Ethnomedical Survey of the Plants Used by Traditional Healers in Narok County, Kenya

Kigen, Gabriel; Kamuren, Zipporah; Njiru, Evangeline; Wanjohi, Bernard; Kipkore, Wilson

doi:10.1155/2019/8976937

Cited by 30 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Recording and preserving the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants has become very important practice in recent times [17]. Several ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological research studies have been published documenting Kenya's medicinal plant knowledge and use: Marakwet county [11,18], Northern Kenya [19], Siaya county [20,21], Tugen [22], Machakos county [23,24], Samburu county [25][26][27], Sekanani Valley, Maasai Mara [28], Kajiado county [29][30][31][32][33], Embu and Mbeere county [34], Makueni county [35], Mount Elgon [36], Nakuru county [37], Nandi county [38][39][40][41], Tharaka Nithi county [42], Kakamega county [43][44][45][46][47], Kitui county [48], Elgeyo Marakwet county [49], Kericho county [50], Machakos county [51], Narok county [52][53][54], Trans-Mara county [55], Kilifi county [56]. However, in Kenya, many areas and ethnic societies are yet to be ethno botanically surveyed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

Mbuni

Wang

Mwangi

et al. 2020

Plants

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Medicinal plants are vital sources of easily accessible remedy used in the countryside healthcare system. This study aimed to find and make record of plants that are used for medicinal therapy by three communities living in Cherangani Hills. So far no single study has documented medicinal plants as a whole in the area. Ethnobotanical data were obtained through interviewing informants using semi-structured questionnaires and extracting information from journals and books. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to describe the data. Overall 296 plant species from 80 families and 191 genera were identified. Asteraceae family was the most dominant, representing 10.7% of the total plant species recorded. Roots (35.9%) represented the most commonly used parts of the plant. The commonly used method of preparation was decoction (54.9%). The reported diseases were classified into 14 diverse ailment groups out of the 81 health conditions on their underlying user reports. Rural communities in Cherangani Hills are rich sources of plants with medicinal properties. Therapeutic uses of the compiled plants provide basic information that can aid scientists to conduct additional research dedicated to conservation of species and pharmacological studies of species with the greatest significance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

Mbuni

Wang

Mwangi

et al. 2020

Plants

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“…An estimated 1,200 plant species in Kenya are reported to have a medicinal value [26]. In Kenya, ethnobotanical studies involving various ethnic groups have been done [16,17,21,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. e local communities who use natural resources have interacted with the biodiversity over the years and hence have accumulated important traditional knowledge regarding their use [40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ethnobotanical Survey of a Dryland Botanical Garden and Its Environs in Kenya: The Mutomo Hill Plant Sanctuary

Mutie

Gao

Kathambi

et al. 2020

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Mutomo hill plant sanctuary is a ten-hectare piece of land in Kenya listed as a botanical garden under the Botanical Gardens Conservation International, originally established in 1964 with the aim of conserving indigenous flora from destructive anthropogenic activities. This paper presents ethnobotanical documentation of medicinal plants of Mutomo hill plant sanctuary and its environs. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in Mutomo hill plant sanctuary and its environs with 48 herbalists aged between 32 and 96 years from July 2018 to February 2019 using a semistructured open-ended questionnaire. The plants were collected through random surveys with each herbalist in different ecotypes around the villages and within the Mutomo hill plant sanctuary. The Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) for each species reported was calculated to determine the plant species frequently collected. In total, 68 different plant species distributed in 28 families and 54 genera were reported. The frequently used plant families were Leguminosae (13 species), Lamiaceae (6 species), and Euphorbiaceae (6 species). Shrubs (37%) and trees (34%) were the dominant growth habits reported. The most cited plant species were Cassia abbreviata Oliv. (RFC = 0.63), Acacia nilotica (L.). Delile (RFC = 0.54), Strychnos heningsii Gilg (RFC = 0.46), and Aloe secundiflora Engl. (RFC = 0.31). Root (19 species) and bark (19 species) were the frequently collected plant parts. Infectious diseases (33) and digestive system disorders (24) were reported to be managed with the majority of the plant species. This study contributes to safeguarding the traditional knowledge on medicinal plants in the study area, which is useful in appreciating and acknowledging the cultural heritage of the Kamba people from the local perspective of Mutomo area in Kenya. It also adds to the knowledge base and documentation of medicinal plants, which is useful information as potential data for drug development.

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“…Although there are numerous reports, published work, thesis, dissertations, books, inventories, media reports, and monographs of the diversity of medicinal plants within the tropical environment [25][26][27][28][29][30], most of these knowledge are still based purely on scientific work that totally excludes the contribution of the local community members and does not reflect TMK. Of interest is that the majority of the works so far carried out in developing countries largely focus on the inventories, utilization, and conservation of medicinal plants [21,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. Various sets of recommendations have been compiled relating to the conservation of medicinal plants, such as those associated with international conferences at Chiang Mai, ailand, in 1988 and Bangalore, India, in 1998 (http://www.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regardless, there is little application of TMK on these inventories. ere is enormous knowledge on the use of indigenous medicinal plants in Kenya over the last decades (e.g., [30,32,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]). In light of this, therefore, there is a high expectation of enormous traditional knowledge of medicinal plant species in Kenya due to the use of diverse plant species, diversity of cultures, diverse languages, and beliefs among the different ethnic groups in Kenya.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Knowledge and Uses of Medicinal Wild Plants among the Marakwet Community in Kenya

Wanjohi

Sudoi

Njenga

et al. 2020

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Traditional plant knowledge and uses of medicinal wild plants were investigated among the Marakwet community in Kenya. Data were collected through interviews with seven traditional healers and 157 questionnaires for local community members. Traditional names of the plants by traditional healers and local community members were prepared as a checklist. Loss of traditional medicinal names of plants was ascertained with up to 60% overlapping in their nomenclature. The traditional medicinal plants treated 41 diseases within the region, of which local community members understood common ones for treating stomachache (94.8%), diarrhea (70.7%), chest problems (65.5%), and typhoid (63.8%). It was also clear that there was low knowledge index of medicinal plants by the local community members (23.6%) based on knowledge of traditional healers. Clearly, medicinal plants for treatment of malaria, diabetes, tetanus, and pneumonia were recognized by over 40% of the local community members, while plants treating arteriosclerosis, meningitis, arthritis, trachoma, smallpox, rheumatic fever, and gout were known by less than 10% of the respondents. Among plants, the use of roots for treatment was known by over 67% of the local community members compared to fruits, bark, bulb, and flowers (<10%). This low traditional medicinal knowledge in a community relies on the traditional medicinal plants, calling for an urgent need to document the information and perpetuate this knowledge from one generation to another. This can be achieved by collecting the information and developing a database of medicinal plants for future research and potential development of new drugs.

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Ethnomedical Survey of the Plants Used by Traditional Healers in Narok County, Kenya

Cited by 30 publications

References 20 publications

Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

An Ethnobotanical Survey of a Dryland Botanical Garden and Its Environs in Kenya: The Mutomo Hill Plant Sanctuary

An Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Knowledge and Uses of Medicinal Wild Plants among the Marakwet Community in Kenya

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