Herbal medicine used for wound healing by the tribes of the North Eastern states of India: a comprehensive review

The present review aims to gather all available information on the importance of biodiversity, ethnic people, lifestyle, healthcare, and traditional use of herbal medicine in the North Eastern Regions of India (NER-I), emphasising the use of plants that heal cuts, injuries, bleeding, open wounds, boils, and ulcers. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was employed as the major tool for conducting the systematic search strategy. Data were retrieved from online electronic resources, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and others. Keywords such as North East India, biodiversity, ethnic/tribal people, traditional practice, medicinal plants, and wound healing were used for developing strategy search. The results of the present study revealed that the NER-I tribes have traditionally employed over 800 plant species from 527 genera for wound care. Aerial parts, especially the leaf, were frequently used parts of the plants for healing, which were prepared by crushing into pastes and applied topically or consumed orally as decoction juice. Plants from various genera such as Ageratum, Albizia, Alstonia, Artemisia, Bambusa, Bauhinia, Centella, Colocasia, Commelina, Costus, Curcuma, Eupatorium, Ficus, Litsea, Mikania, Ocimum, and Tagetes were commonly used for healing purposes. The majority of these plant species belonged to important families such as the Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, and Zingiberaceae. The current study includes up-to-date information on the traditional remedies and usage of herbal medicine for wound healing. This article will encourage researchers all around the world to investigate the ethnopharmacological potential of the plants covered in this study. [Display omitted] •The current review reports the importance of herbal medicine and unique traditional practices of the ethnic people of the North Eastern regions of India.•The review also represents a detailed biodiversity of the flora of the North Eastern regions of India.•More than 800 plant species were traditionally reported to have wound-healing effect.•The findings from the current review signify that plants belonging to the Asteraceae family have a great impact on the management of wounds in the North Eastern regions of India.