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eISSN: 2575-906X

Biodiversity International Journal

Research Article Volume 2 Issue 6

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in selale mountain ridges, North Shoa, Ethiopia

Hailu Atnafu, Tesfaye Awas, Sisay Alemu, Sisay Wube

Forest and Range lands Biodiversity Directorate, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Ethiopia

Correspondence: Hailu Atnafu, Forest and Range lands Biodiversity Directorate, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, P.O.Box 30726, Adiss Ababa, Ethiopia

Received: November 29, 2018 | Published: December 13, 2018

Citation: Atnafu H, Awas T, Alemu S, et al. Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in selale mountain ridges, North Shoa, Ethiopia. Biodiversity Int J. 2018;2(6):567-577. DOI: 10.15406/bij.2018.02.00114

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Abstract

 In Ethiopia the majority of rural populations traditionally use many plants as sources of medicine for different human and livestock aliments. Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is however fragile and easily forgettable as most of indigenous knowledge transfer in Ethiopia is based on oral transmission. This study was therefore designed to assess medicinal plants used as traditional medicine by local communities in Selale mountain ridge, North Shoa, Ethiopia. One hundred informants were selected from 10kebeles in two districts of North Shoa by using snow ball sampling method. Semi-structured interview questions and guided field work were used for ethnobotanical data collection.

Totally, 79 medicinal plants belonging to 37 families were recorded. The most frequently used plant part for remedial preparation was leaves (43%) followed by root (26%). The highest informant consensus factor ICF (84%) was associated with gastro intestinal disorders and parasitic infections followed by dermatological problems (82%). The fidelity level (FL) of Rhamnus prinoides and Verbena officialis were calculated 100% for tonsillitis, while the FL of Hagenia abyssinica and Datura stramonium were also found 100% for abdominal and dermal diseases, respectively. This study generally recognizes a rich heritage of indigenous medicinal plant use and knowledge in the study area. Efforts are needed to enhance in-situ and ex-situ conservation of these valuable medicinal plants in the area.

Keywords: ethnobotany, North Shoa, medicinal plants, traditional healers

Introduction

Traditional medicine is the major source of treatment for large portions of human populations in developing countries. It is estimated that 80% of developing countries population rely on traditional medicine, mostly plant drugs, for their primary health care needs.1 Particularly in resource poor communities, local therapy using traditional medicine is the only means of treatment.2 Herbal remedies are becoming popular throught the world because, though allopathic medicine can cure a wide range of disease, its high prices and occasional side effects are causing many people to return to herbal medicines which tend to have fewer side effects.3

In Ethiopia, traditional medicine using medicinal plants is used by large populations to treat different human and livestock aliments. Despite modern medicine become more widespread in the county, about 80 to 90 % of Ethiopia population relies on traditional medicine to meet their primary health care needs.4‒6 The current health care system in Ethiopia is a primary health care focused system that improves access to modern medicine more than ever.7 However, the majority of populations still continue to use traditional medicine. This is because traditional medicine is the most affordable and easily accessible source of treatment to the poor community2 and cultural acceptance of traditional medicine.8

Use of medicinal plants as a source of traditional medicine has been inherited through generations in Ethiopia. It is an important component of the health care system in the county. The skills are however fragile and easily forgettable as most of indigenous knowledge transfer in Ethiopia is based on oral transmission.9 With the current rate of modernization, it’s logical to assume that traditional knowledge on medicinal plants is under the threat of extinction.1 Caring comprehensive studies are therefore important to document traditional knowledge on medicinal plants uses. Based on the above insight, the present study is aimed to document and underlines the importance of traditional knowledge used for the treatment of different human and livestock diseases in Selale Mountain Ridges, North Shoa.

Materials and methods

Study area

The study was conducted in two districts which are found in North Shoa Zone, Ethiopia. The first called Girrar Jarso and is located 112km north of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. This district occupies 9º035’ to 10º000’N latitude and 38º039’ to 38º039’E longitude with altitudinal range from 1300 to 3419 meters above sea level. The total area of the district is about 42763 hectare.10 The second district called Dagam and is located 120km North of Addis Ababa. This district occupies about 670.2km2 with altitudinal range from 1500 to 3541meters above sea level.

Participants

Five key informants living in four different sub districts were initially recruited with the help of head of the local agricultural office and two local elderly people. These five (4male and 1female) informants were known in the community as traditional medicine practitioners, and identified here as key informants for the study. Further informants were thereafter selected from each sub districts based on snow ball sampling. This sampling method is effective and convenient as it utilized local knowledge to identify appropriate informants.11 Accordingly, a total of 48 were recruited at the Girar Jarso district for the study. The age of the informants ranges from 22 to 80. Educational level of informants varies from illiterate to high school completion.

The same procedure was followed at Dagame district. Accordingly, five (all men) traditional medicine practitioners were first selected from different subdistricts with the help of the woreda agriculture office expert, and 52 community members were selected based on snow ball sampling for ethnobotany data collection. The age of the informants ranges from 19 to 65. Educational level of informants varies from illiterate to high school completion.

Data collection

Field work was conducted in April, 2017 and ethnobotanical data collection was made for 20 days during the same month, 2017. Semi structured interviews and guided field work with the informants were carried out to obtain ethnobotanical data. Interviews were based on a check list of questions prepared beforehand in English and translated to the local language, Oromifa.

In each district, interviews were made with identified key and all other informants in his/her home garden. The information collected included local name of the traditional medicinal plant, diseases treated, parts used, condition of plant used, method of preparation, route of administration, and the ingredients added.

Guided field walks were made with two key informants to the surrounding forest and agricultural areas. Voucher specimens were thus collected from all plants identified as a medicinal plants by those key informants. Identification of specimen was made at the herbarium of Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute (EBI) with the help of taxonomic experts, and using taxonomic keys; Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea (FEE, 1989-2009) based on their morphological characteristics. The speciemen were deposited at the herbaria of EBI.

Informant consensus factor

The informant consensus factor for most frequently reported disease categories was calculated in order to evaluate the reliability of the information provided by the informants. The following formula recommended by12 was used to calculate Informants’ Consensus Factor (ICF):

ICF= Nur-Nt Nur-1 MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaagKart1ev2aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqkY=Pj0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0xXdbba9frFj0=OqFf ea0dXdd9vqaq=JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar=Jb9hs0dXdbPYxe9vr0=vr 0=vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqaaaOqaaiaabMeacaqGdb GaaeOraiaab2dadaWcaaqaaiaab6eacaqG1bGaaeOCaiaab2cacaqG obGaaeiDaaqaaiaab6eacaqG1bGaaeOCaiaab2cacaqGXaaaaaaa@43C1@

Where,

Nur: Number of use-reports for a particular use category

Nt: Number of taxa used for a particular use category by all informants

Fidelity level index

Fidelity level index (FL) is used to quantify the importance of a given species for a particular purpose in a given cultural group. In this study, FL was calculated for frequently reported human disease by the informants to quantify the importance of the species for a particular disease. To calculate FL, the formula recommended by13 was used as follows:

FL = Ni/N × 100,

Where;

FL=Percentage of Fidelity Level,

Ni=The number of informants that claimed the use of plant species to treat a particular disease.

N=The total number of informants who mentioned the plant for any given major ailment 

Preference Ranking

The preference ranking was determined by purposively using five key informants to prioritize the five traditional medicinal plant species used for preventing diarrhea according to Cotton.14 Diarrhea was preferred for ranking because it is an emerging disease in the society.

Data analysis

Descriptive statistics were used for qualitative and quantitative data analysis by using Microsoft Excel 2010. The statistical tools were used to identify the most common ailments in the study area including, popularly used medicinal plant species, proportions of different variables like plant families, plant parts used, methods of preparation and percentage frequency. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17 was also used to estimate Pearson’s correlation between the age of respondents and the number of medicinal plant named by them. The same software was also used to carry out the t-test among educational status and number of medicinal plant named by them, and between gender group and number of medicinal plant noticed by them.

Results

Socio demographic and knowledge characteristics of respondents

In the present study, a total of 101 respondents were studied. Among the participants, 28%were females and the remaining were males. The age of participants ranged from 19 to 80, with the mean age of 43.6 (+13.4). From the total respondents, 69% were farmers, 17% house wives, 2% government employees and 5 students. Regarding educational status, the majority of respondents (44%) were illiterate while 38 (38%) and 16(16%) respondents attended primary and secondary school, respectively. Only 2 respondents were attended higher education (Table 1).

Characteristic

Number of respondents

Percent

Sex

Male

73

72

Female

28

28

Age of respondent

18-28

11

11

29-39

25

25

40-50

45

45

>51

20

19

Occupation of respondent

Farmer

70

69

Merchant

2

2

Government employee

2

2

Housewife

17

17

Student

5

5

Unemployed

1

1

Others

4

1

Education of respondent

Illiterate

45

44

Primary school

38

38

Secondary school

16

16

Higher education

2

2

Table 1 Socio demographic characteristics of participants

No significant correlation (Spearsman correlation, r=0.12, α=0.05, p=0.23) was found between the age of informants and number of species reported by them. Besides, the t-test between male and female informants and the number of medicinal plant species they listed did not show a significant difference (P > 0.05). The t-test also confirmed that there was no significant difference on the number of medicinal plant species mentioned by the educated and illiterate informants (Table 2).

Parameter

Informant group

N

Mean

t

P value

Gender

Male

72

9.47

0.77

0.44

Female

28

8.71

 

 

Education

Educated

56

8.05

-0.61

0.53

Illiterate

44

8.68

 

 

Table 2 Statistical test of significance and independent t test on the number of medicinal plant mentioned by informants.

Medicinal plant species diversity

The local healers in the study area used a total of 79 medicinal plant species for treatment of different human and livestock aliments. These medicinal plants are distributed in 37 families. Among the families, Lamiaceae was represented by 8 (25%) species followed by 7 (19.4%) species of Asteraceae (Table 3). Only one fern species was recorded in the present study. Among the medicinal plants, 73 species were used for the treatment of human aliments and 6 species for livestock and 3 species used for treat both human and animal aliments. People in the study area give first priority for some traditional medicinal plant species to treat human ailments rather than modern drugs. Datura stramonium and Malva verticillata, Hagenia abyssinica and Glinus lotoides, Vernonia amygdalina and Ricinus communis, and Zingiber officinale are found to be the most important medicinal plant species rather than the locally available modern drugs to treat dandruff, tape worm, amoebiasis and unexplained stomach ache, respectively.

Genera, species and family names

Family

Local names

Disease treated

Part(s) used

Preparation and routs of application

Acacia abyssinica Hochst. Ex Benth.

Fabaceae

Laftoo

Goiter

leaf

Leave is smashed and the sap is applied topically

Wound

Stem bark

Stem bark powdered and applied the paste topically

Achyranthes aspera L.

Amaranthaceae

Telenj

Wound

Leaf

Crushed leaves applied on the cut or wound

Acmella caulirhiza Del.

Asteraceae

Gutichaa

Tonsillitis

Flower

Fresh flower is chewed and spitted on tonsillitis

Ajuga integrifolia Buch.-Hamn.

Lamiaceae

Armagusa

Epilepsy

leaf

Pounding the dried leaves, mix the pounded leaves with nut oil and make the patient to eat it

Tonsilities

Squeezing the leaf and drinking the juice

Allium cepa L.

Alliaceae

Key shinkurit

Asthma

root

Root juice is mixed with water and given to drink

Allium sativum L.

Alliaceae

Nech shinkurit

Whooping cough

bulb

Crushed or copped bulb is given to eat orally

Stomach ache (parasite)

Smashed bulb mixed with butter is given to eat with injera (Ethiopian bread)

Malaria

Depulped and boiled bulb mixed with honey and is given for drink orally

Common cold

Boiled bulb vapour is inhaled orally and nasally

For evil eye

smashed bulb together with rhizome of Ginger officinale is given to inhale nasally

Aloe sp

Alliaceae

Eret

Ear pain

leaf

Leaf is put on fire to get it warm. The juice from the warm leaf is then poured into the ear

Amaranthus caudatus L.

Amaranthaceae

Iyyaasuu

Diarrhea

Leaf

Pounded dry leaf boiled, and is given for drink

Anamhinum forskaolii Schult.

Asclepiadaceae

Anbelbelit

Epidemic disease

root

Smoking the dried leaves, and inhale it

Andrachne aspera Spreng.

Phyllanthaceae

Tekeze

Snake bite

root

Root is given for chewing, followed by lots of water to drink

Artemisia abyssinica Sch. Bip. Ex A. Rich

Asteraceae

Arti

Unidentified gastrointestinal

leaf

Rubbed leaves is put on nose to inhale and/or

disorder

Fresh leaves juice is given for drink

For evil sprit

Dried leave smoke is fumigated

 Nose bleeding

Fresh leaves grind with Allium sativum is put on nose to inhale

Artemisia afra Jack. ex Wild

Asteraceae

Godoo

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

root

Crushed root is put on fire and inhaled through mouth and nose

Pesticide

The root is put on fire and allow to fumigate the house

Bersama abyssinica Fresen.

Melianthaceae

Lolchisa

wound

bud

Fresh Shoot apex (bud) juiced and applied on the wound

Buddleja polystachya Fresen.

Loganiaceae

Amfar

Scabies, Itching

Leaf

Dried leaves powdered and the paste mixed with butter; the cream is then applied topically

Carisssa spinarum L.

Apocynaceae

Hagamsa

Sexual impotency

Root

Pounded fresh root mixed with local beer (Tella) is given for drinking

Catha edulis (Vahl) Forssk. ex Endl.

Celastraceae

Chatae

Urine retention

Leaf

Dried leaf pounded and mix with leaves of Vernonia amygdalina. The mix then boiled together and the filtrate is served as a drink

Clutia lanceolata Forssk.

Euphorbiaceae

Feyele feji

Hemorrhoid

Leaf

Powdered dry leaf homogenized with water and the filter is given nasally

Coffee Arabica L.

Rubiaceae

Buna

Diarrhea

seed

Roust the seed, pounded and mixed with honey then swallowed it

Wound

Roust the seed, pounded and applied on the wound

Cordia africana Lam.

Boraginaceae

Wanza

Jaundice

bark

Bark of C. africana powdered together with the stem bark of Croton macrostachyus, the paste is then boiled with milk and given orally

Spider poison

Leaf

Dried leaf is burned and the remaining ash is mixed with butter and creamed on affected part.

Croton macrostachyus Del.

Euphorbiaceae

Bakkanissa

Gonorrhea

Shoot bud

The fresh bud is powdered and mixed with water and butter. The mix is then filtered and the liquid is given orally

Ring worm

Fresh shoot squeezed and the juice with water applied topically

Skin rash (chiffe)

Fresh shoot is cut and the fluid applied to the rash

Cucumis ficifolius A. Rich.

Cucurbitaceae

Yemdir embuai

Retained placenta

Root

Crushed root mixed with water is prepared for drink

Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf

Poaceae

Tej sar

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

leaf

Squeezing the leaves mixed together with Artemisia absinthium and drink the juice

Cynodon dactylon L. Peers

Poaceae

Ceqosa

Bone fracture (for cattle)

Leaf and shoot

Harvesting leaves and shoot of C. dactylon and feed it to the cattle

Snake bite

Above ground part is rubbed to the affected skin

Cynodon nemfuensi L.

Poaceae

Ceqorsaa

Skin alergy

leaf

Fresh leave is given for chewing and spitting the juice topically

Datura stramonium L.

Solanaceae

Astnagrit

Dandruff

Leaf

Fresh leaf juice is applied directly on the scalp

Skin disease

Seed

Powdered seeds applied directly on the skin

Discopodium penninervium Hochst.

Solanaceae

Rejii

Febrile Illness

Leaf

Crushed leaf is put on fire and is made to inhale orally or nasally

Dodonia angustifolia L.F.

Sapindaceae

Kitecha

Stomach ache

leaf

Crushing the leaves and put it on the nose (inhaling)

Diarrhea

Fresh leaf soaked in water for some hours is given for drinking

Dovialis abyssinica (A. Rich) Warb.

Flacouticeae

Koshim

Stomach ache

fruit

Boiling the fruit with water, and drink it when it get cold

Echinops kebericho Mesfin.

Asteraceae

Kerbericho

Internal parasite

root

Dried root is powdered and mixed with water; and is give for drinking

Febrile Illness

Dried leaves fumigated nasally and orally

Eucalyptus globulus Labill.

Myrtaceae

Bargamoo Adii

Influenza

Leaf

Leaves are boiled in water and the vapour inhaled orally and nasally

Acute febrile illness

Leaves are boiled in water and the vapour inhaled orally and nasally

Euphorbia tirucalli L.

Euphorbiaceae

Qinchibae

Wart (kintarot)

Leaf

Dried leaf pounded and mixed with leaf of Coffea arabica and rubbed on affected part

Feoniculum vulgare Miller

Apiaceae

Eselale

Stomach ache

leaf

Fresh leave juice is given for drink

Diuretic

Whole plant

whole plant juice with water is given orally

Glinus lotoides L.

Molluginaceae

Meteree

Tapeworm

Fruit

Dried fruit mixed with Guizotia abyssinica and grounded, the paste is given orally before food

Guizotia schimperi Sch. Bip. Ex Walp,

Asteraceae

Adaa

Eye infection

Flower

Fresh flower juice is mixed with water and applied through eye

Hagenia abyssinica JF. Gmel

Rosaceae

Kosso

Tapeworm

Fruit

Dried fruit powder cooked with food is given orally

seed

Roasted and powdered seed is juiced in water and given to drunk

Justica shimperiana (Hochst. Ex Nees) T. Anders.

Acanthaceae

Sensel

Typhoid

Leaf

Crush and squeeze then drink with coffee

Coccidiosis (for hen)

leaf

Fresh leaf juice with water is given orally for hen

Kalanchoe petitiana A. Rich.

Crassulaceae

 Bosoqee

Gonorrhea

Leaf

Fresh leaf juice is applied on the wound

For evil sprit

Root

Chewing the root

Lagenaria siceraria (Molina)Standl.

Cucurbitaceae

Buqqe Hadhaa

Scabies

fruit

Inner part of fresh fruit of is creamed on affected head skin.

Laggera crispate (Vahl) Hepper & Wood

Asteraceae

Keskese

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

leaf

Chewing the leave and swallow the juice

Asthma

Fresh leaves soaked in water is given nasally

Dandruff

Rubbed leave applied directly on the scalp

Leonotis ocymifolia (Burm. F.) Iwarsson

Lamiaceae

Yeferes zeng

Diarrhea

Leaf & fruit

Dried leaf and fruit powder mixed with honey is given for drink

Lepidium sativum L.

Brassicaceae

Feto

Acute Febrile Illness (AFI)

Seed

Matured seeds put on fire and the smoke is inhaled orally and nasally

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

dried seed powder mixed with Hordeum vulgare and water is given orally

Tonsil

Powdered seeds mixed with water is given for drink

Leucas martinicensis (Jacq.) R. Br.

Lamiaceae

Bokelu

Askaris

Leaf

Fresh leaf juice is given for drinking

Lippia adeonsis Hochst. Ex walp

Verbenaceae

Kesse (kussaye)

Acute Febrile Illness (AFI)

leaf

Rubbed leave is given to put on nose and inhaling

Maisa lanceolata Forrsk.

Myrsinaceae

Abbayii

Elephantiasis

Bark

Pounded bark mix with butter and applied topically

Malva verticilliata L.

Malvaceae

Liti

Diarrhea

root

Dried root together with Calpurnia aurea root soaked in water for hours is given orally

Dandruff

Crushed and water soaked root is applied as a hair wash

Nicotiana tabacum L.

Solanaceae

Timbaho

Leech infection

Leaf

Fresh leaf juice with water is given orally

Ocimum lamiifolium Hochst. Ex Benth.

Lamiaceae

Hanccabbi dimma          

Acute Febrile Illness (AFI)

leaf

Boiled the leaves and inhale the smoke

Influenza

Squeezing leave and drink the juice with coffee, or apply the rubbed leaves in to the nose

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

Squeezing the leaves, adding the juice into coffee and drink it, or placed the dried leaves on fire and inhale the smoke

Ocimum urticifolium Roth.

Lamiaceae

Hanccabbi adii

Febrile illness

Leaf

Fresh leaf together with Croton macrostachyus and Clausena anista are smashed and the sap is sniffed nasally

Olea europea subsp. Cuspidate (Wall. Ex. G.Don) Cif.

Oleaceae

Ejersa

Irritation of eye

Shoot

Fresh shoot is smashed and the juice is mixed with water and applied on affected eye

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

Leaf

Smoking the dried leaves on fire and inhale through nose and mouth

Otostegia fruticosa (Forssk.) Schweinf.ex Penzig L,Herit    

Lamiaceae

Tinjutii

Febrile Illness

Leaf

Dried leaves fumigated nasally and orally

Insecticide

Dried leaves fumigated nasally and orally

Pentas schimperiana (A. Rich.) Vatke

Rubiaceae

Dibexxo

Epilepsy

Root bark

Dried root bark is powdered and mixed with Water; the preparation is then given for drinking

Plantago lanceolata L.

Plantaginaceae

Qorxxobbi

Skin cut

Leaf

Fresh leaf juice is added to skin cut.

Plectocephalus varians (A. Rich) C. Jeffrey ex Cufod.         

Asteraceae

Etse Yohannes

Hemorrhoid

Root

Fresh root juice is given orally and nasally

Plectranthus barbatus Ander.

Lamiaceae

keskeso

Insect repellant

Leaf

Dried leaf is used as fumigant

Phytolacca dodecandra L’Herit

Phytolaccaceae

Endod

Abortion

Leaf

Chopped leaves mixed with water is given to the woman for drinking

Rabis

Leaf and root         

chopped root and leave mixed with honey is given orally

Scabies

Fruit

Smashed fruit mixed with water is given as hand wash

Pteris dentate Forssk.

Pteridaceae

Fern

Fire burn skin

Leaf

Powdered leave put on hot plate for some minute is applied on the affected area

Ricinus communis L.

Euphorbiaceae

Gulo (Amh)

Amoebiasis

Seed

Dried seed is given for chewing

Rhamnus prinoides L’Herit

Rhamnaceae

Gesho

Tonsillitis

seed

Chewed by mother, and the child swallow the juice

Rumex abyssinicus Jacq.

Polygonaceae

Mekmeko

Hypertension

Root

Fresh root juice is given to drink with coffee

Rumex nepalensis Spreng.

Polygonaceae

Shulti

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder (megagna)        

root

chewing the root, swallowing the juice and spitting the rest

Skin problem

leaf

Fresh leaves juice applied directly on the skin

Ruta chalepensis L.

Rutaceae

Tena adamii

Malaria

Leaf

Fresh leave smashed with Lepidium sativum seeds and Allium sativum bulb and the preparation is given to eat

Unidentified gastrointestinal disorder

Fresh leaves smashed and the juice with coffee is given for drink orally

For evil eye

Pounded dried leaves is given to inhale nasally

Salvia nilotica Jacq.,

Lamiaceae

Hulegeb

Tonsilitis

Root

Fresh root is given for chewing

Securidica longipeduculata Fresen.

Polygalaceae

Etsemanaay

Internal parasite

root

Pounded root mixed with water and is given to drink

Sida massaica Vollesen

Malvaceae

Chifrig

Round worm

Whole plant

The whole plant grounded and homogenized in water, and the filter is then given for drinking

Eye infection

Leaf

A drop of fresh leaf juice is applied on the affected eye

Silene marosolen A. Rich.

Caryophyllaceae

Wegeret

Acute Febrile Illness (AFI)

root

Smoking the root on fire and inhale the smoke through mouth and nose

Unexplained stomach ache

Smoking the root on fire and inhale the smoke through mouth and nose

Snake bite

Chewing fresh root and swallowing the juice

Solanum anguivi Lam.

Solanaceae

Zerch embuaye

Prevent conceive

Leaf and bark

Pounding the leaves and stem bark together and taken through mouth

Solanum dasyphyllum Schumach.

Solanaceae

Hidi

Eye disease

Leaf

Chewing and applying fresh juice on infected eye

Snake bite

root

Fresh root is given to chewing

Solanum incanum L.

Solanaceae

Embuay

Tonsillitis

fruit

Fruits are squeezed and the juice collected in a cup. The juice is applied as a mouth wash

Stephania abyssinica (Dill & Rich). Walp.

Menispermaceae

Yayet joro

Wound

root

Crushed root applied on the cut or wound

Tavverniera abyssinica A.Rich

Fabaceae

Dingete

Internal parasite

root

Fresh root is given to chew and swallow only the juice

Thymus schimperi Ronninger

Lamiaceae

Tosign

Whooping cough

leaf

Boiled leaves with Guizota abyssinica is given to drink as tea

Hypertension

Fresh leaf juice is given with tea

Trigonella foenum-graecum L.

Fabaceae

Abish

Peptic ulcer disease

seed

Crushed seed boiled in water and given for drink

Spinal pain

Powderd seed boiled and given for drinking

Tonsil

Powdered seeds mixed with water is given for drink

Urtica simenesis Steudel.

Urpisaeae

Dobi

skin problem

leaf /root

smashed leaves/ chewed root is used to rub the affected area

Gastritis

leaf

Boiled leaves is given to eat with injera (Ethiopian bread) orally

Verbascum sinaiticum Benth.

Scrophulariaceae         

Ye ahiya joro

throat infection (for child)

leaf

Squeezing the leaves and spitting the juice on the child

Snake bite

Root

Fresh root is given for chewing and swallowing the juice

Swelling (for cattle)

Leaf

Pounding dried leaves, and applied the past on the topically on the cattle

Verbena officinalis L.

Verbenaceae

Atuch

Tonsillitis

leaf

Squeezing the leaves and drinking the juice

Vernonia amygdalina Del.

Asteraceae

Girawa

Ameobiasis

Leaf

Fresh leaf mixed with honey is given for eating

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal

Solanaceae

Kumo

Epidemic disease

root

Squeezing the root and drinking the juice

Malaria

leaf

Leaves are made powdered and juiced with water, and drunk

Zingiber officinale Roscoe

Zingibilaceae

Zingibil

Unexplained stomach ache

rhizome

chewing the rhizome and swallowing the juice

Tonsillitis

chewing the rhizome and swallowing the juice

Table 3 Medicinal plants used for treat human and livestock aliments

Most of (73.2%) the traditional plant species identified in the study were wild while 8 species (11.2%) are cultivated and the remaining 14 (19.7%) were obtained both from wild and cultivation (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Source of medicinal plants.

Plant part(s) used

Plant parts used for remedies indicated that leaf (43.2%) is the most widely used plant part followed by root (26.8%). While seed and bark constitute 8% and 3 %, respectively (Figure 2).

Figure 2 Plant parts used for preparation of remedies.

Preparation and mode of remedies administration

As indicated in Figure 3, the most common type of preparation was squeezing (35.4%) followed by powdering (21.8%) and Chewing (11.8%). The majority of local prepared remedies were applied orally (59.1%) followed by dermal (20.4%) and oral and nasal together (9.1%) (Figure 4).

Figure 3 Types of remedial preparations.

Figure 4 Types of remedial application.

Informant consensus factor

Informant consensus factor was calculated for frequently reported diseases categories and presented in Table 4. Results revealed that the highest percentage (84%) of ICF was linked to problems associated with gastro intestinal disorder and parasitic infection followed by dermatological problems (82%). The least (33%) ICF was associated with poisoned by animals and/or insects.

Category of diseases

Diseases included

Nt         

Nur         

ICF

Gastro intestinal disorder and parasitic infection         

Abdominal pain, diarrhea, amoebiasis, ascariasis, and, tape worm

27

161

0.84

Dermatological problems

Scabies, dandruff, eczema, leprosy, ringworm, wound, cut and wart          

21

115

0.82

Throat and respiratory disease

Asthma, tonsillitis, common cold, and cough

26

117

0.78

Emergency diseases

Febrile illness, Evile eye and evile sprit

11

38

0.73

Internal disease

Malaria and hemorrhoids

12

41

0.72

Organ diseases

Ear lesion, conjunctivitis and sexual impotency

9

18

0.52

Poison

Snake biting and spider biting

6

8

0.29

Table 4 Informant consensus factor of medicinal plants for frequently reported diseases

Fidelity level index (FL)

The fidelity level (FL) of medicinal plants for frequently reported disease were calculated and presented in Table 5. Accordingly, the FL of Rhamus prinoides and Verbena officialis was calculated 100% for the disease of tonsilities, while the FL of 100% were also calculated for Hagenia abyssinica and Datura stramonium for the abdominal and dermal diseases, respectively. The FL of Ocimum lamiifolium and Croton macrostachyus was found to be 96 and 90%, for the treatment of Febrile Illness and sexual disease, respectively.

Medicinal plant

Disease treated

Ni

N

FL (%)

 

Febrile Illness

 

 

 

Lepidium sativum

 

65

68

95

Ocimum lamiifolium

 

73

76

96

 

Tonsilities

 

 

 

Rhamnus prinoides

 

26

26

100

Verbena officialis

 

12

12

100

 

Abdominal (Gastritis, Tapeworm,, askaris)

 

 

 

Leucas martinicensis

 

35

41

85

Hagenia abyssinica

 

27

27

100

 

Dermal

 

 

 

Datura stramonium

 

14

14

100

Rumex nepalesis

 

21

22

95

 

Sexual diseases

 

 

 

Croton macrostachyus

 

48

53

90

Kalanchoe petitiana

 

15

21

71

Table 5 Fidelity level values of medicinal plants for frequently reported disease

Preference ranking

Preference ranking values of five medicinal plant species used to treat Diarrhea showed that Coffee Arabica ranked first and followed by Malva verticilliata (Table 6). Informants stated that Coffee Arabica stops diarrhea when the patient is swallowing the seed after it is rusted, pounded and mixed with honey.

Plant Species

Respondents

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

Total

Rank

Amaranthus caudatus

3

3

4

5

2

17

3

Coffee Arabica

5

4

5

4

5

23

1

Dodonia angustifolia

1

2

1

1

3

8

5

Leonotis ocymifolia

2

1

2

3

1

9

4

Malva verticilliata

4

5

3

4

4

18

2

Table 6 Preference ranking of medicinal plant to treat Diarrhea (R stands for respondents /informants; 5= most preferred, 1= least preferred)

Discussion

The vast majority of the human population in Ethiopia is dependent on traditional medicine and its practitioners.15 However, despite some studies that had been conducted in Northern,16 Northwestern,7 Central,11 Western17 and Southern18 Ethiopia, the use of traditional medicine as human and livestock remedies is not exhaustively documented in the country. It is otherwise very important as most of information about medicinal plants is still in the hands of traditional practitioners and could be lost when they pass away. The present study actually shows the absence of correlation between the age of respondents and the number of medicinal plants mentioned by them. Previous studies from different places of the country also showed the same result [eg. 2;21]. Youngesters in rural areas of the country mostly cooperates with elders in everyday activities including during farming and field collection of medicinal plants. This could have give the younger a chance to learn about medicinal plants and their usage from their elders and therefore be one the reason that the young noticed as many medicinal plants as of elders in the present study. As explained,11 elder traditional medicinal plant practitioners in the central part of Ethiopia deliberately transmit their knowledge to their chosen young ones. This condition plus the exchange of knowledge among the young in school and religious places19 could also be another reason explaining the present result.

As with other regions in Ethiopia, local inhabitats in North Shoa district have been using medicinal plants traditionally to treat human and livestock aliments from the time of immemorial. The present study reveals a total of 79 medicinal plant species from the study area that are used by traditional practitioners for treatment of 47 human and 5 animal diseases. Most of medicinal plants identified in the present study belongs to Lamiaceae family (25%) followed by Asteraceae (19.4%), which are among the most represented families in the flora of Ethiopia.20,21 Plants medicinal behavior often comes from metabolites, mostly secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are organic compounds that are formed during metabolism, and unlike primary metabolites, they are not found in every plant.22 In this respect, a previous study by Maffei22 identified Lamiaceae family as plants that concentrate very active biological compounds (secondary metabolites) as a function of their life strategies. Apart from curing capacity, the preference of wide use of medicinal plants that belong to these families in the study area could therefore be due to availability and wide distribution these families.

The majority of medicinal plants identified in the present study are used to treat human aliments (93.5%) rather than that of livestock. Previous ethnobotanical studies in Ethiopia have also revealed the same result.23,24 This may be due the fact that the occurrence of human disease is more frequent than that of livestock because of hygiene and other socio economic reasons. Moreover, in common with other rural parts of the country, the lack of adequate modern health care centers in the study area could have made traditional medicine as the most affordable and easily accessible source of treatment to the poor community.2 About 80 to 90 % of Ethiopia population relies on traditional medicine to meet their primary health care needs.6

In the study area, most of medicinal plants are collected from wild habitats (74%) though some medicinal plants such as Ruta chalepensis, Rhamnus prinoides, Eucalyptus glubulus, Allium cepa and Allium sativum were grown in home gardens. This result is in line with previous ethnobotanical studies in Ethiopia.16,24 Wild areas are the storehouse of medicinal plants in Ethiopia.25 This could be due to continual adaptation and availability of medicinal plants in wild areas which might in turn result in local people to be less interested to grow them ex-situ. However, considering the great socio economic and cultural importance of medicinal plants to the rural community, some mode of in-situ or ex-situ conservation effort need to be launched as natural or human induced activity may result in destruction of such resources.

The most commonly used plant parts for herbal preparations in the study area were leaves (43%) followed by roots (26.8%). The leaves may contain most of the bioactive secondary metabolites compared to other parts, and hence could have better curing capacity. Other studies in Ethiopia also reported that leaves were commonly used plant parts for remedial preparation in their study area.17,26,27 The most frequent use of leaves compared to other plant parts in the study area could have a positive implication on sustainable utilization of medicinal plant resources as high treat to the plant comes with roots, barks and shoot harvests.

In the study area, the most common preparation of remedies was extracting juice by squeezing, followed by powdering. Preparing plant remedies by squeezing or powdering is advantageous over using decoction since heat may affect the active constituents of the remedies. This result is in line with previous findings in which squeezing was the most common type of preparation.17,24 Following the preparation methods, remedies are mostly administered through oral followed by dermal application. This could be related to the nature of the most frequent disease affected local people. In the study area, gastro intestinal disorder and endoparasites are the most prevalent diseases affected local community, and this may be the reason for dominance of oral administration. As mentioned by Endalew,28 both oral and dermal routes permit rapid physiological reaction of the prepared medicines with the pathogens and increase its curative power.

Moreover, results of the present study suggest that diseases that were frequent in the study area (gastro intestinal disorder and endoparasites, and dermatological disease) have higher informant consensus factor (0.84 and 0.82). The dominance of these disease categories may be associated with inadequate sanitation problem in the study area. The ICF value estimated in the present study generally ranges from 0.29 to 0.84. According to Gazzaneo,29 the higher ICF value implies the existence of information exchange between informants, or the presence of well-defined selection criteria in the community. In addition, the less ICF values (values between 0 and 0.65) indicated the minimal networking of indigenous people in sharing of their knowledge on medicinal practices which is usually the case with traditional healers. This is mainly because of the interest of each healer to keep his knowledge secretly from other healers for fear of piracy.19

The fidelity level (FL) value of medicinal plants estimated in the present study for frequently reported diseases reveals a range of values. The variation in fidelity value of medicinal plants was related to their frequent application for different disease control. The fidelity level of Rhamnus prinoides and Verbena officialis for tonsillitis were calculated at 100%, while the fidelity level of Hagenia abyssinica and Datura stramonium were found 100% for their use to treat abdominal (Gastritis, Tapeworm and Askaris) and dermal diseases, respectively. Higher fidelity levels identified for these species could be an indication of the potential of these plants for treatment of the respective disease category. According to Trotter,12 plants scoring high fidelity level values are thought to have better potency having biological active ingredients in treatment as compared to plants with less fidelity values. Moreover, the preference ranked medicinal plant species used to stop diarrhea would become therapeutic agents for emergency cases.

Conclusion and recommendations

The present study showed the wide use of medicinal plants in North Shoa for meeting the primary health care needs of the local community. Cultural acceptability, easy accessibility and affordability combined with limited access to modern health care service could be taken as the main factors for the continuation of use of traditional medicine. Most of the reported medicinal plants were wild and some of them were reported to be rare. This implies the need for conservation efforts to be taken in order to safeguard these valuable resources. Remedy preparations mostly from leaves, roots and barks were found to be used to treat a variety of human and animal aliments. Medicinal plants such as Rhamnus prinoides (against tonsillitis), Hagenia abyssinica (against tape worm) and Datura stramonium (against dermal disease) were the most preferred and highest fidelity level, an indication of their high healing potential. The present study generally recognizes a rich heritage of indigenous medicinal plant use and knowledge in the study area. However, further studies should be conducted on the reported medicinal plants in the present study in order to confirm them scientifically and use them in modern drug development.30

Acknowledgments

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

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