ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN LIMU BILBILO DISTRICT, ARSI ZONE, OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

In developing countries, the value of traditional medicinal plant species gaining popularity as it is inexpensive compared to the modern health services. Hence, the purpose of this study was to identify traditional medicinal plants and related indigenous knowledge of the study area. Ethnobotanical data was collected from February to March, 2022 using 86 ordinary and 14 key informants through semi-structured interviews, and guided field for field observations to select potential kebeles based on the availability of traditional medicinal plants, traditional healers, and altitudinal variation between kebeles. The results of the study showed that, 63 plant species belonging into 63 genera and 35 families were identified for the treatment about 119 diseases, of which 44 (37%) and 10(8.4%) were reported to treat human and livestock ailments respectively and 20(16.8%) of the plants were being used to treat both human and livestock ailments. The families Solanaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rossaceae were the most dominant species. The communities in the study area mostly use leaves (40.7%) followed by roots (22.3%), fruit (10.5 %) and seeds (6.6%). Among the total plant species reported to treat human ailments, herbs constitute the largest category (36.5%) followed by shrub (30.15%) and tree (23.8%). Medicinal plants species were distributed in different habitats, i.e. 34.92% of species were obtained from the wild, followed by 28.57% of species from farming land. Crushing and Pounding are the most frequently used methods of traditional medicine preparation in the study area, identified by 34.6% and 16.2% of citations respectively. The traditional medicinal plants were frequently applied by drinking (46.8%) followed by painting, (16.13%), tying (9.7%) and others. In the study area, oral administration is the dominant route with 61.5% of the cases followed by dermal 30.7%, nasal 7.7% and anal 1%. Informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level were calculated to assess the agreement of informants on the medicinal value of plants. Furthermore, preference ranking and direct matrix were computed Sudden sickness had the highest ICF value (0.82) due to the high incidence of the ailment in the area; whereas gastrointestinal related diseases had the lowest (0.36) may be due to the rare occurrence of these ailments. Fidelity level values in this study range from 65.2% to 91.3%. Among the selected medicinal plants species, Allium sativum L. scored 57 and ranked first, indicating that it is the most effective in treating Jaundice, followed by Ocimum lamifolium and the least effective was Hagenia abyssinica. Informants ranked firewood as the most serious threat to medicinal plants, followed by agricultural expansion, overgrazing and lower levels of threats by the other factors. This study showed that, medicinal plants were used by a large number of populations of the study area to treat human and livestock ailments in their day-to-day health care activities. To avoid erosion of the medicinal plants, indigenous knowledge and to ensure its sustainable use, awareness rising should be made among the healers