When it comes to medicinal plants, senior IFS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Mr. Jatindra Sarma’s passion knows no bounds. He is driven by his passion to discover more and more plants with medicinal properties.
A passion that takes him through the dense forests and over the undulating hills of Assam and Meghalaya, where he has discovered many rare and high value medicinal plants till now and has even named a few after his family members and close friends.
He has also written two books on this close-to-his-heart topic that has earned him worldwide acclaim. His book, Medicinal Plants & Mushrooms of India (Vol I & Vol II), is used in universities in India and abroad, including Oxford.
Indian Masterminds caught up with Mr. Jatindra Sarma in Barak Valley of Assam, where he is posted as the Chief Conservator of Forests, and asked him about his deep-rooted passion and its growth over the years.
BIRTH OF THE TAXONOMIST
It was Mr. Sarma’s friend and mentor, renowned taxonomist John D Mood, who fuelled his pursuits in the world of medicinal plants. Noticing Mr. Sarma’s deep interest in that field, on a visit to Assam, the American scientist told him, “The bud has come out, you have to bloom now.”
These words spurred him on to go deeper into the world of medicinal plants. “I started frequenting forest and hills of the region in search of them. These searches resulted in the discovery of many new plants of high value, and old ones that had been considered extinct and had not been seen for nearly 100 years,” Mr. Sarma told Indian Masterminds.
Lauding his efforts, eminent botanist from the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science, Germany, Prof. Dr. Herbert Riepl told him, “You must document all your work, or it will be a loss to the world.”
“This made me think, and I decided to do formal documentation of all my discoveries and related works from thereon,” Mr. Sarma revealed.
DISCOVERIES AND RECOGNITION
He has discovered many highly valued medicinal plants, which are new to science and new additions to the list of flora of India. He has published more than 25 scientific papers on plants. He is also the Member Secretary cum CEO of the State Medicinal Plants Board, Assam.
He has also been appointed as one of the members of the committee for formulating Operational Guidelines of Mission Medicinal Plants for Supply Chain Management under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.
“Recently, I got an appreciation certificate from Wiley for top downloaded paper 2018-2019, recognised as one of the most read, for the discovery of a new taxon named Pavetta Puffii, as published in Nordic Journal of Botany, Finland,” Mr. Sarma informed.
NAMED AFTER FAMILY AND FRIENDS
He has been credited with the discovery of important taxons, which are new to science. Taxon is a scientifically classified group or entity.
Few notable ones are Garcinia assamica, which is named after Assam. It’s an edible fruit known for controlling diarrhoea, dysentery and is anti-obesity, too.
Carissa kopilli, named after river Kopili, as it was discovered on its bank in a remote place of Karbi Anglong district of Assam. The fruit is edible and medicinal.
Smilax sailenii, a potential edible fruit-bearing climber, named after Late Prof Sailenii Borah of Gauhati University, who taught Botany.
Some of the highly endangered plants recorded by him are new additions to the flora of India. He has named a few after his family members and close friends.
Amomum pratisthana, named after his daughter Pratistha, is a new ginger species, medicinally important like normal ginger, leaves of which are also medicinal.
Syzygium nivae, named after his wife Niva, is a small jamun tree, its fruits edible, tasty and believed to be anti-diabetic like normal jamun.
Garcinia sibeswari, named after his father Sibeswar Sarma, is like the mangosteen. It could be developed into a normal edible fruit like thekera, and the leaves have medicinal value, too. It is under screening now and its chemical profiling being done with the help of scientists in DRL Lab, Tezpur.
Pavetta puffi is named afer his friend, Late Dr. Christia Puff, a famous taxonomist from Austrian University who had done huge work worldwide on Rubiaceae, an ornamental plant.
PLANT REDISCOVERED AFTER 98 YEARS
Nothapodytes nimmoniana is a plant that was rediscovered by Mr. Sarma after a gap of 98 years.
Explaining about the plant’s medicinal properties, he said, “Now it has been established that a compound/alkaloid called Camptothecin is present in the plant which is used for treating ovarian and colon cancer and AIDS. This happens to be one of the costliest drugs in the world. A rare species. Only two trees have been located by me in entire Assam. Its propagation in the field is being done since 2014, and as of now, we have 60 small trees.”
FIRST BOOK
Mr. Sarma started exploring medicinal plants as a hobby when he was posted in Tinsukia district, “where workload was less, and I had ample free time.”
What started as a hobby intensified into a passion when he got posted in Karbi Anglong district, where he would lose himself in the hills for long hours, going from one plant to another, his sharp eyes missing not a single detail, catching on to uniqueness, and making mental notes of rarities.
“I stumbled upon many new discoveries there, which led to my first book, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants of Assam with Special Reference to Karbi Anglong, in 2007.”
SECOND BOOK
His second book, Medicinal Plants & Mushrooms of India (Vol I & Vol II), encompasses medicinal use of 1500+ plants and 65+ mushrooms, all with field photographs taken by him. It was launched on 28 August, 2021 by Union Minister for AYUSH, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“It was absolutely necessary to explore the hidden treasures of our forests and document them with their medicinal values, lest some get extinct, and target their conservation and propagation. Wild mushrooms have tremendous medicinal properties which need to be explored and harnessed for human welfare,” Mr. Sarma told Indian Masterminds.
Book Link – https://www.amazon.in/Medicinal-Plants-Mushrooms-India-Set/dp/9390658004
FOLLOWING HIS PASSION ARDENTLY
While going about discharging his official duties dedicatedly, Mr. Sarma still takes time out to follow his passion. On holidays, he would just take off on his own.
Deep inside the forests and into the hills, he would go, looking for medicinal plants. Where the stillness of nature would get broken only by the faint sound of “click, click, click”, made by his only companion – his camera.
