Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used to treat human diseases in Gura Damole District, Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract. Assefa B, Megersa M, Jima TT. 2021. Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used to treat human diseases in Gura Damole District, Bale Zone, Southeast Ethiopia. Asian J Ethnobiol 4: 42-52. Many countries, including Ethiopia, use medicinal plants for their primary health care system. Plants have been used as a source of medicine to treat human diseases in Ethiopia. This study aimed to document medicinal plants to treat various human diseases in southeast Ethiopia's, the Gura Damole District of Oromia Regional State. Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants was carried out from August 05 to November 06, 2019. A total of 90 informants were selected to collect ethnobotanical information from 6 kebeles. Ethnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions with informants, and field observation. Various ethnobotanical ranking indices were used to analyze the importance of some plant species. A total of 30 medicinal plants belonging to 21 families were identified. These medicinal plants comprised shrubs (36.6%), trees (26.6%), herbs (23.3%), and lianas (13.3%). The plant families with the highest medicinal plants in the study area used for various diseases treatment were Asteraceae and Solanaceae (3 species each). Leaves (46.7%) were the dominant plant part used to prepare remedies, followed by roots (36.7%). Powdering (50%) and oral route of administration (59%) were commonly mentioned methods of preparation and administration, respectively. Carissa spinarum was the most preferred medicinal plant to treat evil eyes and is also ranked highest as the preferable medicinal plant for various purposes. Although the current study revealed the existence of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants to treat human diseases, agricultural expansion became the primary threat to medicinal plants. Hence, different conservation methods should be applied to conserve those mostly preferred and frequently used medicinal plants for various purposes.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by local communities of Damot Woyde District, Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…Other similar studies in Ethiopia (Teka et al 2019;Assefa et al 2021) and elsewhere in the world (Chaachouay et al 2021;Khajuriaa et al 2021) have also found that Asteraceae are the major suppliers of medicinal plants. In addition, Fabaceae (Osman et al 2020;Alemneh 2021), Euphorbiaceae (Jima and Megersa 2018), Lamiaceae (Tuasha et al 2018;Tamene et al 2020), and Solanaceae (Abebe and Teferi 2021;Assen et al 2021;Wendimu et al 2021) were found to be dominant in the study conducted in South Wollo Zone of Amhara Region, Hulet Eju Enese District and Diguna Fango District of Wolaita Zone.…”

“…Therefore, the three authors reported more medicinal plants than the present study. Whereas, Giday et al (2009a,b), Belayneh et al (2012), andAssefa et al (2021) reported 35, 51, and 30 species of medicinal plants, respectively. The difference in the number of medicinal plants could be due to the vegetation of the district, the number of informants involved in the study, the timing and duration of data collection, and the culture.…”

“…Different research groups reported that roots or leaves are the most important plant parts for preparing traditional medicines in Ethiopia and elsewhere in the world. Among the researchers who reported leaves as the most important part in Ethiopia (Tefera and Kim 2019;Alemneh 2021;Assen et al 2021;Assefa et al 2021) and other countries (Tugume and Nyakoojo 2019;Hachlafi et al 2020;Chaachouay et al 2021), other research groups (Tolossa et al 2013;Kefalew et al 2015;Jima and Megersa 2018) reported that roots were widely used plant parts for the preparation of traditional medicine. The preference for leaves over other plant parts is due to their easy availability and simplicity of drug preparation.…”

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by local people of Mojana Wadera Woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

“…Hence, plant research and related indigenous knowledge should be an urgent task to protect and save the indigenous knowledge to transfer this knowledge to future generations. Many studies have been done in Ethiopia on ethnobotanical medicinal plants (Kefalew et al 2015;Yohannis et al 2018;Tefera and Kim 2018;Tibebu and Mesele 2019;Gonfa et al 2020;Assefa et al 2021;Ayalw and Merawi 2021;Megersa and Woldetsadik 2022). However, little research has been done so far in the Mojana Wadera woreda in the North Shewa zone of Ethiopia.…”

Perception of malaria and cultural diversity of antimalarial plants in three sympatric communities: Agni, Akyé and Gwa in the District of Alépé, Côte d’Ivoire

“…Medicinal plants are one of the most well-known of traditional knowledge. They provide primary health care (De Boer et al 2012;Mazengia et al 2019;Nahdi and Kurniawan 2019;Rianawati and Siswadi 2020;Assefa et al 2021). In addition, traditional medicine is an important source of health care in rural or tribal areas (Maroyi 2013;Farooq et al 2019;Az-Zahra et al 2021;Novriyanti et al 2021).…”