STUDIES ON THE AM FUNGAL DIVERSITY OF SOME SIGNIFICANT ETHANO-MEDICINAL PLANTS OF KARULAI HILLS, MALAPPURAM DISTRICT, KERALA

Abstract

The study was carried out to observe the AM fungal diversity in some important medicinal plant species of Karulai hills, Malappuram district, Kerala. The root samples of all the collected plant species showed mycorrhizal infection. The percentage of AM fungal colonization ranged from 17 to 87. The highest AM fungal infection was exhibited in Desmodium triflorum (87%) and lowest in phyllanthes amarus (17%).The maximum spore population was observed in Desmodium gangeticum (874/100g of soil) and minimum in Piper longum (171/100g of soil). Totally 13 genera of AM fungi were found to be associated with the rhizosphere soil samples. Among them AM fungal species isolated, the dominant species is Rhizophagus fasciculatus. Ethanobotanical study reveals that the Cholanaykans tribes of Karullai hills posses great knowledge about the use of various herbal medicines to cure different ailments and are also conscious about the loss of their traditional medicinal practices. They know about number of medicinal plants and their applications.