COLLECTION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS GERMPLASM CONSERVATION STATUS AND TRADITIONAL USES IN THE WAYANAD DISTRICT, KERALA, INDIA.
Medicinal Plants are considered to be a globally valuable resource of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a faster pace. The whole set of genetic material of a species is known as germplasm of the organism, through various breeding techniques the germplasm of various plant species can be stored or preserved for future plant development. The major purpose of germplasm preservation is to preserve rare and endangered species of plants around the globe for future propagation and development. Germplasm refer to the hereditary materials transmitted to the offspring through the germ cells. It is total content of genes that serves as the raw materials for the breeder to develop different crops. In other words, germplasm can be defined as living tissue from which new plants can be grown. It can be a seed or other plant parts; a leaf, a piece of stem, pollen or even just a few cells that can be turned in to a whole plant. The researchers of Survey of Medicinal Plant Unit of Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine, Chennai (Under CCRUM, M/o of AYUSH, Govt of India) are engaged in Survey of medicinal plants, Collection of germplasm and Documentation of traditional uses of medicinal plants from the rural areas of Wayanad district, Kerala- India. Nearly 69 species of plants are documented for medicinal uses, among them 31 species are common, 36 species rare and 2 species are extinct in study area. Among the germplasm collected, 50 species are conserved as potted plants in the institute’s herbal garden, one species cultivated and 19 species are stored in the museum as fruit and seeds. Nearly 43 species of medicinal plants are used in the Unani system of Medicine. The main objective of this study is documentation of traditional knowledge, collection of germplasm and preservation of genetic diversity of a medicinal plants or genetic stock for its use in the future for medicinal purposes.