Indigenous Knowledge of Medicinal Plants to Treat Human Illness in Gimbo and Didessa Districts in the Southwest of Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to gather and document information on medicinal plants used in Ethiopia using an ethnomedicinal survey. The survey identified 80 species of medicinal plants belonging to 39 botanical families by indigenous people in Gimbo and Didessa districts in the Southwest of Ethiopia for the treatment of 46 illnesses. The majority of medicinal plants used were herbs. Leaves were the principal part of the plant used for the preparation of herbal remedies and formulations. Most of the medicinal plants were obtained from the wild. The oral route was the most commonly used mode of administration of herbal medicine. Water and salt were the most frequently used excipients for the preparation of herbal remedies. Croton macrostachyus, Clerodendrum myricoides, Ocimun laminafollum, Phytolacca dodecandra, and Vernonia amygdalina were the most repeatedly claimed medicinal plants by the informants.

KEYWORDS:

• Traditional medicine
• ethnomedicinal survey

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Jimma University Mega research project for financial support. The authors also express their gratitude to local administrators and traditional healers of Gimbo District of Kafa Zone and Didessa district of Buno Bedele zone for their valuable assistance during data collection. The authors also acknowledge Mr Melaku Wedaferash, The National Herbarium, for taxonomic authentication of some medicinal plants.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability

The complete data are all present within this article and are also available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to report.