Medical ethnobotany of the Marma community of Rangamati district of Bangladesh

The ethnomedicinal practices of Marma indigenous community of Bangladesh is considered rich. This study aimed to compile their medicinal plant usage to get fresh insights into newer ethnobotanical uses. Ethnomedicinal information was collected through open-ended/semi structured techniques following field interview, plant interview and market survey from key informants. Documented data was further analyzed using different quantitative indices. The Jaccard index was also calculated to show the degree of similarity with previous studies conducted in Bangladesh and abroad. A total of 196 plants from 75 families belonging to 164 genera were documented in the survey. Gastrointestinal disorders epitomized the foremost complaints sort with the use of 72 plant species, followed by pain and inflammation (63 species). Leaves (42.8%) were the principal source of medication while trees were the major plant type used in the ethnobotanical practice. The original application of ethnomedicinal plants within our study was compared with 44 previous ethnomedicinal research studies and the Jaccard index (JI) ranged from 0.78 to 46.78. The highest similarity within the country was recorded with studies from the Bandarban district while the lowest was from the northern region. Similarly, the highest similarity with reports from neighboring countries was with Chanduali district of UP, India and the lowest with FATA, Pakistan. Importantly, our literature study exhibited that this study recorded 23 species with new ethnomedicinal uses. The Marma community still depends on plants to treat different complaints/diseases. This compilation may provide a future resource for further phytochemical and pharmacological studies.