Abstract
Traditional medicinal plants used by local Oromo people of Tulo District in west Hararghe, Ethiopia, were investigated before people's medicinal knowledge vanishes. Data on medicinal plants and demography were obtained between November 2019 and October 2020 through semi-structured interviews, group discussion and direct guided onsite observation to elicit information from 376 non-traditional and 20 traditional medicine practitioners. Ethnobotanical indices including informant consensus factor (ICF), preference ranking (PR), fidelity level (FL), relative frequency of citation (RFG) and cultural importance (CI) were employed for the data analysis. Moreover; descriptive statistics, t -test, analysis of variance and linear regression were used to reveal the effects of socio-demographic factors on respondents' traditional medicinal knowledge. Totally 104 plants distributed among 98 genera and 55 families were enumerated for the treatment of 60 illnesses. Seventy-seven of these medicinal plants serve to treat human ailments, whereas 11 and 16 of them were used for livestock and for both, respectively. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were species rich families. Leaves were the most frequently (41.53%) reported structures for the preparation of remedies. Crushing was the principal approach (34.50%) of remedy preparation. Oral administration was frequently (66.08%) used route of application. The highest ICF was observed for swelling and hemorrhoid (0.90) category. Metabolic and degenerative as well as other ailment categories had the least ICF values. About 66% of medicinal plants had FL value of 100%. In PR, G. abyssinica was ranked first to treat cough. RFC values varied from 0.03 to 0.18 with the highest record for Salvia nilotica (0.18) followed by Lepidium sativum, Rydingia integrifolia and Nigella sativa each with 0.16; Euphorbia abyssinica and Asplenium monanthes each with 0.15. Extensive use of land for agricultural purpose was key threat to medicinal plant of Tulo District. All the tested socio-demographic features except religion significantly ( P < 0.05) affected the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants possessed by the study population. The results of this study reveals that the people of Tulo District rely on traditional medicine of plant origin, and their indigenous knowledge is instrumental to exploit the most potential plants for further validation. Therefore, the medicinal plant species wealth of the study site and the associated indigenous knowledge need to be preserved.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
The survey enumerated 104 medicinal plants across 98 genera and 55 families for 60 illnesses.
- Taxon
- plantsViridiplantaee0
- Outcome
- plants distributed among 98 genera and 55 familiese0
- Value
- 104 plantse0
Not reportedSetting
Verbatim
e0“Totally 104 plants distributed among 98 genera and 55 families were enumerated for the treatment of 60 illnesses”
Claim · model-written summary
Seventy-seven medicinal plants treated human ailments; 11 treated livestock and 16 treated both.
Verbatim
e0“Seventy-seven of these medicinal plants serve to treat human ailments, whereas 11 and 16 of them were used for livestock and for both, respectively”
Claim · model-written summary
Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were species-rich medicinal plant families.
- Taxon
- Asteraceae and LamiaceaeLamiaceaeAsteraceaee0
- Outcome
- species rich familiese0
Verbatim
e0“Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were species rich families”
Claim · model-written summary
Leaves were the most frequently reported plant structure for remedies, at 41.53%.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Leaves were the most frequently (41.53%) reported structures for the preparation of remedies”
Claim · model-written summary
G. abyssinica ranked first for treating cough.
Verbatim
e0“G. abyssinica was ranked first to treat cough”
Claim · model-written summary
Agricultural land use was the key threat to local medicinal plants.
Verbatim
e0“Extensive use of land for agricultural purpose was key threat to medicinal plant of Tulo District”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend preserving medicinal plant wealth and associated indigenous knowledge.
Verbatim
e0“the medicinal plant species wealth of the study site and the associated indigenous knowledge need to be preserved”