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Plants have profoundly influenced the culture and civilization of man in many countries. Plants have been an integral part of Indian life and culture. The real and indigenous culture of any nation is reflected in its folklore. In folk religion and folklore, trees are often said to be the homes of tree spirits or deities curing their physical and mental problems. “Man ever desirous of knowledge, has already explored many things, but more and greater still remains concealed, perhaps reserved for far distant generations, who shall prosecute the examination of their creator’s work in remote countries, and make many discoveries for the pleasure and convenience of life…”. This quotation of Linnaeus suggests for the anthropological approach of the traditional knowledge left unexplored. With the advancing civilization there is urgency in the exploration of the field resources, because the tribal pockets in the country are fast dwelling. So preservation and perpetuation of this knowledge should be emphasized for the benefit of mankind. This chapter deals with some of the important less-known uses of folklore medicinal plants used by the tribes of Eastern Ghats for treating wounds and tumours. Eastern Ghats are an abode of rich biodiversity with mixed deciduous forests inhabiting diverse tribal communities and ethnic groups like Chenchus, Sugalis, Yerukulas, Yanadis and Koyadoras living in small hamlets called Gudems or Tandas. The traditional practices and ideas of body physiology and health preservation known to some, transmitted informally as general knowledge, and practiced or applied by anyone in the ethnic group having prior experience. The main aim of the study was to collect data of the plants with antitumour, wound healing and antimicrobial properties. Analysis of the data revealed a number of less-known uses of plant taxa used by the tribes of Eastern Ghats for various ailments. The plant part, disease and ethnic tribe wise data of plant taxa are presented that aims at preservation and perpetuation of this knowledge of the local plants possessing antitumorous and antimicrobial properties and it may lead to the discovery of anticancerous novel drugs for the benefit of future generations of mankind.

Objective The present study was aimed to investigate the potent antifungal, and larvicidal phytochemical compounds from crude leaf organic solvent extracts of Ceriops decandra against phytopathogenic fungi and larvicidal activity against 3rd and 4th instar larvae of Spodoptera litura and Aedes aegypti . Methods The phytochemical constituents of three organic solvent (methanol, chloroform, and ethanol) extracts of the leaves of C. decandra were analyzed by GC–MS. Larvicidal activity of the crude extracts of C. decandra leaves was determined by topical application to early 3rd and 4th instar larvae of S. litura . Lethality was estimated by applying different concentrations (100–5000 μg/mL) of the crude extracts. Results and discussion The principle phytochemical constituents present in the chloroform extracts are triterpenes, Lupeol (66.95%) and α-amyrin (6.68%) are the major constituents. Chloroform extracts of C. decandra leaves showed strong antifungal against Pythium aphanidermatum , Rhizoctonia solani , Pyricularia oryzae , Curvularia oryzae and Fusarium oxysporum with zone of inhibition diameter (IZD) of 29 mm, 27 mm, 28 mm, 28 mm and 28 mm, respectively at a concentration of 500 μg/mL. Ethanolic extracts showed poor antifungal activity against the test fungi. The 3rd and 4th instar larvae of S. litura is more susceptible to the chloroform extracts of C. decandra with a LD 50 value of 328.5% and 498.6% respectively. The LD 50 value of chloroform extract was 251.2% and 309.7% against 3rd and 4th instar larvae of A. aegypti . Chloroform extracts of C. decandra showed a marked significant activity against 3rd and 4th instar larvae of S. litura and A. aegypti . Conclusion This investigation demonstrates the potency of organic solvent extracts of leaves of C. decandra in controlling the wide spreading of fungal diseases and larvae and thus contributes as an affordable way to control phytopathogenic fungi, S. litura and A. aegypti .

Due to the increased development of resistance of vectors against synthetic insecticides and chemical drugs, plant based insecticides serve as promising biocontrol agents for effective vector control. Green approach for the synthesis of nanoparticles has been attained using environmentally safe, non-toxic plant extracts. The present study was aimed to investigate the potent larvicidal activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) produced by Derris trifoliata leaf extract in relation to the various concentrations of methanol and chloroform extracts for 24h against 3rd and 4th instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. AgNPs were synthesized using D. trifoliata leaf extract as reducing and stabilizing agent. Synthesized AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, XRD and HRTEM. The size of AgNPs as estimated from the full width at half-maximum of (200) peak of silver was 16.13nm, the average crystalline size of the synthesized AgNPs was approximately 20nm, which was correlated with the HRTEM results (20nm). SEM and TEM images have shown the formation of polydispersed nanoparticles with an average size of 20nm. The FTIR spectra of AgNPs exhibited prominent peaks at 2360.7, 1606.2, 1095.6 and 785.9cm-1. The spectral peak observed at 1606.2, assigned to stretching vibration (C=O) in carbonyl compounds characterized by the presence of major constituents of flavonoids and terpenoids. The results obtained in FTIR spectroscopy correlated with the GC-MS analysis of methanol and chloroform extracts and indicates the presence of phytosteroids, flavonoids and terpenoids. The highest larvicidal activity was observed for the synthesized AgNPs against the 3rd instar larvae with LC50 values of 5.87mg/l and LC90 of 12.11mg/l, while against 4th instar larvae these values were7.00 and17.76mg/l respectively. The chloroform extracts also showed increased larvicidal activity than methanol extracts against 3rd instar larvae (LC50=54.42mg/l, LC90=140.83mg/l) and 4th instar larvae (LC50=62.47mg/l, LC90=145.06mg/l) of A. aegypti. Besides, the synthesized AgNPs also exhibited potent antibacterial activity against certain food borne pathogens. These results infer that the biologically synthesized AgNPs and organic solvent extracts have the potential to be used as an excellent eco-friendly approach for vector control against A. aegypti.