Musa balbisiana Colla-Taxonomy, Traditional knowledge and economic potentialities of the plant in Assam, India

The traditional use of herbs as potential source of food and medicine is well observed among the ethnic groups in different zones of the world. Musa balbisiana Colla, is a robust herb, commonly known as Bhimkol or Athiyakol in Assamese and not a single part of the plant is wasted in the state of Assam, India. Here, this plant is regarded as an asset of household garden and people use various parts of the plant in their daily life as well as in every rites and rituals. As such, this plant has an immense economic potentiality in this region of North East India. A brief summary of the taxonomy, traditional uses of the plant/plant parts and products, based on extensive field observation from different parts of Assam has been documented in the present paper.