scholarly journals Cultural significance of medicinal plants in healing human ailments among Guji semi-pastoralist people, Suro Barguda District, Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mersha Ashagre Eshete ◽  
Ermias Lulekal Molla

Abstract Background Traditional medicine has remained the most affordable and easily accessible source of treatment in the primary healthcare system among communities unable to get modern medication. Ethiopian indigenous people have a long history of traditional plant utilization for treating ailments. The objectives of this study were to identify, document, and analyze the cultural significances of medicinal plants and their associated indigenous knowledge among Guji Semi-Pastoralist People, in Suro Barguda District, West Guji Zone, southern Ethiopia. Methods Semi-structured interview, focus group discussions, participant observation, and walk-in-the-woods methods were used to gather medicinal plants data. The informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level (FL) values were calculated using quantitative approaches to check the level of informants' agreement on plant use and the healing potential of medicinal plant species, respectively. Indigenous knowledge of the use of medicinal plants for medicinal purposes among different informant groups was compared using t tests with R software. Results A total of 98 medicinal plant species belonging to 87 genera and 48 families were reported to be used for treating human ailments such as gastrointestinal diseases, breathing system diseases, dermatological diseases, and febrile diseases. Family Fabaceae was represented by 10 species followed by Lamiaceae (7 species). Four of the medicinal plants (Bothriocline schimperi Oliver & Hiern ex Bentham, Erythrina brucei Schweinf. emend. Gillett, Lippia adoensis Hochst. ex Walp. var. adoensis, and Millettia ferruginea (Hochst.) Hochst. ex Baker) were found endemic to Ethiopia and shrubs were more dominant (36 species). Ninety-one medicinal plant species were used for remedy preparation as soon as they were collected in their fresh form; 35.6% herbal medicine preparation was through crushing the plant parts and homogenizing them with cold and clean water; 159 (70.4%) traditional medicinal preparations were reported to be taken in their drinking form (orally). Conclusion The study indicated that the district is rich in different species of medicinal plants used to treat human ailments and indigenous knowledge about using these resources. Species with the recorded highest consensus for curative purposes are useful sources for further phytochemical and pharmacological validation for better utilization. Declining wild medicinal flora of the area calls for conservation priority.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boja Tilinti Bose ◽  
Yoseph Melka ◽  
Tesfaye Awas

Abstract Background: The world population use medicinal plants for treating diseases in forms of drug developments also traditional medicinal specially developing countries. The economic growth and cultural changes threaten the traditional lifestyle of local people. The aim of the study is to investigate medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge. Methods: Ethnobotanical data were obtained using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and market survey. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, informant consensus factor, preference ranking and Direct matrix ranking using Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science Version 20. Results: Ethnomedicinal use of 136 medicinal plant species belonging to 117 genera and 63 families wereidentified and documented. The highest number of medicinal plants was used in midland kebele(74 species). Out of total medicinal plants 66 (48.53%) species were reported to treat human aliments only. Most of the medicinal plants harvested were herbs (37.50%), followed by trees (36.76%) and the least was lianas (0.74%). A Pearson correlation test indicated a positive and significant difference between age of informants and number of medicinal plant species cited, and negative and significant difference between level of education and number of medicinal plant species cited. The result indicates that there was significant difference between male and female informants in their knowledge of medicinal plants, and there was significant different between number of medicinal plants reported by key informants and household respondents. Cordia africana ranked first as a multipurpose medicinal plant. Agricultural expansion (41.96%) stood first as a factor threatening medicinal plants. Conclusion: The highest numbers of MPs were used in Sire Morose kebele (midland), but collection was not restricted only to their locality the move other kebeles to harvest MPs. In the study area elders have better knowledge of medicinal plant than younger and as people educate their knowledge on medicinal plants decrease.This implies that in study area there is potential indigenous knowledge but we are going loss this traditional knowledge if did not develop means transferring this to next generation. To support local people effort on in-situ conservation and ex-situ conservation needed


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 154-172
Author(s):  
Negussie F. Bussa ◽  
◽  
Anteneh Belayneh ◽  

Ethiopia is home to a remarkable diversity of more than 1000 species of medicinal plants. The Harari and Oromo communities living in the prehistoric town of Harar and the surroundings have long history of knowledge and practices of treating human and livestock ailments using medicinal plants. However, this has remained little or no empirically studied. Semi-structured interviews, discussions and guided field walks were used to collect data from 80 randomly and systematically selected informants among who 16 were traditional herbalists. Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Cultural Importance Index (CII), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Use Diversity (UD), Non-parametric Kruskal Wallis, and Wilcoxon tests were conducted using R software version 3.3.4. A total of 142 wild and cultivated traditional medicinal plant species belonging to 124 genera and 57 families of which leaves are favoured by traditional healers were identified as herbs. Concoction, or filtering, and infusion, or boiling, were the most practiced methods of remedial preparations of the wild and cultivated medicinal plants, respectively. The highest ICF value was recorded for treating toothache and mouth infections (0.93) followed by gastritis, heartburn/pyrosis (0.84). The most culturally important and the highest diversity index were found to be Ocimum lamiifolium and Allium sativum. There were valuable and diversified wild and cultivated ethno-medicinal plant species associated with indigenous knowledge. The reputability of the indigenous knowledge should be corroborated with phytochemical and pharmacological analyses. Moreover, the status of conservation of these plant species and associated ethnomedicinal knowledge needs further investigations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 46-51
Author(s):  
Harilal Upadhaya

The medicinal knowledge of plants is very common among the tribal people but much of the information is not yet documented. The purpose of the present study was to document information on medicinal plants used by the people of Kristi village, Pokhara, Nepal. A total of 42 medicinal plant species belonging to 39 genera and 29 families were documented each with local name, uses and mode of administration. The study indicated that the indigenous people widely accepted the traditional knowledge on the utilization of medicinally important plants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Sidra Ahsan Shah ◽  
Wajeeha Iqbal ◽  
Muneeba Sheraz ◽  
Bilal Javed ◽  
Syeda Sadaf Zehra ◽  
...  

Bajwat Wildlife Sanctuary is a complex riverine ecosystem and is unique because of the presence of river Chenab, various seasonal streams, lakes, and Head Marala barrage. These ecogeographic conditions provide diverse natural habitats for various plant and animal species to grow uninterrupted and have undocumented ethnopharmacologically important medicinal flora. The present study involves the first-ever extensive investigation to document the ethnopharmacological knowledge on medicinal plants of local healers and inhabitants of the Bajwat Wildlife Sanctuary to treat ailments. The unstructured and semistructured interviews of the local healers and inhabitants were conducted that included 130 individuals. The ethnomedicinal formulations, their method of preparation, mode of administration, parts of the plant used, diseases cured, and their categorization along with species use report (UR) were analyzed. The ethnopharmacological study led to the enlisting of 114 medicinal plant species belonging to 97 genera and distributed among 47 plant families. 2029 URs were collected with 42 general disease categories. Each plant species was reported 18 times to cure various diseases (∼18 UR), while ∼48 URs were collected on each disease category by local informants. Digestive issues (290 URs, ∼14.29%) and skin infections (279 URs, ∼13.75%) were found most commonly among the occupants of the area. The oral administration (69%) of herbal drugs and the preparation of plant extracts (32%) were the most common ethnopharmacological strategies. Inhabitants of the area were well aware of the limited use of poisonous plants. 8 (∼7%) out of the total 114 medicinal plant species were listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Least Concern, while Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. was enlisted as near-threatened. The results of the present investigation show that the occupants of the Bajwat have sound information about the ethnopharmacological consumption of medicinal plants, and some of the novel ethnomedicinal formulations were reported which provide the basic data for further pharmacological research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Armand Fanou ◽  
Jean Robert Klotoe ◽  
Lauris Fah ◽  
Victorien Dougnon ◽  
Charles Hornel Koudokpon ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Candidiasis, an opportunistic cosmopolitan disease is nowadays like bacterial infections which is a real public health problem. In view of the emergence of Candida strains resistant to existing antifungal agents, alternative solutions should be considered. This is the purpose of this ethnobotanical survey, which aims to identify the medicinal plant species traditionally used to treat candidiasis in traditional markets of southern Benin. Methods The study was performed from October 2015 to January 2018 in the traditional markets of Southern-Benin. Data were collected by two complementary methods: triplet purchase of medicinal recipes (ATRM) from herbalists markets and semi-structured interview (ISS) from traditional healers. Results A total of 109 species of medicinal plants belonging to 44 families have been listed and identified. The most frequently cited species were Pteleopsis suberosa Engl. & Diels, Lantana camara L., Cyanthillium cinereum (L.) H. Rob, Ocimum gratissimum L. and Lippia multiflora Moldenke with respectively 43.84, 39.73 and 34.25% citation frequencies for the last three species respectively. Leguminosae (20.18%), Euphorbiaceae (5.50%) and Apocynaceae (5.50%) were the most represented botanical families. Leafy stems were more used than other plant organs. The decoction and the oral route were the most appropriate methods of preparation and administration reported by traditional healers. Conclusion Benin’s plant cover is made up of a wide variety of medicinal plant species used in the traditionnal treatment of candidiasis and which may constitute new sources of medicines to be developed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mersha Eshete Ashagre ◽  
Ermias Lulekal Molla

Abstract Background: Ethnobotanical studies are useful in documenting, analyzing, and communicating knowledge and interaction between plant diversity and human societies. Indigenous knowledge has developed as a result of human interaction with their environment. Overstocking and farmland expansion has become the main causes of natural resource degradation. Studies on the ethnobotany of the woodland and dry Afromontane vegetation in Suro Barguda District are lacking. So, it was important to study the diversity of medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge to determine the level of their usage, depletion, or conservation.Methods: Ethnobotanical data of traditional medicinal plants were collected by interviewing 196 informants (145 males and 51 females). Guided field walks and discussions (both group and individual discussion) were used in collecting the data. Quantitative approaches were used to determine the informant consensus factor, fidelity level, and use-value. Ethnomedicinal knowledge apprehended by different informant categories was compared using t-tests with R- software.Results: A total of 98 medicinal plant species belonging to 87 genera and 48 families were reported to be used for treating human ailments. Family Fabaceae was represented by the highest number of species followed by Lamiaceae. Four of the medicinal plants were endemic to Ethiopia. Shrubs were more dominant than trees and herbs. Most of the remedy preparations were from freshly collected plant parts; the major way of herbal medicine preparation was through chopping or pounding the plant parts and homogenizing them with cold and clean water; the oral application was the most common route of administration.Conclusion: The study area was rich in having medicinal plants and corresponding indigenous knowledge diversity. Most of the medicinal plants were found to play a multipurpose role across different use categories and consequently, some are under serious pressure challenging their survival. Hence, recorded high use value indices of multipurpose plant species in the study area can be used as signals of high use pressure and can be used as keys to design and implement well-coordinated complementary in situ and ex situ conservation activity to save these widely used plant species.


Author(s):  
Gadisa Melkamu Bulcha ◽  
Kebebush Zepre

Incomplete coverage of the modern medical system, shortage of pharmaceuticals, and unaffordable prices of modern drugs, make the majority of Ethiopians still depend on traditional plant medicine. Therefore, this study is aimed to assess the current status of indigenous knowledge of traditional plant medicine used among communities of Won chi District. Method: A total of 198 informants (27 key and 171 general) were selected purposively based on the availability of key informants and vegetation richness of the District. semi-structured interview, observation, and guided field walk with informants were data collection methods. Ethnobotanical scoring and ranking methods like informant consensus, paired-wise comparison, and preference ranking were used to analyze the collected data. The findings were displayed using tables and figures. Result: A total of 93 medicinal plant species were identified. Out of these,50 species (53.76%)were noted to treat only human ailments, 3(2.23%) species were used to treat livestock ailments and the rest 40 (43.01%) were used to treat both. Nearly two-thirds of the study participants have good knowledge about traditional plant medicine use. most medicinal plants were reported by elders (94.62%) than younger age group, traditional medicinal plant healers almost know all (96.77%), regarding religion waqefata (60.21%) know than other religion. More medicinal plants were reported by males (86.02%)than females, while regarding educational status illiterate (61.29%)know and mention more Medicinal plants than literate. Therefore, all stakeholders should work together in changing the current situation in order to sustainably benefit from traditional plant medicine.


Author(s):  
S.Zh. Erekeyeva ◽  
◽  
R.B. Arysbayeva ◽  
A. Musrat ◽  
László Orlóci ◽  
...  

Rosaceae Juss. family have more cosmopolitan plants growing in many parts of the globe. Apart from food and decorative plants, there are also medicinal plant species. Increasing the potential of the use of medicinal plants currently represents one of the top-priority objectives that requires a comprehensive study of plants in isolation from natural flora, growing and preserving the species. The article focuses on Kazakhstani plant species of the Rosaceae Juss. family, and specifics of their growth and distribution. Endangered species, as reported in the literature and online sources, are briefly described. Also, the specifics of introducing 30 plant species of family Rosaceae Juss. from global and Kazakhstan flora in the Main Botanic Garden of Almaty are described, introduction parameters (phenological observation and seed quality parameters) are analyzed for 7 medicinal plant species (Agrimonia asiatica Juz., Filipendula ulmaria (L.) Maxim., Filipendula vulgaris Moench, Potentilla argentea L., Potentilla recta L., Fragaria vesca L., and Fragaria viridis (Duch.) Weston) are introduced from the Northern Tien Shan flora, and a brief summary of the introduction details obtained on the basis of the successful introduction index is provided.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-64
Author(s):  
Dwi Haryanto ◽  
Rosye H.R. Tanjung ◽  
Konstantina M.B. Kameubun

Study on the used of medicinal plants by Marind people who lived at Wasur National Park, Merauke was conducted by using descriptive methods which include observation, interview, documentation, literature review techniques, as well as  emic and ethic approaches. During the study there were 46 species which belong to 26 families plants found as medicinal plants used by Marind people to cure about 30 diseases. Among 46 species, there were 7 potential medicinal plant species which known  and used by most Marind people. The seven potential medicinal plant species were Ipomoea triloba L., Bauhinia sp., Pittosporum sp., Kingiodendron platycarpum Bent., Sophora tool mentosa L.Cyrtandra sp., dan Tinopspora disstiflora L. Part of plant used vary from leaf, root, bark, fruit and other part of plant. Compare to other part of plant, leaf was the most common used as traditional medicinal plant. Key words:   traditional medicinal plant, Marind people, Wasur National Park


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Sangay Tenzin ◽  
Pema Tendar

This paper documents the medicinal plant species in wetlands of the Eastern Himalayan Highlands of Gasa District, Bhutan. A random quadrat sampling method was used to assess the presence-absence of species. The study was conducted at Khatoed and Khamaed gewogs (blocks), Gasa District between January and December 2018. Identification of medicinal plant species and families were done in consultation with a botanist at the herbarium in Thimphu and volumes of Flora of Bhutan were referred. Based on the published and authentic scientific literature, information on medical uses of plant parts was collected. A total of 74 species of medicinal plant species in the wetlands, distributed in 69 genera and 43 families have been recorded. The study suggests preserving invaluable wetland medicinal plants and integrating ethno-medicinal practices in our lives.


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