TRIBAL TREATMENT OF JAUNDICE TRADITIONALLY THROUGH SARGI CHAPDA IN BASTAR, C.G, INDIA

Tuneer Khelkar*, Madhavi Tiwari and Nurul Haque

The paper deals with the traditional treatment of Jaundice through Sargi chapda (Cheeti Chapda) popular among the tribes of Bastar. A survey among villages of Bastar showed that Chapda is used to cure Jaundice. It was found that a species of ant known as Oecophylla smaragdina which contain formic acid when spread on the patient’s body their sting cured Jaundice. Experimentally after adding 2-3 drops of extract of Chapda to approx.2 ml of dark yellow colored urine obtained from patient suffering from Jaundice, caused increased acidification due to which yellow- greening reaction occurred which concluded that yellow bilirubin was encouraged to oxidize to green biliverdin. Spectrophotometric analysis at 546 nm showed that when 2-3 drops of extract was added to 200 μl of blood serum of patient, concentration of bilirubin declined to 1.008 mg/dl which was 29.808 mg/dl earlier before the extract which concluded that formic acid of Chapda reduces excess concentration of bilirubin in blood.