Background The study aimed at documenting the indigenous and local knowledge and use of traditional medicinal plants for treating human and livestock ailments in Dawuro Zone of Ethiopia. Methods A survey was conducted among traditional healers and native administrators through discussion, interviews, and field observations. The snowball sampling technique was used to select 384 traditional healers in purposefully selected 50 villages spanning seven districts for face-to-face individual interviews. The chi-square test was applied to establish associations between traditional healers’ demographics, the distance between the village site and the nearest natural forest and a health center, and SPSS V.20 software was used for the analysis. Results The traditional healers of the study area reported the use of 274 traditional medicinal plant species belonging to 217 genera and 82 families. Asteraceae (11.68%), Fabaceae (9.49%), and Lamiaceae (9.12%) were the foremost frequently used families. Herb species (54.8%) and leaves (65%) were predominantly sourced from the wild environment. The quantity of medicinal plants used (x2 = 278.368, df = 20, P = 0.000) and years of (experience in) traditional healing using herbs (x2 = 76.358, df = 10, P = 0.000) varied with distance from the natural forests. The service charge for healing had strong positive association (x2 = 24.349, df = 5, P = 0.000) with healer’s age (x2 = 309.119, df = 184, P = 0.000) and educational level (x2 = 851.230, df = 598, P = 0.000) with distance of traditional healer's residence from the medical institution. The agricultural activities, urbanization, low or no charge for the healing service, the secrecy and oral transfer of the knowledge, and the demand for medicinal and other multiple purposes species were some of the factors threatening the resource and the associated knowledge as well as the service in the study area. Conclusion There are diversified traditional medicinal plants applied for healthcare of the community and domestic animals of the study area. The source of remedies mostly depends on herbs of natural forests, and the leaf was the most frequently used plant part. Developing conservation intervention and sustainable systems of utilization is needed for multipurpose medicinal plants. Finally, integrating with modern system and formalizing, legalizing, and capacitating the traditional medicine practitioners are needed for access of primary healthcare systems to rural communities.
Article InfoThis ethnobotanical study documented the diversity and use of spices and condiments growing in Konta special District (woreda), Southern Ethiopia. A total of 61 informants, among them 20 key informants and 4 spice vendors were selected for this study. A total of 120 home gardens were visited. In the home gardens a 2 x 2m quadrat was made and the number of spices and condiments in each quadrat were counted and recorded. A total of 26 species of spices in 24 genera and 15 families were studied. There are prdominant herbs (92%) with only two shrubs (8%). Informant consensus on the cultural value of the spices and condiment plants showed that all the informants considered Zingiber officinale, Aframomum corrorima, Coriandrum sativum, Lipidium sativum, Ocimum americanum, Piper capense and Ruta chalepensis as the well-known spices in the area. Of the spices and condiments species documented, 16 (60%) of them have also been used in traditional medicine. Informants also identified major threats of spices and condiments in the area. Both cultivated and non-cultivated species of spices and condiments of the district need enhanced development and conservation, as it has been indicated that some of these species are threatened by deforestation.
Maerua oblongifolia was among other medicinal plants those were extensively used medicinal plants for treatment of human and domestic animals in addition to serving as detergent for washing purpose.The present study was developed to contribute to the documentation of the pharmacological and biological activity testing through extraction, isolation, and characterization of crude extracts of leaves of most popularly used traditional medicinal plant, Maerua oblongifolia. Air dried leaf powder of Maerua oblongifolia was exhaustively extracted with methanol at room temperature. Fractionation of the column elution started with 30 ml of pure diethyl ether, followed by increasing polarity of solvent system, diethyl ether, ethylacetate, ethanol, methanol, water, 32 fractions were collected. This study has resulted in the isolation and characterization of MOM-19.Characterization was done by spectroscopic technique, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).The 13 C NMR spectrum of the compound showed well resolved resonance of 38 carbon atoms. The number of carbon atom indicated that it was a triterpene. The result of this study was important as the search for new pharmacologically active compounds from plant extracts that may led to the discovery of many clinically useful drugs.
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