 1 and 18 o -35 1 north and longitude of 82 o -17 1 and 83 o -1 1 East with a total geographical area of 3, 24,965 Ha.The area receives an average annual rainfall of 1800 mm and support a rich diversity of plant wealth.Nukha Doras are found in the tribal areas of Alluri Sitaramaraju districts, Nukha Dora also known as "Mukha Dora", 'Racha Reddy', 'Muka Raju' and 'Sabarlu'.Nukha Dora is divided into several exogamous clans such as Korra, Gammela, Kakara, Sugra, Kinchoyi, etc.The name of the clan is prefixed to their names.The elders of Nukha Dora community wear sacred thresad and Tulasi beads.

Methodology
Intensive field surveys were carried out during 2021-2022, covering all the seasons.Collected specimens were made into herbarium as per the methods suggested by Jain & Rao [20].The focus of the present study is to record the ethnobotanical knowledge with special reference to medicinal plants possessed by the tribal people.They represent the pockets of human gene pool and have distinct habitats and habits with ample knowledge on the medicinal properties of their surrounding plants.The representative taxa were collected and identified with the help of floras [21-23] and made into herbarium.The voucher specimens were housed in the Botany Department Herbarium (BDH), Department of Botany, Andhra University, and Visakhapatnam.

Results and discussion
During exploration trips, medicinally useful information have been recorded on 98 plant species belonging to 88 genera and 35 families were recorded which are exploited by the Nuka tribals for their healthcare.The family wise analysis of ethnomedicinal data revealed that of the 35 families the dominant ones are Euphorbiaceae represented by 6 species followed by Fabaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Lamiaceae and Rutaceae with 4 species, Zingiberaceae, Moraceae, Lythraceae, Liliaceae, Combretaceae and Asteraceae with 3 species each, From the present study it is clearly evident that the local people used herbs (34), followed by trees (32) climbers (16), shrubs (15) and parasites ( 2), (

Conclusion
Industrialization, urbanization, modernization and the consequent developmental activities on one side and acculturation of the ethnic societies on the other have set in motion causing destruction of forests and devastation of ethnobotanical knowledge.It is high time now, that all the Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations should redouble their efforts to conserve plants of potential economic value, particularly ethnomedicinal plants and the ecosystems they inhabit.The growing disinterest in the use of the folk medicinal plants and its significance among the younger generation of the primitive tribals will lead to the disappearance of this practice.Educated younger generation of the primitive tribals should be encouraged by the Government to protect and cultivate these valuable herbal plants before they get lost due to the impact of modernization and urbanization and also due to deforestation.