Diversity of medicinal plants and their uses by the Sanger tribe of Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract. Pandiangan D, Silalahi M, Dapas F, Kandou F. 2019. Diversity of medicinal plants and their uses by the Sanger tribe of Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 621-631. The Sanger tribe is an indigenous tribe in Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, who still continue to use traditional medicinal plants. The objectives of this study were to document the diversity of medicinal plants and their general uses by the Sanger tribe in the selected villages of Sangihe Islands and to identify plants that have anti-cancer potential. The study was conducted with ethnobotanical approach using survey and interviews among 90 respondents selected from 9 study villages located in 3 sub-districts of Sangihe Islands. The study showed that 118 species of medicinal plants belonging to 47 families had been used by the Sanger tribe to treat 39 different types of diseases. Thirteen (13) species each were used for treating fever and ulcers, 12 species in the treatment of poisoning, 10 species each for cough and kidney diseases, 8 species for each of the diabetes mellitus and cancer or tumors, and 7 species each for itching, hypertension, physical injury and blood circulation disorders. For other diseases, the number of plant species used as medicines varied from 1 to 6. Leaves were the most predominantly used part for medicinal purposes as this was used in case of 73 species, followed by stems (37 species), roots (29 species), flowers (25 species), fruits (20 species) and seeds (17 species). Twenty percent (20% of the recorded medicinal plants were consumed directly and others after different methods of processing and preparation, such as boiling (51%), crushing (15%), roasting (2%), soaking (16%) and pasting (7%), and a species can be used more once. A utilization of Dischidia nythesiana as medicines for cancer/tumor by the Sanger tribe has not been reported before.

Diversity and distribution of medicinal plants in the Universitas Sumatera Utara Arboretum of Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Knowledge and experience of local community were used to identify local names and the parts of herbs utilized for medicinal purposes, in the field. The same method has been used earlier by Silalahi et al (2015) and Pandiangan et al (2019). The plants were scientifically identified with the help of herbaria, photographs, and relevant botanical literature, such as Balai Pustaka (1980), Hutapea et al (1994) and Dalimartha (2008).…”

“…The community predominantly utilized leaves because there is a belief that certain plant leaves are having cooling property and, therefore, they can be used to treat fever and lower the patient's body temperature (Kala 2006, Zuhud and Hikmat 2009, Pandiangan et al 2019. Some other tribes of Indonesia, such as the Simalungun Batak Tribe (Silalahi et al 2015), the Karo Tribe (Purba et al 2016), and the Sanger Tribe (Pandiangan et al 2019), also utilize leaves as the predominant part for medicinal purpose,. Silalahi et al (2015) reported that the Simalungun Ethnic group used coarse-textured plant leaves to treat kidney disorders.…”

“…Silalahi et al (2015) reported that the Simalungun Ethnic group used coarse-textured plant leaves to treat kidney disorders. The Sanger Tribe utilized leaves Orthosiphon spicatus and S. crispus to treat kidney disorders (Pandiangan et al 2019).…”

“…leaves were used by local community for the treatment of fever and headache. Studies of Dalimantha (2008) and Pandiangan et al (2019) have shown that, besides for the treatment of fever and headache, Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. is also effective in the treatment of digestive disorders and malaria.…”

“…Zarta et al (2018) work are on identification and evaluation of bioactivity in forest plants used for medicinal purposes by the Kutai community of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Pandiangan et al (2019) have studied diversity of medicinal plants and their uses by the Sanger Tribe of Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Purba et al (2016) reported the ethnomedicinal plants of the Batak Karo Peoples of Merdeka Subdistrict, North Sumatra, Indonesia.…”