Study of Wound-Healing Activity of Gloriosa Superba (Liliaceae) among Folklore

Since time immemorial man has used various parts of plant in the treatment of many ailments (Chah et. al. 2006). These days a substantial number of drugs are developed from plants (Farnsworth et. al., 2001) which are active against a number of diseases. The majority of these involve the isolation of active ingredient as phytochemicals which are used to prepare medicine in pharmaceutical industries. Wound infection is one of the prime diseases in developing countries because of their poor hygienic conditions (Senthil Kumar et. al., 2006; Gurib Fakin, 2006). Actually, wounds are referred as the physical injuries which results in an opening or breaking of our skin. An appropriate method for healing of wounds is essential for the restoration of disrupted anatomical continuity and disturbed functional status of the skin (Meemakshi et. al., 2006). In other words, the wound is a break in the epithelial integrity of the skin which may be accompanied by exciting disruption of the structure and function of underlying normal tissue (Enoch and John Leeper, 2005). Healing of wound start from the moments of injury and can continue for varying periods of time depending on the extent of wounding and can be categorized into following three stages i.e. inflammatory phase, proliferating phase and the remodeling phase which determine the strength and appearance of existing healed tissue (Sumitra et. al.,

2005).

Wound healing process holds many ongoing steps which involve coagulation, inflammation, formation of granulation tissue, matrix formation, remodelling According to Biswas and Mukherjee, 2003 about 70% of wound healing drugs belong to plant origin; 20% of mineral origin and rest 10% of animal origin.

Root, leaves and flowers of Gloriosa superba were collected from different parts of our area. During course of field study, the information‘s have been gathered from healers who deep knowledge of herbal remedies. The details of plant used, mode of treatment, method of drug preparation and types of administration were documented by interacting with them (Jain, S.K., 1991).

Wounds are the major problem among folklore people due to their life in existing remote areas with orchards, forest, narrow path and lack of travelling accommodation. The process of wound healing is promoted by several products which are composed of active phytochemicals like triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids and biomolecules (Kumar et. al., 2007). This study evidently points out that it is better to find out the efficacy of the natural product prior to their use in treatment of wound.

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Research Scholar, Department of Botany, B.N. Mandal University, Madhepura