ABSTRACT
Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan – 731235, West Bengal, India, E-mail: habibur_cr@rediffmail.com, habibur_cr@yahoo.co.in
Abstract ................................................................................................. 270 10.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 271 10.2 Methods and Techniques Used in Collection
of Ethnobotanical Data and Its Quantitative Analysis ............... 274 10.3 Phytoresources and Quantitative Ethnobotany .......................... 278 10.4 Progress in Quantitative Ethnobotanical Research
and Its Future Prospects ............................................................. 283 10.5 Conclusion ................................................................................. 285 Keywords .............................................................................................. 286 References ............................................................................................. 286
ABSTRACT
Quantitative Ethnobotany or quantification in Ethnobotany encompasses the statistical analysis of folk knowledge about utilization of local phytoresources. Appropriate quantitative tools are used in ethnobotany to analyze the collected data for more objectivity in ethnobotanical research. There is a growing interest among the ethnobotanists worldwide in improving the traditional type of compilation of their ethnobotanical works by employing suitable quantitative indices in data collection, analysis and interpretation of results. Over the last few decades, ethnobotanists have been using more than one hundred quantitative indices for determination of consensus among the informants, use value, cultural significance, conservation priorities of the plant resources, etc. This approach in ethnobotany has also been tested as effective tool in selection of ethnobotanical claims as good candidate for bioprospecting and new drug discovery. For this reason, scientists rely mostly upon the ethnobotanical information or lead for development of various natural products like pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, etc. Taking the leads from ethnobotany as well as traditional herbal medicine, many novel natural products including drugs have been designed worldwide by the coordinated efforts of ethnobotanists, phytochemists, pharmacologists and clinical persons.
