An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used in the coastal bushland of Lindi District, Southeast Tanzania

Abstract

Background: An ethnomedicinal study was conducted to document the medicinal plants used for treating diseases in the coastal bushland of the Lindi Region in southeastern Tanzania. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted between August 2016 and September 2018 to collect information regarding local medicinal plant names, the diseases that they were used to treat, and the plant organ used to prepare remedies. The data collected were compared with previous reports within Tanzania and elsewhere and counted and cross-tabulated when appropriate. Results: A total of 108 species belonging to 49 families and 91 genera were reported. The most commonly used plant families were Caesalpiniaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The most commonly used plant types in the coastal bushland were trees and shrubs, and leaves were mostly used due to various reasons. The majority of the recorded plants were indigenous/natural, which included one newly identified and five endemic species. Most of the local names originated from the Mwera ethnic group. A total of 268 usage variations based on a combination of the plant organ used and disease treated were recorded for the species identified, including edibility. The documented diseases treated with medicinal plants included hernia, convulsion, stomachache, snake bites, skin parasites, abscesses, tinea capitis, malaria, and measles. Medicinal plants related to magic also constituted a significant proportion of uses. In this study, 64.9% of the plant species used to manage diseases were previously reported medicinal species. Moreover, 29.1% were used to manage a similar disease and 13.1% for the same disease, whereas 9.3% of the medicinal plants had the same organ used to treat the same disease as reported. Of the plants identified, 28.7% were edible. Within the study, new treatments that have not been previously reported in Tanzania were identified for 35.1% of the species. Conclusions: The use of mostly native plants to manage diseases in the study area was validated through cross-checking uses at other locations, and the therapeutic claims of the interviewees were verified. Some of the new findings and new species utilized may provide a basis for new medicinal compounds and remedies in the future.