Study on diversity and therapeutic potential of aquatic macrophytes in the freshwater bodies of Canchipur, Manipur (India)

The state of Manipur in North- east India is endowed with a rich repository of medicinal and aromatic plants and more over well-known for its diverse culture of human races. This could be due to its climatic condition, perennial rivers, fertile soil and dense forests. Despite of such wide availability of aquatic vegetation, the literature pertaining to the therapeutic utility of these plants is meagre because of their unproductive and impractical nature. Hence, keeping these facts in mind, the present investigation was formulated to study the diversity of aquatic macrophytes of some freshwater bodies of Canchipur and to document their therapeutic potential prevailing among the local community. In the present investigation, thirty-two macrophytes were found to have medicinal value, whereas twenty-one species were found to be crop related wild species, nine species belonged to wild edible leafy vegetables, three species were wild edible tubers, two species were wild edible seeds and one species belonged to wild edible fruit. The study also revealed the presence of fourteen invasive species, seven species were identified as exotic plants, nineteen species were found to be perennial herbs, fifteen annual herbs, ten perennial aquatic herbs, four aquatic ferns, one semi-aquatic herb and one aquatic bryophyte. The present work will be of immense help to future researchers in evaluating the therapeutic effect or isolated components of these aquatic macrophytes by applying in the field of medicine.

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Introduction

Since time immemorial, human beings have utilised the plant parts like rhizome, stem, roots, fruits, leaves, in various ways for the treatment of different kinds of ailments. Medicinal plants have proved to be an effective protagonist in the health care system, especially in most of the developing nations of the world (Dar et al., 2017) [1] . It has also been proved that natural products are better options for their therapeutic effectiveness even comparable to synthetic molecules (Imtiaz et al., 2020; Subramaniyan et al., 2019) [2,3] . The use of medicinal plants can be traced back as early as the Rig-Veda period (4590 BC -1600 BC) which is perhaps the oldest depository of human knowledge. Over the centuries, the use of medicinal herbs has become an important part of day to day life. According to the WHO more than 80 percent of the world's population relies on traditional herbal medicine for their primary healthcare (Singh et al., 2015; Vijayan et al., 2007) [4,5] . In North-East India, particularly the state of Manipur, since pre-historic days, there are herbal physicians locally known as Amaiba (Male vaid) who have prescribed and habitually used plants as folk medicine with their mystic invocation. In fact, the art of healing and the knowledge of healing herbs are as old as man. But its progress is far behind as compared to other modern systems of treatment; however, the system of home treatment is accurate with no side effects or after effects like antibiotics of the modern allopathic medicine (Singh, 2013) [6] . There have been many reports by different researchers in recent years on folkloric treatment with herbal medicine that are being used to treat different diseases by the people of Manipur viz. Yumnam & Tripathi (2012) [7] ; Yumnam et al. (2012) [8] ; Devi et al. (2011) [9] and Devi and Singh (2008) [10] .

Many impressive works done on the aquatic plants of India have been reported by Khusboo et al. (2021) [11] ; Pandey and Pandey (2009) [12] ; Hogeweg and Brenkert (1969a, b) [13,14] ; and Kaul and Zutshi (1967) [15] . Sporadic mention on the wetland flora of Manipur were made by; Sharma, H.M (2014) [16] ; Devi, Ch. N (2002) [17] , Sharma et al., (2002) [18] Devi, Ch. U (2000) [19] ; Sharma et al., 2002 [20] and Sharma et al. (1997, 1998a, b) [20,31,22] . Aquatic plants are generally considered as menace, but a large number of these plants have medicinal properties which are worth mentioning. Keeping these facts in mind, the present investigation was formulated to study aquatic macrophytes of Canchipur, Manipur and to document their therapeutic potential and remedies which is prevalent among the local community.

Materials and Methods

The present study was conducted at Canchipur, which is about 7 km from Imphal City and located between 24.75 0 N Latitude and 93.93 0 E Longitude. The climate of the study area is sub-tropical, monsoonal with moderate temperature, rainfall and relative humidity and lies at an elevation of 782 m above sea level. Extensive field tours were conducted on a monthly basis from January 2021 to January 2022 at randomly selected sites and the macrophytes were identified using standard literature and flora as well as online data resources (www.worldflora.online.org; and www.kew.org) [23, 24] . Botanical names, common names, properties, parts and their curative uses were recorded. Data, both oral (Non-codified) and written form which has relevant findings of aquatic medicinal plants were also consulted. . A total of 32 aquatic macrophytes of medicinal importance has been recorded from the freshwater bodies of Canchipur. The recorded aquatic plants belonged to 23 families. The families, Apiaceae and Commelinaceae contributed 3 species each, Amaranthaceae, Araceae, Hydrocharitaceae, Nymphaeceae and Onagraceae contributed 2 species each. Other remaining families were restricted to 1 species only. Again, among the 32 aquatic macrophytes, 5 species were found to be exotic viz. Alternanthera sessiles, Aponogeton crispus, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Enhydra fluctuans and Marsilea quadrifolia. There were 18 Dicots among the aquatic plants followed by 13 Monocots and 1 Pteridophyte. Altogether, there were 13 perennial herbs (PH), 9 annual herbs (AH), 8 perennial aquatic herbs (PAH), 1 semiaquatic herb (SAH) and 1 aquatic fern (AF). (Fig. 1) In the present investigation, 11 aquatic plants were found to have anticancer properties, 6 (Antidiabetic), 3 (Diuretic), 3 (Antiviral), 3 (Antidote) and 1 aquatic plant was found to have astringent properties. The use of whole plant for medicinal purposes was found to be 50%, leaves, shoot, stalk, stem and rhizome contributed 41% while fruit, tuber, seed, corm and flower comprised of 9% (Fig. 2). Poultice of leaves is applied in itching. Fresh root paste is taken along with honey to cure sore throat.

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Percentage use of different plant parts

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Growth form of the medicinal aquatic macrophytes

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Results

Results

Result of the present investigation is enumerated in Table

Result of the present investigation is enumerated in Table

Discussion

It is a well-known fact that freshwater bodies around the globe is shrinking rapidly and hence their resources both plants and animals are depleting in the same pace (Jain et al., 2007) [25] . Needless to say, it is also a matter of grave concern that land use pattern in Canchipur is changing fast and water bodies are a soft target of this change. The survival of aquatic plant diversity is threatened both species wise and population wise. Almost same concern has been expressed by other workers, viz. Devi, AR, et al. (2019) [26] , Devi, O.A. et al. (2021) [27] and Yadav, T (2021) [28] , Bhumia and Mandal (2009) [29] .

Freshwater bodies not only provide useful resources for maintaining the ecology and climate of the region, but they also harbour many medicinal aquatic plants used in the treatment of common diseases by the local people like cold, fever, sore throat, jaundice, insect bite, indigestion, stomach ache, etc. Therefore, conservation of these freshwater bodies needs to be addressed urgently so that highly useful aquatic plants can be saved and protected. It is also noteworthy to mention that most of the traditional uses of aquatic plants are novel and they need popularization, preservation and documentation.

Several freshwater ecosystems are drying due to climatic condition and transmute into other landforms such as paddy fields, human settlements, a land modification for developmental purposes, and indirectly by rainfall shifting patterns. It is suggested that a strenuously participatory approach is very much essential for the sustainable management of freshwater bodies. To accomplish the said objective, there needs to be a well-thought-out protocol for community linkages so that necessary training can be imparted to them.

Conclusion

The present investigation would provide a scope for future researchers and pharmacologists to discover plant based novel drugs with minimal side effects and maximal therapeutic values. These aquatic medicinal plants also need a proper evaluation on chemical, pharmacological properties through elaborate studies and clinical trials for the validation of their therapeutic efficacy. The interactions between researchers and local community have brought a sense of understanding as well as their orally handling down traditional practices for the cure and management of various diseases and ailments. A joint holistic approach between the researchers and local community is very much necessary for the conservation and protection of such invaluable resources to enhance the population of the threatened aquatic medicinal plants in their natural habitat for the wellbeing of future generation

Figures and tables from the paper

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Enumeration of medicinal aquatic macrophytes found in Canchipur, Manipur.

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