Ethnomedicinal plants used to treat human ailments in the prehistoric place of Harla and Dengego valleys, eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundTraditional medicines remained as the most affordable and easily accessible source of treatment in the primary health care system among diverse communities in Ethiopia. The Oromo community living in the prehistoric Harla and Dengego valleys has long history of ethnomedicinal know-how and practice against human and livestock ailments. However, this rich ethnomedicinal knowledge had been remained unexplored hitherto. This study focus on the comprehensive ethnomedicinal investigation in an attempt to safeguard the deteriorating ethnomedicinal knowledge that can be used as a steppingstone for phytochemical and pharmacological analysis.MethodsFifty five (44 male and 11 female) systematically selected informants including ten traditional herbalists (key informants) were participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews, discussions and guided field walk constituted the data collection methods. Factor of informant consensus (Fic), frequency of citation (F%), and binomial test were employed in data analysis. Medicinal plant specimens were collected, identified and kept at Herbarium of Haramaya University (HHU).ResultsA total of 83 traditional medicinal plant species against human ailments in 70 genera and 40 Families were recorded. Twelve medicinal plants were marketable in open market places of the nearby towns. Formulations recorded added to 140 remedies for 81 human ailments. Concoction accounts 50.7% of the total preparations followed by fluids extraction (10.7%) and infusion (6.4%). Fifteen different plant parts were used for remedies preparation wherein leaves accounted 46.4%, stem 9.2%, fruits and roots each 7.8%. Most of the remedies (90.7%) were prepared from single plant species like, aphrodisiac fresh rhizome of Kleinia abyssinica (A. Rich.) A. Berger chewed and swallowed few hours before sexual performance for a man having problem of erectile dysfunction. The Fic value ranges between 1.0 (gastritis and heartburn/pyrosis) and 0.77 (swollen body part). Aloe harlana Reynolds was reported to be used for the highest number of ailments treating swollen body part locally called GOFLA, colon cleaner, snake bite, liver swelling, spleen swelling/splenomegaly, fungal infections and inflammation of skin.ConclusionSuch documentation of comprehensive ethnomedicinal knowledge is very valuable and needs to be scaled-up so that it could be followed up with phytochemical and pharmacological analyses in order to give scientific ground to the ethnomedicinal knowledge.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by agro pastoralist Somali people for the management of human ailments in Jeldesa Cluster, Dire Dawa Administration, Eastern Ethiopia

“…Differences in medicinal plants knowledge among age groups was also reported in other studies (Gebrezgabiher et al, 2013;Tamiru et al, 2013;Yigezu et al, 2014;Chekole et al, 2015;Tugume et al, 2016). This might be attributed to the current expansion of education and health centers to kebele level which has resulted in the young generation focusing on modern medicines (Belayneh and Bussa, 2014) and advancement in science and technology has changed the social values and therefore, transformed the younger generation at a faster rate into the new tradition (Awas, 2007;Murad et al, 2013).…”

“…Of the total 52 medicinal plants collected from the study area, 23 species (44%) were shrubs followed by 19 species (37%) herbs and 10 species ( Mesfin et al, 2009;Belayneh and Bussa, 2014) where shrubs and herbs are the largest plant growth habits.…”

“…A large proportion of the people living in the region depend on direct herbal medicine to treat a wide range of human ailments (Abduljawad et al, 2011). Most of the studies on medicinal plants in Ethiopia have so far concentrated in the south, south west, central, north and north-western parts of the country (Belayneh and Bussa, 2014). Therefore, this study area is selected; because there is no ethnobotanical collection, identification and documentation carried out on medicinal plant species of the area.…”

Structural elucidation of some antimicrobial constituents from the leaf latex of Aloe trigonantha L.C. Leach

“…Leach, locally called ‘Eret’, is among the endemic Aloe species of Ethiopia, which has been described in 1971 in an area between the cities of Bahir Dar and Gonder in the northern part of the country. Like many other Aloe species found in Ethiopia with ethnomedicinal applications [15, 16], the local people extensively use the leaves of A. trigonantha for the treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases [17]. However, despite its use in traditional medicine and possible therapeutic applications, no phytochemical or biological studies carried out on the plant could be found in the literature.…”

Curative care through administration of plant-derived medicines in Sekhukhune district municipality of Limpopo province, South Africa

“…The plant parts were harvested and prepared in different methods according to the plant part used and the disease to be treated. Exploitation of different plant parts for medicinal purposes is corroborated by scientists who attest that plant parts such as leaves, roots, bark and fruits are the major plant parts exploited to make curative medicine (Ahmad et al, 2014;Belayneh and Bussa, 2014;Lawal et.al., 2014).…”