Traditional herbal drugs of Bulamogi,Uganda: plants,use and administration

We present here an inventory of the medicinal plants of Bulamogi county in Uganda, including their medicinal use, preparation and administration modes. Fieldwork for this study was conducted between June 2000 and June 2001 using semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation as well as transect walks in wild herbal plant collection areas. We recorded 229 plant species belonging to 168 genera in 68 families with medicinal properties. A large proportion of these plants are herbaceous. The medicinal plants are mainly collected from the wild. Some species, such as Sarcocephalus latifolius (Smith) Bruce, are believed by the community to be threatened by unsustainable intensities of use and patterns of harvesting. Particularly vulnerable are said to be the woody or the slow growing species. Herbal medicines are prepared as decoctions, infusions, powders, or as ash, and are administered in a variety of ways. Other concoctions consist of juices and saps. The purported therapeutic claims await validation. Validation in our opinion can help to promote confidence among users of traditional medicine, and also to create opportunities for the marketing of herbal medicines and generate incomes for the community. The processing, packaging and storage of herbal medicines is substandard and require improvement.     

北京市门头沟区野生药用植物区系及药用功能多样性分析

目的 摸清北京市门头沟区药用植物多样性的具体情况,为药用植物的开发利用和保护提供资料。方法 采用样地法对野生药用植物展开实地调查,从种类构成、生活型组成、分布区类型、群落垂直结构、药用功能等方面进行分析比较。结果 样地调查显示门头沟区野生药用维管植物种类较为丰富,共44科76属92种,被子植物占95.6％;种子植物属可分为12个分布区类型,温带属占所有属(世界分布除外) 58.73%,具有一定的热带成分特征,但特有类型少;生活型多样,草本植物占79.55%,木本植物群落分层明显;药用功能以清热为主,占总种数25.27%,其他各药用功能比例相近。结论 样地调查共发现门头沟区野生药用维管植物有92种,以温带分布为主,草本植物占优势,药用植物功效以清热为主。     

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the Zay people in Ethiopia

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out to collect information on the use of medicinal plants by the Zay people who live on islands as well as shore areas of Lake Ziway in the Ethiopian Rift Valley. A total of 33 medicinal plants were reported as being used locally for the treatment and/or control of human and livestock ailments. Results of the survey showed that leaf materials form the major component of plant parts harvested. The majority of the remedies are prepared in the form of juice from freshly collected plant parts. Most of the remedies are prepared from a single species, and are mainly taken orally. Most of the medicinal plants are collected from the wild. Of the total claimed medicinal plants, 10 were reported scarce locally. Environmental degradation and intense deforestation have been reported as the main causes for the depletion of medicinal plants in the area. As the Zay people are still partly dependent on medicinal plants, loss of these plants will, to a certain extent, hamper the existing health care system in the area. Measures for conservation of medicinal plants of the Zay people are urgently needed.     

畲族野生药用植物资源及应用的调查研究

为查清我国畲族常用野生药用植物资源的种类、分布和民间应用情况及畲族特有药用植物品种。对全国25个畲民主要居住的县（市）区进行实地调查,收集民间畲医药人员提供的处方、治疗案例、用法用量、常用畲药和药物标本,同时调查其分布情况、生长环境,记录植物特征,拍摄图片、GPS数据及航迹,采集新鲜腊叶或植物标本。结果收集到畲族民间用药1 600个品种、病名450个和处方1 016个;其中畲族常用药用植物520种,主要生长分布在我国东南部,海拔200~1 500 m;有国家一级保护野生植物（药用）5种、国家二级保护野生植物（药用）15种,畲族特有药用植物11种;分属于144科、312属、494种、2亚种、17变种、3变型和1栽培变种;畲族民间药物使用方法不同于中医和其他民族医药。通过调查,查清了我国畲族常用野生药用植物资源的种类、分布、民间应用情况和常用药物,查明了珍稀濒危畲族药用植物和畲族特有药用植物,为今后畲药资源开发利用决策提供了依据。     

Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants from Gujranwala district,Pakistan

Aim of study

This study was focused with the aim to investigate and document the indigenous medicinal knowledge and commonly used medicinal plants from Gujranwala district, Pakistan and to establish a baseline data in continuing studies aimed at more comprehensive investigations on bio-active compounds of indigenous medicinal plants.

Material and methods

Rapid appraisal approach (RAA) was used along with the interviews, group meetings with people having knowledge about indigenous uses of medicinal plants and individual meetings with herbalists were conducted, to collect the ethnomedicinal data.

Results and discussions

About 71 species of medicinal plants belonging to 38 families have been documented through 203 informants. Most favored plant part used for indigenous medicine was leaves (38%) followed by the seed (13%), whole plant (11%), flower (9%), fruit (8%), root and bark (6%) and the main source of these medicines was wild herbs (54%) followed by the wild shrubs, wild trees (13%), cultivated herbs (10%), cultivated trees (5%), cultivated shrubs (3%) and wild grasses (2%). The herbal preparations were mainly administrated orally and topically.

Conclusion

Gujranwala district has great diversity of medicinal plants and people are aware about their medicinal values. Few plants are playing vital role in the basic health care needs of study areas; such plants should be screened for detailed pharmacological studied to explore new biological compounds.     

Medicinal utilization of exotic plants by Bapedi traditional healers to treat human ailments in Limpopo province,South Africa

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Most exotic plants are usually labelled as alien invasives and targeted for eradication. However, some of these exotic plants play an important role in the traditional primary healthcare sector of the Bapedi culture in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The medicinal uses of most of these species have neither been documented nor their biological activity evaluated.

Aim of the study

To make an inventory of exotic species employed by Bapedi traditional healers to treat different human ailments in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Materials and methods

Semi-structured interviews, observation and guided field walks with 52 traditional healers were employed to obtain ethnobotanical data during first half of 2011 on the use of exotic plant species by Bapedi healers to treat human ailments. Based on ethnobotanical information provided by these healers, specimens were collected, numbered, pressed, and dried for identification.

Results

A total of 35 exotics species belonging to 21 families and 34 genera, mostly from the Fabaceae and Solanaceae (11.4% for each), Apocynaceae and Asteraceae (8.5% for each) were used by Bapedi healers to treat 20 human ailments. Trees (45.7%) and herbs (37.1%) are the primary source of medicinal plants. Species most frequently reported were used for the treatment of hypertension (35%), diabetes mellitus, erectile dysfunction and gonorrhoea (25% for each). The highest consensus from individual accounts of the traditional healers on the use of exotic plant remedies in this study was noted for the three ailments. These were for Catharanthus roseus (gonorrhoea, 60%), Punica granatum (diarrhoea, 38.4%) and Ricinus communis (sores, 21.5%). Of the 35 exotic plant species recorded, 34.2% are regulated by the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (1983) (CARA) No. 43 of 1983 either as worst weeds or invaders.

Conclusion

The present study demonstrated that exotic plant species play an important part as medicinal remedies employed by Bapedi healers to treat different human diseases in the Limpopo Province. The use of these species as alternative sources of medicinal remedies could alleviate harvesting pressure of wild indigenous plants, thereby enhance biodiversity's region. However, there is a need to formulate an appropriate policy to retain some of the useful medicinal exotics (listed under CARA No. 43 of 1983) within the environment before their medicinal value vanishes as they are eradicated through management strategies adopted by the South African government.     

重庆市城口县药用植物资源调查研究

采用第四次全国中药资源普查中野生重点中药资源调查方法——样方调查法,记录品种种类、数量,采集标本及药材,重点品种测量单株重,统计不同代表区域、植被类型、海拔的样方数,普查共记录药用植物品种703 种,重点品种143 种,占重庆市重点品种的74.5%,隶属于71 科,132 属,野生重点品种128 种,栽培重点品种30 种（包括15 种既有野生也有栽培）,其中14 种中药材得到大规模栽培。通过此次普查有助于了解城口县重点药用植物分布情况、生长环境和资源蕴藏量,为中药资源持续发展提供参考。     

Ethnobotanical study of plants used in treating hypertension in Edo State of Nigeria

A study was undertaken in 12 local government areas (LGAs) of Edo State located in central southern Nigeria, representing 66.6% coverage, in order to obtain an inventory of the major medicinal plants used in folk medicine to treat arterial hypertension. One hundred and eighty nine respondents who were mainly traditional medical practitioners and were knowledgeable in the medicinal plants for treating hypertension were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire administered by trained interviewers. The inventory of medicinal plants is summarized in a synoptic table, which contains the scientific, vernacular and common names of the plants/frequency of citation, the part of the plant and method of preparation of recipes. The study indicated 70 plants belonging to 67 genera in 43 families are commonly prescribed. Of these plants, 39 species are cultivated, 29 species grow in the wild, while only 2 both grow wild and also cultivated. Ninety three herbal antihypertensive recipes are recognized and are mainly prepared as decoctions, infusions, powders and juice. The leaf (43%) represented the dominant morphological part often included in recipes. Plants frequently included in antihypertensive recipes were Allium species, Persea americana, Acalypha godseffiana, Zingiber officinale, Sida acuta, Hunteria umbellata, Rauwolfia vomitoria, Viscum album and Aframomum melegueta.     

Plant part substitution--a way to conserve endangered medicinal plants?

Population growth, urbanization and the unrestricted collection of medicinal plants from the wild is resulting in an over-exploitation of natural resources in southern Africa. Therefore, the management of traditional medicinal plant resources has become a matter of urgency. In southern Africa the most frequently used medicinal plants are slow-growing forest trees, bulbous and tuberous plants, with bark and underground parts being the parts mainly utilized. A strategy which would satisfy the requirements of sustainable harvesting, yet simultaneously provide for primary health care needs, would be the substitution of bark or underground parts with leaves of the same plant. This paper outlines the concept of plant substitution, using preliminary results of our recent investigations into four of the most important and most threatened South African medicinal plants - Eucomis autumnalis (bulb), Siphonochilus aethiopicus (rhizome), Ocotea bullata (bark), and Warburgia salutaris (bark) - as a demonstration of the kind of research necessary. Extracts of various plant parts were compared chemically using TLC-analysis, and pharmacologically in terms of antibacterial activity and cyclooxygenase-1 inhibition in vitro. The importance of the concept of plant part substitution as a strategy for the conservation of medicinal plants in southern Africa is discussed in terms of the results obtained.     

甘肃省哈思山自然保护区药用植物调查与保护

目的:探明哈思山自然保护区野生药用植物种类及利用情况,为合理开发利用和保护该区域药用植物资源提供参考。方法:结合第四次全国中药资源普查技术方案,通过查阅文献资料、采集区域药用植物标本及走访调查,整理该保护区的野生药用植物种类并进行结果分析。结果:哈思山自然保护区共有药用植物247种7变种,隶属61科161属,野生药用植物种类以多年生草本居多;按药用部位统计全草类种类最多,共124种,占48. 82%,根及根茎类和果实及种子类次之;按中药功效统计清热类药用植物最多,占32. 68%;此外有草麻黄、达乌里秦艽及火烧兰等珍稀濒危野生药用植物8种。结论:哈思山自然保护区药用植物资源丰富,是靖远县及黄土高原区域药用植物资源重要组成部分和保护区域。但药用植物受采挖及虫害等威胁比较严重,资源利用存在盲目性,应得到科学保护和合理开发。     

Medicinal plant diversity and use in the highlands of Dolakha district,Nepal

This paper presents the ethnomedical uses of wild species among nine rural communities managing local forest resources in the Bonch Village Development Committee (VDC), Dolakha district, Nepal. Local communities possess knowledge of 113 medical remedies derived from 58 species belonging to 40 families to treat a wide range of ailments. A review of literature indicated that 56 medical remedies reported in this paper are new. Most medicines were prepared in the form of juice and were administered orally. Roots and leaves were the most frequently used plant parts. Local people were familiar mostly with the species dealing with common ailments particularly cough/cold, digestive problems, fever, headache, and skin infections. Complex ailments were treated by traditional healers. Haphazard harvesting and over-exploitation of commercial species were also reported. Sustainable harvesting methods and domestication of potential commercial species require attention in the local forest operational plans. The present study indicates that the area harbors a high diversity of medicinal plants. Despite gradual socio-cultural transformation, local communities still possess substantial knowledge of plants and their uses. The reliance on folk medicines for health care is associated with the lack of modern medicines and medication, poverty and the traditional belief of its effectiveness. Since there is a lack of phyto-therapeutic evidence for many of the species, we recommend that phytochemical and pharmacological studies be carried out in order to confirm the validity of properties attributed to these species: this is particularly relevant for species with market potential beyond the district. With setting up management plans for their extraction, these medicinal resources can provide for both subsistence needs and income. This, however, requires detail assessment of resource quantities, productivity potential, sustainable harvesting methods, domestication possibilities, market value of potentially promising species, and importantly, equitable benefit sharing regimes.     

Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants at periodic markets of Honghe Prefecture in Yunnan Province, SW China

In China, traditional markets are considered as important places for trading of medicinal plants harvested by rural villagers, which also play a social role of exchanging traditional use of herbal medicine among different cultural and social groups at local level. Market survey is often engaged in ethnobotanical studies for documenting locally used herbal plants and associated traditional knowledge. Information collected from market survey is also useful for plant conservation in the habitat areas. However, information on the market traded medicinal plants is not well documented from traditional markets in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan. The study aimed to look into medicinal plants that are used by local people for curing various ailments. Ethnobotanical market survey methods, interviews, Participatory Action Research (PAR) and field visits were planned to elicit information on the uses of various medicinal plants. It was found that 216 plant species are commonly used by local people for curing various diseases, of which 173 species (80.1%) are wild plants and 43 species (19.9%) are home garden plants. A total of 278 records of medical uses in 60 herbal recipes for the treatment of 16 types of common diseases were recorded. In most of the recipes recorded, digestion diseases (30.6%) were used. The rest are rheumatological diseases (13.0%), respiratory system diseases (10.4%), infectious diseases (7.9%) and surgery uses (7.9%). The knowledge about the number of medicinal plants available in that area and used by interviewees was positively correlated with the threats on medicinal plants in the wild habitats of the study area, indicating that the diversity of medicinal plants and the associated traditional knowledge trends to disappear in the area.     

Medicinal plants of the Shinasha, Agew-awi and Amhara peoples in northwest Ethiopia

Study was conducted in two sub-districts in northwestern Ethiopia to compile and analyse knowledge on the use of medicinal plants for treatment or prevention of human ailments by three socio-cultural groups, namely the Amharas, Shinashas and Agew-Awis. Data were mainly collected through individual interviews conducted with selected knowledgeable farmers and professional healers of the three socio-cultural groups. A total of 76 medicinal plants belonging to 48 families were documented, of which 50 species were reported by the Amharas, 25 by the Shinashas and 20 by the Agew-Awis. Large proportions of medicinal plants were found to have been used for the treatments of gastro-intestinal complaints (26%), skin diseases (24%) and malaria (22%). Relatively, higher numbers of informants agreed on the use of Croton macrostachyus against malaria (21%), Cynoglossum coeruleum against ‘mich’, illness mainly characterized by fever, headache and sweating (18%) and Zehneria scabra against malaria (13%). The species Croton Macrostachyus, Calpurnia aurea, Clematis hirsuta and Plumbago zeylanica were found to have the highest diversity of medicinal applications. We recommend that priority for further investigation should be given to medicinal plants with higher informant consensuses, as this could indicate their better efficacy. Measures are needed to conserve plants that are reported as scarce in the study area but still are only harvested from the wild.     

江西兰科药用植物资源调查

调查研究江西兰科药用植物资源种类、分布、利用及资源现状,为保护与合理利用兰科药用植物资源提供理论依据。通过野外考察、线路调查、民间访问等调查方法,分别在不同季节对江西境内不同地区的兰科药用植物进行调查研究;对野外调查采集到的兰科药用植物及存放于江西各科研院校标本馆的兰科植物标本进行研究鉴定;对江西兰科药用植物资源的种类、分布地点、资源数量、药用价值与资源利用现状进行研究分析;查阅研究本草文献中有关兰科药用植物种类、药用情况等信息,参考有关兰科药用植物资源现代研究文献。江西共计分布有兰科药用植物37属93种,新增兰科药用植物19种,其中仅石斛属就增加6个药用新种。药用属占江西全省兰科属数的71. 2%,占全国兰科属数的20. 1%,药用种占江西兰科种类的76. 9%,占全国兰科药用种类的31. 2%。江西兰科药用植物资源丰富,许多种类具有很高的药用价值和观赏价值,但随着兰科药用植物资源的过度开发利用,有些野生兰科药用植物资源正面临枯竭,亟待加强科学管理与保护。     

湖北省野生药用植物资源特点

对湖北省野生药用植物资源种类、地道植物药材种类、中国特有科、属、种和珍稀、濒危物种等在湖北省的分布情况进行了分析,为政府及相关部门制定有力的资源保护政策以及湖北省和全国的生物物种(含野生物种、药用植物物种)保护执法评估标准的制定提供了科学依据。     

3S技术在药用植物资源调查研究中的应用

3S技术在药用植物适宜性评价中应用较多,但在资源调查和储量估算方面研究较少,只集中在大面积栽培品种或野生广布种如人参、甘草、红花等少数几种药用植物,特别是在野生稀有药用植物资源调查方面的应用尚属空白。简述了中药资源普查的现状及近几年3S技术在栽培品种、野生广布种、野生稀有种、特殊生态环境药用植物资源调查及储量估算研究中的应用,并对高光谱遥感在中药资源调查及储量估算进行案例介绍。随着我国高分辨卫星的发射以及高光谱遥感技术的发展,使得利用3S技术对野生稀有种药用植物资源调查成为可能。     

Medicinal wild plant knowledge and gathering patterns in a Mapuche community from North-western Patagonia

Medicinal plant use has persisted as a long standing tradition in the Mapuche communities of Southern Argentina and Chile. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in the rural Curruhuinca community located near the mountain city of San Martin de los Andes, Argentina. Semi-structured interviews were carried out on 22 families in order to examine the present use of medicinal plants and their reputed therapeutic effects. Ecological variables, such as distance to the gathering site and biogeographical origin were also analyzed. Our results showed that the Curruhuinca dwellers cited 89 plant species for medicinal purposes, both of native and exotic origin. They know about 47 native plants, of which they use 40, and they know of 42 exotic medicinal plants of which they use 34. A differential pattern was observed given that only native species, relevant for the traditional Mapuche medicine, were collected at more distant gathering sites. The interviewees mentioned 268 plant usages. Those most frequently reported had therapeutic value for treating digestive ailments (33%), as analgesic/anti-inflammatory (25%) and antitusive (13%). Native species were mainly cited as analgesics, and for gynecological, urinary and "cultural syndrome" effects, whereas exotic species were mainly cited for digestive ailments. The total number of medicinal plants known and used by the interviewees was positively correlated with people's age, indicating that this ancient knowledge tends to disappear in the younger generations.     

石家庄封龙山主要药用植物资源

调查石家庄封龙山《中国药典》收载药用植物资源.报道52科80属92种药用植物的药用部分和主要功效.菊科药用植物数量(11)最多,其次是蔷薇科6种和百合科5种.提出野生药用植物保护、可持续利用、植物化学和药理学研究的建议.     

Ethnobotanical study of indigenous knowledge on medicinal and nutritious plants used to manage opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS in western Uganda

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Traditional medicine plays an important role in the daily lives of the people of Uganda to treat a wide range of health problems. Our study presents results of an ethnobotanical inventory conducted to identify and document medicinal and nutritional plants used in the management of opportunistic infections associated with human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), the plant parts used, preparation and administration methods of herbal remedies.

Materials and methods

We performed semi-structured interviews with 79 respondents (women 78%, men 22%), who included specialists in medicinal plants (such as traditional birth attendants and herbalists) and non specialists with general knowledge of plant use. Respondents answered a semi-structured questionnaire regarding their knowledge of plants and general treatment practices including management of HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections. The reported plants were collected and identified. Data were analyzed using factor informant consensus and fidelity level to determine homogeneity of informants? knowledge on medicinal and nutritional plants suitable for different ailment categories and the most preferred plant species used to treat each ailment category in the study areas.

Results

The study revealed 148 plant species belonging to 54 families, most of which were herbs (50.7%). Leaves (61.6%) were the most frequently used parts in remedy preparations which were mainly administered orally (72%). The majority of plants (62%) were harvested from wild habitats. The most important species according to fidelity values are Hibiscus sabdariffa L. for anaemia, Mangifera indica L. for cough, Zehneria scabra (L. F.) Sond. for skin infections, Rhus natalensis Bernh.ex.Krauss for diarrhoea and Tarenna pavettoides (Harv.) Sim for appetite boosting. The factor informant consensus highlighted the agreement in the use of plants and showed that the respiratory infections category had the greatest agreement (0.60). Family Asteraceae accounted for 15% of the total species recorded. Sixty plant species (40%) of the plants provide nutritional support.

Conclusion

The study revealed that folk medicine is still widely practised. Fidelity level values indicate that these plants are the most preferred species for particular ailments. The high consensus value (0.6) indicated that there was high agreement in the use of plants for respiratory ailments among others. These preferred plant species could be prioritized for conservation and subjected to chemical screening to ascertain their pharmacological activities.     

Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants from Leepa valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Aim of study

Ethnomedicinal studies were conducted first time in the Leepa Valley, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan to document indigenous medicinal knowledge of most common plant species. Pakistan is diverse country by possessing a wide range of climatic and geological condition; this country also has a mammoth diversity of flora.

Material and methods

Rapid appraisal approach, semi-structured interviewees, personal observations and field work guided by local informants having sufficient knowledge of indigenous medicinal plants were employed to acquire ethnomedicinal information.

Results

In this study 61 medicinal plants belonging to 40 families have been reported through 705 informants (267 females, 393 males and 45 herbal specialists) from 17 sites of Leepa valley. The main sources of herbal medicines were wild herbs (64%) followed by trees (10%), wild shrubs (8%), cultivated herbs (3%), wild and cultivated herbs (3%), wild grasses (3%), climbing wild herbs (2%), prostate wild herbs (2%), spiny shrubs (2%), fungi (2%) and ferns (1%). The most repeatedly used plant parts were leaves (34%) followed by root (16%), seed (10%), shoot (9%), fruit (8%), flower (8%), bark (6%), whole plant (4%) and barriers, tubers, nuts, oil, milky latex (1%). Preparations of medicinal plants were administrated through oral and topical routs.

Conclusion

Leepa Valley is wealthy in its indigenous medicinal plants species and the allied traditional knowledge. Indigenous medicines play important role in the local healthcare system. Most of the local community prefers to use the traditional herbal preparation for against ailments. This is the first record of indigenous knowledge from this area and there is dare need for more studies to authenticate traditional plants used in herbal remedies of study area.