ABOUT DOMAP
The Database of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (DOMAP) is a web based information resource for medicinal and aromatic plants of desert and aravali hills in Rajasthan. The information present in the database has been collected and compiled through various authentic resources to provide a factual and accurate account of the plant. The current version (Version 1.0, 15 July 2010) contains 140 entries.
Medicinal Plants are one of the important natural resources and its use in health care and to cure disease is one of the important notion of human civilization. Since from the inception of human civilization across the globe, researchers have always attracted towards the discovery of new plants possessing medicinal properties and its use for medication or as an edible item. Every civilization across the world has equipped with its own ancient vegetal pharmacopoeia. Many countries have published their own pharmacopoeia which comprises medicinal plants, drugs and their proved therapeutic effects along with the recipe of their time. In Indian ancient medical system, the best pioneer example is Charak-Samhitas (3). The traditional system of medicine is still alive in the corner of many countries or regions like India, China, Africa, Middle East, South America etc. The traditional plant therapeutic knowledge have contributed a lot in the development of modern medicine. Still, the majority of the modern drugs originated from plant source.
In Rajasthan, there exist a remarkable diversity in the soil and climate. Rajasthan includes both the low rainfall areas accompanied with sandy soil like Jaisalmer, Barmer etc and good rainfall areas with black cotton soil like Jhalawar, Banswara etc. Interestingly, Aravallis, which demarcate these two major areas, form the third one itself according to Flora of Rajasthan(1). This geographic diversity may be one of the primary reasons for enrichment of plants with medicinal and aromatic properties. The existing information resources particularly for Rajasthan are very few and are only in bibliographic form; therefore, there was a need to develop an electronic information resource in the form of database.
This project is an effort to collect information on all medicinal and aromatic plant belongs to the state of Rajasthan and to compile it as an electronic resource in the form of database. The Relational Database Management Technique has been implemented for the development of the database. The relational tabular system made database more robust and reduces the information redundancy to greater extent and it allows end user to access any specific information or entire information in collective manner. The database interface is designed very user friendly and allows from basic to advance search.
DOMAP database includes data on nomenclature, taxonomy, habitat, cultivation, secondary metabolites, medicinal properties, edible uses, economic importance and digital Images are provided along with the plant description. The major plant resources that were referenced includes: Flora of Rajasthan by K.K. Sharma, Shiva Sharma (1989), A Handbook of Medicinal Plants by Prajapati, Purohit, Sharma, Kumar(2) (2003), Compendium of Indian Medicinal Plants by Rastogi and Mahrotra (3) (1993, Volumes I, II, III, IV), Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha.
This database will help in expanding our knowledge of medicinal plants and also beneficial for the students doing research in the area of medicinal and aromatic plants.
REFERENCES
1. K.K. Sharma, Shiva Sharma (1989), Flora of Rajasthan, Additional series 5, Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur,
2. Prajapati N D, Purohit S S, Sharma A K, Kumar T (2003), A Handbook of Medicinal Plants, Agrobios (India), Jodhpur.
3. Rastogi R P and Mahrotra B N (1993), Compendium of Indian Medicinal Plants Volumes I, II, III, IV, CDRI Lucknow and Publications & Information Directorate, New Delhi.