Knowledge on ethnogynaecology of Indian Tribes- a comprehensive review

Ethnogynaecology is an emerging branch of science dealing with the treatment of gynaecological ailments by tribals, local healers, and traditional practitioners. The ethnogynaecological importance of medicinal plants in India is a fertile area to conduct more scientific studies to evaluate their potentialities, to isolate bioactive compounds, and thereby to develop drugs for the common gynaecological health-related issues faced by women everywhere. The Indigenous medical knowledge systems of India have not been properly documented with special reference to ethnogynaecology. This review aims to document the knowledge of ethnogynaecology among tribals, villagers, and local people inhabiting different parts of India and the bioactive compounds responsible for the action. This review provides a vast record of medicinal plants and their parts used, types of formulations, dosage, and ethno-gynaecological usage. The detailed investigation of ethnobotanical and ethnogynaecological-related literature published between 1985 and 2021 by different scientific tools such as journals, books, and current electronic databases like Springer Link, SciFinder, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Wiley, ACS, Science Direct and Pubmed have been considered for the present study. The study included 300 articles published between 1985 and 2021 by scientific search using various standard databases. The tribals, vaidyas, traditional practitioners, indigenous medical healers, and local people of different regions in India have recognized the importance of ethnogynaecological uses of plants. The study on ethnogynaecology is limited to a few common but significant gynaecological issues including abortion, contraception, infertility, menstruation, leucorrhoea, and obstetrics. The phytocompound compounds isolated from various parts of the plants and responsibility for the gynaecological action were documented. The major ethnogynaecological disorders recorded by various studies are leucorrhoea, abortion, contraceptives, infertility and related issues, and obstetrics including the irregular physiological process of menstruation. The ethnogynaecological and ethnobotanical information has been recorded from almost all the states of India; the highest number of records on ethnogynaecology was reported from the state of Madhya Pradesh. The most explored tribal populations to record ethnogynaecological knowledge belong to the following tribes: Bhil, Munda, Irula, Kani, Malayali, Meena, Paliyar, Muthuvar, Oraon, Narikuravar, Mannan, Malayarayan, and Malapandaram. Moreover, limited or no study has been attempted to prove the knowledge of ethnogynaecology of these tribes and the efficiency of their crude drugs against pharmacological actions. The paste prepared from various parts of the plants has been used widely as primary health care materials for abortion, obstetrics, menstruation, female infertility and male infertility. Phenols, glucoside, steroids and fatty acids reported with cytotoxic activities are connected to several gynaecological disorders whereas flavonoid, coumarin, sitosterol disrupt pregnancy. The phenolic compounds induced spontaneous abortion due to the major composition aristolochic acid, ceryl alcohol, β-sitosterol. Coreopsin, butin, isobutrin, monospermoside, palastrin, butrin. Mucunine, lecithin, prurieninine, gluthione and luteolin, Indicine, kaempferol, apigenin and quercetin effected therapeutic activity against leucorrhoea. Lignin, friedelin and beta-sitosterol are reported with abortifacient properties and therapeutic ability for leucorrhoea and menorrhagia. Tannins, mimusopsic acids, taraxerol and spinaserol effected fertility problems in women and tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and alkaloids which effected infertility. This review reported comprehensive data on ethnogynaecological knowledge published from available literature and evident that the indigenous medical system of Indian tribes has also contributed considerably to the healthcare system and drug development of India. The fresh plant parts were identified as effective materials against various gynaecological illnesses including infertility. The root is considered an excellent plant part against obstetrics followed by abortion, menstruation, and leucorrhoea. These studies need experimental proof as well as standardization to confirm their efficiency. Promoting the sustainable use and the equitable sharing of benefits to the knowledge provider is a pathway for harnessing the conservation of this knowledge.