PLANTS IN FAMILY LAMIACEAE USED MEDICINALLY IN THE HOMOEOPATHIC SYSTEM FOUND IN THE NILGIRIS DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Objective: The objective of the present study was to survey and document homeopathic medicinal plants in Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India. 
Methods: To collect homeopathic plants of Lamiaceae in the Nilgiris District, we undertook various field trips during the year 2018–2019. The plants collected were pressed, poisoned, mounted, and stitched on herbarium sheets and deposited at the Centre of Medicinal Plants Research in Homoeopathy herbarium (Acronym SMPRGH). 
Results: The present study deals with both wild and cultivated species of 15 genera belonging to 24 species of Lamiaceae family members reported in the Nilgiris District. Reported homeopathy plants such as Aloysia citriodora Palau, Lavandula officinalis Chaix., Leonurus cardiaca L., Leucas aspera (Willd.) Link., Mentha piperita L., Mentha spicata L., Melissa officinalis L., Mesosphaerum suaveolens (L.) Kuntze, Ocimum americanum L., Ocimum basilicum L., Ocimum gratissimum L., Ocimum tenuiflorum L., Origanum majorana L., Origanum vulgare L., Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton, Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng, Plectranthus barbatus Andrews, Plectranthus fruticosus L’Her., Prunella vulgaris L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Salvia officinalis L., Salvia verbenaca L., Thymus vulgaris L., and Thymus serpyllum L., the present article gives the scientific name, synonym, homeopathic drug name, original author citation, English name, phenology, short description, and part of plant used for preparing homoeopathic medicine, whether indigenous or exotic and uses are given. 
Conclusion: Reported 24 homoeopathic medicinal plants are used in homoeopathic medicinal system to treat various diseases, and also present study reveals the importance of conservation and sustainable utilization.


INTRODUCTION
Homeopathy is one of the alternative systems of medicines having a well-documented pharmacopeia [1]. Herbal medicines have been used for many years dating back to 3000 BC [2,3]. The codified traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy and unmodified traditional system such as the documentation of medicines used by various tribes have now become quite popular in India. About 2% of people in the United Kingdom and the United States use homeopathy in any 1 year, while it is about 15% in India, where it is considered part of Indian traditional medicine. This system of medicines relies mainly on plants and mineral components as a drug [1]. The Nilgiris hills form a well-defined plateau situated at the junction of the two great ranges of hills bordering the Deccan, peninsula, namely, the Eastern and Western Ghats. The Nilgiris lies between 11° 12' N and 11° 43' N and 76° 14' E and 77° 1' E. The district has diverse habitats for the growth of various indigenous and exotic medicinal plants used in homoeopathic system [4]. Homeopathy system of medicine is based on two basic natural principles, "similia similibus curentur" or "let likes be cured with likes" which means a drug can cure that (symptoms) which it can produce in a healthy human body by a unique process known as proving and second -"law of minimum dose" -the notion that "lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness." Homeopathic doctors consider all mental, physical, and emotional aspects of the patient. More than 30,000 plant specimens of medicinal importance are grown all over the world, but only around 2500 plant species are known to be useful for homoeopathic medicine preparation. Over 600 plants are now routinely used as drug sources in homeopathy [5]. The alternative medical system of homeopathy was developed in Germany at the end of the 18 th century. In India, homeopathy is one of the important systems of medicine. The market is growing at 25% a year, and more than 100 million people depend solely on this form of therapy for their health care. Around 10% of India's population depends solely on homeopathy for their health care. Homeopathic remedies are derived from six major sources such as plants, minerals, animals, diseased tissues, hormones, and healthy tissues and imponderables. The present topic deals only with angiosperm plants, a part of the plant kingdom of the family Lamiaceae. According to homeopaths, serial dilution, with shaking between each dilution, removes the toxic effects of the remedy while the qualities of the substance are retained by the diluents (water, sugar, or alcohol). The end product is often so diluted that it is indistinguishable from pure water, sugar, or alcohol. Practitioners select treatments according to a patient constitution that explores the physical and psychological state of the patient, both of which are considered important for selecting the remedy [6][7][8]. The Lamiaceae family consists of 69 genera and 425 species in India. Plants of Lamiaceae family are known for their essential oils [9]. Many active essential oils have been isolated from members of this family. This family is also famous for the presence of diterpenoids among its members. The Lamiaceae species are important for their antimicrobial properties which are used in research, for instance, Salvia argentea L, Stachys annua L, Ballota nigra L, and Melissa officinalis L, among others [10]. Lamiaceae species have provided important resources for the old and new world and their use in medicine and as condiment in regional cuisine is of central importance for instance in countries such as Turkey, China, Middle East countries, India, Brazil, and Egypt, among others [10][11][12]. Herbal medicines are regarded as effective and promising sources of potential neuroprotective agents because of their cognitive benefits and more significantly, their mechanisms of action with respect to the fundamental path of physiology of the diseases. Review has acknowledged

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several herbal medicines such as such as M. officinalis, Ocimum sanctum, Rosmarinus officinalis, and Salvia officinalis with potential therapeutic effects for neurodegenerative diseases [13]. Lamiaceae family includes numerous known species that are used as traditional medicine. The general aspects, traditional uses, pharmacology, and in vitro and in vivo studies of Betonica officinalis, Glechoma hederacea, Hyptis pectinata, Lavandula spp., Leonurus cardiaca, Lamium spp., M. officinalis, Mentha spp., Marrubium vulgare, Origanum spp., Ocimum spp., R. officinalis, Salvia spp., Satureja hortensis, Stachys lavandulifolia, Scutellaria lateriflora, Sideritis spp., Teucrium spp., Thymus spp., and Ziziphora tenuior belonging to Lamiaceae botanical family reported that the medicinal plants have potent analgesic and antinociceptive activity and new potential therapeutic agents [14]. Documentation of Lamiaceae family used as homoeopathic system of medicine in Nilgiris District. Totally, 24 plant species used in homoeopathic medicine from Lamiaceae are described and discussed.
The importance of the collection of cultivated plants both as exsiccatae for herbarium purposes and maintenance of germplasm collections in research gardens in situ as been reviewed elsewhere [31]. The herbarium sheets of these plants have been deposited in the herbarium of Centre of Medicinal plants Research in Homoeopathy at Emerald Acronym SMPRGH, The Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu under CCRH, Ministry of AYUSH [32]. All the plants are useful in the homeopathic system of medicinal, as indicated by the part used and brief clinical indication. The enumeration, it is hoped, will be useful to pharmacognostic research workers in Botany as well as the practicing physicians of homeopathy. The nomenclature has been brought up to date and where ever necessary the synonyms appearing in homeopathic books, journal, have also been cited together with the plant names.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
India has seven national medical systems (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Allopathy, and Homoeopathy), of which one of India's important health therapies is homeopathy. About 2500 plant species are known to be useful for medicinal preparations of different kinds in homoeopathy. Over 600 plants are now regularly used drug sources in homeopathy. Many of the drugs yielding plants are currently cultivated in India as well as some are procured from wild sources also. A checklist of 24 plant species used in homeopathic medicine from Lamiaceae is described and discussed. The present study deals with both wild and cultivated species with 15 genera belonging to 24 species of Lamiaceae family. The maximum number of genus has been recorded from the genus Ocimum (four species), followed by Plectranthus (three species), Mentha, Salvia, and Thymus and Origanum (two species), and in the rest of this studies each one species such as Aloysia citriodora, Hyptis suaveolens, Lavandula officinalis, Leucas aspera, Leonurus cardiaca, M. officinalis, Perilla frutescens, Prunella vulgaris, and R. officinalis (Table 1). Among the above plants, Perilla frutescence is first reported from Nilgiris as a homeopathic medicinal plant as well as a new record to Nilgiris.
Homeopathic medicine is very essentially an individualistic treatment than the other systems of medicines. Medicinal uses of plants have been discussed in great detail either in the Ayurvedic system [33] or by various tribal groups', i.e., ethno medico botany [34,35]. The studies on the use of plants in homeopathic system are rather scarce due to lack of interest in these systems in India in earlier days and overshadowing of homeopathic system by the revival of interest in the Ayurvedic System of medicine throughout the world in recent times [36]. Homeopathic therapy is very popular among the people of India and abroad because it is very cost effective and curative treatment from their origin, and it has no side effects in the human body. Therefore, this therapy is gradually increasing throughout the world, including in both developing and developed countries. Every civilization has developed indigenous medicinal systems to treat or cure diseases with the help of locally available materials. The age old experience of 1000 years in medical therapy has made these systems more reliable. The majority of the population trusts the Botanical name: Mentha spicata L. Synonyms: Mentha glabra Mill., and Mentha crispa L. Drug name: Mentha viridis English name: Spear Mint, and Garden mint Part used: Whole plant Uses: Digestion problem, reduce heart problem, stomach problem, nausea, flatulence, anxiety, and body freshener. Flowering and fruiting: July-August Description: It is a perennial herb. The central stem and any lateral stem, four angular and glabrous, individual flower, calyx is light green to reddish-green and glabrous, while the corolla is white to light pink, small nut-lets that are located within the persistent calyx.
Botanical name: Ocimum americanum L. Synonyms: Ocimum album Roxb., and Ocimum canum Sims. Drug name: O. canum. English name: Common basil, sweet basil, and hoary basil Part used: Fresh leaves Uses: Leave paste used to treat skin disease, coughs, respiratory problems, rheumatism, diarrhea, kidney, and renal colic, and its also applied to wounds. Flowering and fruiting: Throughout the year Description: Native to Africa, it is an erect, much-branched strongly aromatic under shrub, leaves are elliptic-oblong, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous margin entire or shallowly serrate, and flowers white with pedicels, fruit is nut-let. Hyptis suaveolens 1 8.

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Botanical name: Ocimum tenuiflorum L. Synonyms: O. sanctum L., and Ocimum tomentosum Lam. Drug name: O. sanctum English name: Sacred basil, and holy basil Part used: Whole plant Uses: Asthma, cough, cold, catarrh, fever, period problem, bedwetting, diarrhea, abdominal symptoms, teary eyes, headache, forgetfulness, and lack of focus. Flowering and fruiting: Throughout the year Description: An erect much-branched, under shrub, and pubescent. Leaves are elliptic-oblong, obtuse, or acute at apex, entire or serrate, pubescent, red, or purple small flowers. Nut-lets are not mucilaginous when wetted.
Botanical name: Origanum majorana L. Synonyms: Majorana fragrans Raf., and Origanum salvifolium Roth. Drug name: Origanum English name: Sweet marjoram Part used: Whole plant Uses: Breast affection of erotomania, hysteria, leukorrhea, nymphomania, seminal emission, and sexual irritation Flowering and fruiting: June-September Description: It is a bushy sub-shrub with aromatic foliage that typically grows in an upright mound to 1-2 cm tall. Features branching, reddish, and square stems that are densely clad with ovate, highly aromatic, pubescent, grey-green leaves. White or pink colors of flowers. Botanical name: Salvia officinalis L. Synonyms: Salvia crespa Ten., and Salvia tricolor Vilm. Drug name: S. officinalis. English name: Common sage Part used: Fresh leaves, and blossom tips Uses: Cough, tickling phthisis, night sweats, galactorrhea, and exerts a tonic influence on the skin Flowering and fruiting: June-September Description: Native to Mediterranean region, it is a perennial, evergreen sub-shrub with woody stems, greyish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers. Leaves are grey-green, rugose on the upper side, and nearly white underneath due to the many short soft hairs. Botanical name: Thymus vulgaris L. Synonyms: Origanum thymus Kuntze., and Thymus chinensis K.Koch. Drug name: Thymol English name: Common thyme, and German thyme Part used: Whole plant Uses: Arthritis, bronchitis, colds, colic, cough, diarrhea, ear infection, flatulence, sore throat, and menstrual cramps Flowering and fruiting: June-August Description: Native to South Europe, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen sub-shrub with small, highly aromatic, grey-green leaves and clusters of purple or pink flowers.

CONCLUSION
The present preliminary survey revealed that the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu (India) is rich in the diversity of medicinal flora used in the homeopathic system of medicine. This research study has provided documentation of 24 plants of Lamiaceae family that are of great medicinal value in the Nilgiri district. This is intended to provide information to the residents on the importance of such plant and how well they can use them in treating the common ailments that they encounter. Therefore, scientific cultivation, conservation, and sustainable utilization of plants by involving villagers would be highly beneficial in the conservation of these rare and endangered medicinally important species for the inheritance of this traditional knowledge to the coming generations.