ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THEPEOPLE OF WADERA WOREDA, EAST GUJI ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study of indigenous knowledge on utilization of native plants as source of Medicine is important to conserve and preserve indigenous knowledge for next generation. This study was conduct to document indigenous knowledge and medicinal plants used by the people of Wadera District. A total of 100 respondents (age≥20) were selected to collect information on medicinal plants selected Kebele. Of these 10 key informant were selected purposely based on recommendation by local elders and authorities and the rest were selected randomly Ethnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews, field observations and group discussions. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize Ethnobotanical data. Further, 80 medicinal plant species distributed in 73 genera and 46 families were documented in the study area. Of the recorded plant species, 32 species( 40%) of them were reported to treat human ailments. From the total medicinal plant species, 28(35%) were herbs followed by shrubs22(27.5%),trees 19(23.75%), and climber 11 (13.75%)). The most frequently used plant part was leaf 50(83.3%) followed by root 26(42,3%). The most widely used method of preparation was pounding 15(25%) of the different plant parts. The common route of administration recorded was oral (47.96%) followed by dermal (35%) and nasal (7.4%). Disease categories such as Common cold, Tonsillitis, cough and Respiratory structure related diseases had relatively high ICF value Dichrostachy cinea, Bersama abyssinica and Nicotiana tabacum had the high fidelity level value, suggesting agreement between respondents on their efficacy to treat the diseases therefore, further phytochemical screening done on these plant species to look for the active components.