Ashok K. Jain

Survey of bioaerosol in different indoor working environments in central India

Aerobiological studies at three different indoor sitesviz., food grain godowns, library building and bakerywere carried out. The main objective of the study wasto find out the fungal flora at these places and itsimpact on the organic materials which are stored /processed there. The study reveals that over 40fungal types prevail in such organic matter richenvirons. The incidence of fungi was found to befluctuating according to months and seasons. Studieswere carried out by Andersen two stage sampler. Maximum spore concentration was observed in thelibrary followed by bakery and food grain godowns. Common spore types belonged to the species of Aspergillus. Alternaria, Cladosporium,Helminthosporium, Curvularia, Rhizopus etc. Suchfungi are mainly responsible for the deterioration ofpaper materials in library and food grains in godowns. Bakery products also get contaminated with a goodnumber of fungi types. The people working at suchplaces also get allergic due to these fungalcomponents.

Indian Herbal Drug Industry: Challenges and Future Prospects

Natural plant products are a source of new chemical compounds and are the choice of today’s human race. There is strong evidence that natural plant products play a significant role in the livelihoods of the rural poor population of the world especially tribal communities in many countries like India. There have been increasing trends in the trade of plant products and their extraction at industrial level, particularly that of medicinally important products. A high trade status of natural plant products at global, national as well as regional level can improve the economy of a nation. It is estimated that 25% people of the most of the countries depend on the plant resources for their livelihood. About 80% of the people living in developing countries depend on non-timber plant products, the most used being medicines and edibles. India is a major exporter of medicinal plants and is estimated that raw materials and drug from medicinal plants of 860 million are exported annually from India. In India, more than 41 million tribals and forest dwellers derive their earnings from these products. India is one of the major exporters of crude drugs mainly to the six developed nations (about 75% of the total exports). The present study gives the detailed account of dependence of rural people especially forest dwellers on medicinal plants for their livelihood in India which are supplied to pharmaceutical industries for the development of various drugs and highlights the present scenario of drug trade in India.

Conservation Status of Threatened Ethno-Medicinal Plants in Western MadhyaPradesh, India

The present study was aimed to explore and document the traditional knowledge of plants and to assess the conservation status of ethnomedicinal plants of the study area. The ethnobotanical information was collected through semi-structured interviews and key informant discussion. The data were analyzed through informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level (FL). Threat assessment for individual plant species was analyzed by IUCN categories. We documented 68 plant species belonging to 35 families used for treating 25 human ailments. The major mode of administration is decoction (23 species). The highest ICF value is 1 for mouth ulcers whereas lowest ICF is 0.5 for piles. This research classifies 17 species of plants with FLs 100. We also assessed the medicinal plants in various threat categories such as vulnerable (30 species), endangered (28 species) and critically endangered (10 species). The present study documented the traditional uses of threatened medicinal plants, their conservation status and importance of these plants in study area. This study can serve as baseline information on medicinal plants and could be helpful for further strengthen the conservation of this important resources.

Inventory of ethnobotanicals and other systematic procedures for regional conservation of medicinal and sacred plants

The plant diversity of western Madhya Pradesh is reducing at the fast rate due to anthropogenic disturbances and environmental degradation. Disturbance is a major factor responsible for the fragmentation of forest vegetation; as a result, there is a preponderance of small patches, and some of them are still preserved as sacred groves because of strong religious beliefs held by the indigenous people of Jhabua district of western Madhya Pradesh. Dungari mata sacred grove is situated near Katthiwada village in Jhabua district of western Madhya Pradesh that considered being residence of local deities. The Bhil and Bhilala are the most dominant tribe of the study area and depend upon the forest resources for their livelihood. About 339 species, 286 genera and 82 families were found in the grove. Fabaceae (38 species), Poaceae (33 species) and Asteraceae (20 species) were dominant families, and the Ipomoea was the largest genus, with five species. About 69 tree species, 25 shrubs, 157 herbs, 40 grasses, 3 epiphytes and 45 climbers and lianas were found in the groves. Some threatened plant species are growing over here that are not found elsewhere, and they comes under various threat categories. About threatened taxa, 81 species were recorded from the grove that comes under various threat categories. The present status of the grove is of concern, as it is gradually declining under constant anthropogenic pressure. Their better management and protection are important for the conservation of plant diversity in the region and also for the benefit of indigenous tribes of the state.