PHARMACOGNOSTIC EVALUATION OF SIMPLE EFFECTIVE HEALTHCARE TRADITIONS USING MURRAYA KOENIGII (L.) SPRENG FOR DIGESTION AND DIGESTIVE DISORDERS

As per the appeal issued by World Health Organization (WHO) “save plants to save lives,” there is the need for a global movement for the conservation of medicinal plants and the revitalization of the native health traditions of local communities. Such health traditions based on medicinal plants are the result of centuries of observation, selection, and experimentation. They thus constitute an accumulated pool of medical wisdom, based on the dictum “an ounce of practice is worth tons of theory.” Unfortunately, such invaluable knowledge and experience are increasingly coming under the category of ‘dying wisdom.’ Throughout human history people have relied on natural products and plants, in particular, to promote and maintain good health and to fight sickness, pain, and disease. The past 200 years have witnessed not only an acceleration in the rate of extinction of plant and animal species but also the erosion of traditional knowledge related to the medicinal properties and uses of the plant and other natural products. India also had a rich tradition for primary healthcare, but due to the lack of systemic study and documentation, this traditional knowledge was lost forever. But somehow the practical application of such knowledge can be met with a few routine practices among local populations in Kerala, a southern state of India. The present paper deals with the pharmacognostic analysis of two simple and effective healthcare measures for digestion and digestive problems using Murraya koenigii leaves.