Medicinal plants used for the treatment of tuberculosis by Bapedi traditional healers in three districts of the Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

The present study was aimed at documenting medicinal plants used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) by the Bapedi traditional healers in three districts of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Fifty two traditional healers from 17 municipalities covering Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg districts were interviewed between January and July 2011. Twenty one medicinal plant species belonging to 20 genera and 18 families were documented. The majority (61.9%) are indigenous and the rest are exotics, found near homes as weeds or cultivated in home gardens as ornamentals or food plants. Hyacinthaceae, Moraceae and Rutaceae families were the most represented families in terms of species numbers (9.5% each). Herbs and trees (38% each) constituted the largest proportion of the growth forms of the medicinal plants used. Tuberculosis remedies were mostly prepared from leaves (34%) followed by roots (21%). The therapeutic claims made on medicinal plants used to treat TB by the Bapedi traditional healers are well supported by literature, with 71.4% of the species having antimicrobial properties or have similar ethno medicinal uses in other countries. This study therefore, illustrates the importance of medicinal plants in the treatment and management of TB in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Lippia javanica (Burm.f.) Spreng.: Traditional and Commercial Uses and Phytochemical and Pharmacological Significance in the African and Indian Subcontinent

“…Research done by Davids et al [19] in South Africa revealed that about 50 g of leaves is added to a cup of boiling water to produce an infusion which is taken orally as remedy for coughs, colds, and bronchial problems or the infusion is applied to the skin or mixed with Vaseline to make an ointment. In South Africa, leaf or twig decoction is taken orally for asthma, colds, and cough [16, 53], leaves are used in washes and poultices for chest pains [25], and leaves are boiled for 5 minutes and one cup of extract is taken orally thrice a day for chest pains and tuberculosis [24, 42]. According to York [18], two handfuls of L. javanica leaves are boiled in two litres of water and patient is steamed once or twice a day to treat coughs, chest pain, headaches, fever, chills, a sore throat, or a blocked nose.…”

Plants as Future Source of Anti-Mycobacterial Molecules and Armour for Fighting Drug Resistance

“…This survey also highlighted that leaves were the most commonly used plant part to cure the diseases. Survey done by Semenya and Maroyi (2013) showed that Bapedi tribes of Limpopo province of South Africa are dependent on traditional medicines for treating tuberculosis and are using about 21 plant species. Ethnobotanical survey in Eastern Cape province, South Africa reported about 30 plants used to treat tuberculosis by TMPs (Lawal et al, 2014).…”

Ethnomedicinal uses of indigenous plant species in Mogalakwena Municipality of Waterberg District, Limpopo Province South Africa

“…The presence of such a large number of plant species and their associated ethno-medicinal knowledge indicates that the study area has a very high diversity of medicinal plants, and that indigenous knowledge of traditional health practitioners in this area compare favourably with findings of Semenya (2012) for the Limpopo Province as a whole, Tshisikhawe (2002) for the Venda area of the Limpopo Province, and De Wet et al (2012) for the northern Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal Province (South Africa). The fact that a number of species from this study is also commonly used in other parts of the province (Semenya & Maroyi, 2013) and even in countries neighbouring South Africa such as Zimbabwe (Maroyi, 2013) is potentially a cultural indication of acceptance of efficacy.…”

“…In our study, seven plants (Dicoma anomala subsp gerraddi, Ozoroa sphaerocarpa, Artemisia afra, Terminalia sericea, Schotia brachypetala, Geigeria aspera, Dicoma anomala subsp anomala) are used for treatment of cough (Table 1). The use of Artemisia afra and Geigeria aspera for treatment of cough is also reported in Limpopo province for TB, ailment related to cough (Semenya and Maroyi, 2013). Leaves decoction of A. afra is administered orally to ease cough, it is believed that A. afra clear the respiratory and bronchial passages (Viljoen, 2007).…”