Traditional medicinal plant species belonging to Fabaceae family in Ethiopia: A systematic review

There are approximately 213 families of flowering plants in Ethiopia and among them 92 families contain species with medicinal properties. However, there is no compiled information that comprehensively expresses which plant species belong to each family. In the present review, a total of 127 medicinal plant species belonging to Fabaceae family and used to treat various human and livestock diseases were reported from 62 articles (53 published and 9 unpublished journals). Calpurnia aurea (26.7%) and Millettia ferruginea (11.8%) were among the most frequently cited species of Fabaceae followed by Trigonella foenumgraecum (11.02%). The highest numbers of species of Fabaceae (62 species) were reported from Southern Nation Nationalities Peoples (SNNP) region, and 58 species were from Oromia region. Regarding growth habit, the majority were shrubs (43 species) followed by tree (39 species) and herbs (38 species). The frequently used plant parts were leaves (19.7%) roots (17.3%) and the whole plant (16.5%). 40.5 % of the prepared medicinal plant remedies of Fabaceae were administered through the oral methods in different regions of the country. The most commonly treated health problems by species of Fabaceae were: snake bites (25 species), evil eye (19 species) and wounds (18 species) in various regions of the country. From the finding, it was concluded that Fabaceae family is providing a diverse medicinal plant species for the treatment of different human and livestock health care systems in Ethiopia. Thus, further research activities on phytochemical characterization and conservation would be suggested for better utilization from this family.

A survey of medicinal plants of Wadi Al-Kouf in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya

Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar (the Green Mountain) of Cyrenaica, Libya is known to have the highest plant species diversity in the country, particularly in the depressions and the valleys of the mountain. Wadi Al-Kouf is the largest valley in the mountain, with a rich flora of aromatic and medicinal plants. The present investigation was conducted to record and list the medicinal plant species growing in the valley during the flowering season of 2019. Results revealed that Wadi Al-Kouf hosts 107 medicinal plant species belonging to 49 families and 93 genera. Dicotyledons were the most represented group of angiospermae with 38 families, 79 genera and 89 species, whereas Monocotyledons were represented by only 8 families, 10 genera and 13 species. Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae were the families with the highest number of species; 11, 9, 6 and 6 species, respectively. The most dominant life forms found in the valley were Therophytes (25.2%), Phanerophytes (25.2%) and Chamaephytes (24.3%), followed by Hemicryptophytes (15.9%) and Geophytes (9.3%). Nine endemic species were detected and recorded.

Herbal plants traded at the Kaili medicinal market, Guizhou, China

Background Marketplaces reflect not only the commerce of an area, but also its culture. In Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture with Kaili as its capital, Guizhou Province, China, traditional medicine is thriving in both rural and urban areas. The local people rely extensively on plants for traditional medicines, and these are commonly sold in local specialized markets. The Kaili medicinal market is the biggest in the prefecture. However, ethnobotanical study on herbal plants traded in the traditional market in Kaili has not been performed. The aims of this study are: (1) to document medicinal plants traded in the Kaili traditional market and the associated traditional knowledge; and (2) to analyze the level of agreement among vendors in the purported uses of medicinal plants by using informant consensus (FIC) and the fidelity level (FL). Methods Market surveys were conducted in 2014–2019 to collect information about medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Information including vernacular names, preparation methods, and plant uses was obtained by interviewing 116 vendors of herbal plants. Specimens of fresh and dried herbs, collected as vouchers, were identified by the authors and other botanists at the Minzu University of China, and deposited in the herbarium at Minzu University of China. The level of agreement among information provided by different vendors was assessed using the FIC, and the percentage of vendors claiming the use of a certain medicinal plant for the same indication was assessed with the FL. Results The Miao people comprise 53.4% of all informants in this study of medicinal plants. In total, 237 medicinal plant species traded in the Kaili traditional market were recorded. They belong to 219 genera and 107 families. These plants have been categorized into their purported treatments for 20 medical conditions. The inflammation category showed the highest FIC value of 0.95, showing the best agreement among market vendors claiming its usefulness to treat this condition. The FL index helped to identify 15 culturally important medicinal plant species based on the reported uses by 20 or more vendors in the market. Three medicinal plant species, Eleutherococcus gracilistylus, Sargentodoxa cuneata, and Stephania cepharantha, had an FL > 90%, being used to treat sprains/traumas, rheumatism, and heat/toxins. Conclusions The medicinal plants sold in the Kaili market are highly diverse and have unique medicinal characteristics. The Miao people often use traditional herbal plants for disease prevention and thereby prioritize the use of medicinal plants in everyday life. The future of this medicinal marketplace, however, is uncertain since few young people (< 30 years old) are vendors or customers. Therefore, it is urgent to conserve traditional ethnomedicinal culture in local communities and pass on the associated traditional knowledge to future generations in this prefecture. And the next step should include further studies on FL > 90% plants’ chemistry, pharmacology, biological activity, and toxicity for potentially developing functional foods or pharmaceutical products.

Factors influencing the use of Deep Learning for Medicinal Plants Recognition

Medicinal plants are very essential in maintaining the physical and mental health of human beings. For providing better treatment, Identification and classification of medicinal plants is essential. In this research paper, main objective is to create a medicinal plant identification system using Deep Learning concept. This system identifies and classifies the medicinal plant species with high accuracy. In this system, five different Indian medicinal plant species namely Pungai, Jamun (Naval), Jatropha curcas, kuppaimeni and Basil are used for identification and classification. The dataset contains 58,280 images, includes approximately 10,000 images for each species. The leaf texture, shape, color, physiological or morphological as the features set for leaf identification. The CNN architecture is used to train the collected dataset and develop the system with high accuracy. As result of this model, 96.67% success rate in finding the corresponding medicinal plant. This model is advisable to use as early detection tool for finding the medicinal plant because of its best success rate

Ethnopharmacological Study of Medicinal Plants in Bajwat Wildlife Sanctuary, District Sialkot, Punjab Province of Pakistan

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.

DNA Barcoding of Selected Medicinal Plant Species from Jordan Using matK, rbcL, and rpoC1 Genes

Medicinal plants play an essential role in preventing and treating several diseases. Classical taxonomic tools generally carry out medicinal plant identification and characterization. Unfortunately, conventional methods need well-trained taxonomists and could give a false identity for closely related species. Jordanian flora is rich in a variety of plant species. The phylogeographic architecture of Jordanian medicinal plant samples was not explored yet. This study aims to recruit DNA barcoding using matK, rbcL, and rpoC1 genes to identify different selected medicinal plants species from Jordan. These are Maerua crassifolia, Ziziphus spina-christi, Balanites aegyptiaca, Senna italica, and Moringa peregrina. Plant samples were collected from the Dead Sea area (Jordan), and three DNA barcode regions were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed using different bioinformatic tools. Twelve sequences were obtained and deposited in Genbank . These sequences showed a very good discrimination capacity with sequences retrieved from related species. The phylogenetic analysis illustrated that DNA barcoding could successfully identify the selected medicinal plant species using different chloroplast genes (rbcL, matK, and rpoC1). Further analysis for other plants species is recommended to explore the genetic relationship and the phylogeographic architecture for Jordanian flora.

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

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.