Research Article Volume 2 Issue 6
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
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
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.
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):
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.
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).
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).
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).
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)
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.
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
None.
The authors declare that there is no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.
©2018 Atnafu, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.