Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jul 19:15:1369480.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1369480. eCollection 2024.

Ethnobotanical study of traditional medicinal plants used to treat human ailments in West Shewa community, Oromia, Ethiopia

Affiliations

Ethnobotanical study of traditional medicinal plants used to treat human ailments in West Shewa community, Oromia, Ethiopia

Tamirat Bekele Beressa et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Plants have formed the basis of traditional medicine (TM) systems, which have been used for thousands of years. According to reports, one-quarter of the commonly used medicines contain compounds isolated from plants. This study aims to identify and document the plants for ethno-pharmacological use by the indigenous communities of West Shoa Zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to November 2021 in West Shewa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. The ethnobotanical data was collected from Ejere District, Ada Berga District, Dandi District, Ambo District, Ambo Town, Toke Kutaye District, and Bako Tibe District. A descriptive statistical method (percentage and/or frequency) was employed to summarize ethnobotanical data. Moreover, the informant consensus factor was computed. Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software (Microsoft Corporation, 2016) and SPSS (version 25) were used to organize and analyze the data. Result: In the study area, a total of 51 families of medicinal plants with 108 Species were identified. Fabaceae 8 species, Asteraceae, Solanaceae and Lamiaceae each with 6 species and Cucurubitacieae 5 species were the frequently reported medicinal plants. The leaf (57.2%) was the most widely used medicinal plant parts, and oral administration (56.5%) was the most cited route of administration. In the present study, most of the medicinal plants were used fresh, which was (75%) and the most common disease the healers treated was gastrointestinal disease, followed by skin disease and febrile illness. The major threat to medicinal plants in the study area was agricultural expansion, which was reported by 30.6% of the respondents. The study area was rich in medicinal plants, Fabaceae which commonly used family. Conclusion: Most of the medication prepared by the traditional healers was taken orally and derived from the leaf part of the medicinal plant. Since this research is a preliminary study which will be used as a base for further study. The efficacy and safety of the medicinal plant claim should be studied in the future.

Keywords: Ethiopia; West shewa; ethnobotanical study; medicinal plants; traditional medicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Map of the study area.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Part the medicinal plants used for medicine by traditional healers in West Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The method medicine preparations used by the traditional healers in West Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Treats to medicinal plant by traditional healers in West Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abate L. (2008). Assessment of climate change effects on rain fed crop production and coping mechanisms: the case of smallholder farmers of west Shoa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University.
    1. Abebe D., Zewdu M., Demissie A. (2001). “Biodiversity conservation of medicinal plants: problem and prospects. conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ethiopia,” in Proceeding of the national workshop on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in Ethiopia (Thiruvananthapuram, India: IBCR; ).
    1. Abera B. (2003). Medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Ethiop. J. Health Sci. 13 (2), 85–94.
    1. Alebie G., Mehamed A. (2016). An ethno-botanical study of medicinal plants in Jigjiga town, capital city of Somali regional state of Ethiopia. Int. J. Herb. Med. 4 (6), 168–175.
    1. Alves R. R., Rosa I. M. (2007). Biodiversity, traditional medicine and public health: where do they meet? J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed. 3, 14–19. 10.1186/1746-4269-3-14 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was conducted by the fund obtained from Ambo University research grant with grant number CMHS/R-Phar/05/13.

LinkOut - more resources