Indigenous Knowledge and Use of Medicinal Plants Among the Kuria Communities in the Tarime and Serengeti Districts of Mara Region, Tanzania

Abstract

Plants are used across the world for medical treatment, particularly in Africa. This study investigates and documents indigenous knowledge and use of medicinal plants among the Kuria communities in the Tarime and Serengeti districts of Mara Region, Tanzania. Ethnobotanical data were collected in collaboration with 20 Traditional healers (THs) aged between 30 and 85 years. The methods used were jungle-walk-and-identify, local field guides and observation, semi structured interviewers, focus group discussion with traditional healers, folk taxonomy, and scientific identification of plants. Kuria medicinal plant healers reported 100 medicinal plants belonging to 34 different families. Asteraceae family (15%) prevails, followed by Fabaceae (13%), and Lamiaceae (12%). Erect herbs constitute the largest fraction (41%), followed by shrubs (27%), trees (24%), grasses (4%), climbers (4%) and ferns (1%). Vines are not used as a medicinal plant despite their wide availability. Leaves are the most used parts of medicinal plants. Healers list about 53 different diseases treated with plants, the most common being abdominal pain (12.1% of plants) and urinary tract infections (10% of plants). Kuria medicinal plant healers have rich expert botanical and medicinal knowledge. An analysis of bioactive components in these medicinal plants is important for selection of medicinal plants to be used for drug development.

Ethnobotanical Survey on the Knowledge and Use of Medicinal Plants for Malaria Management among University Students

“…The majority of users of medicinal plants for the management of malaria were female students (57.3%). Similar results were recorded elsewhere in Tanzania where female participants were the predominant users of medicinal plants (Kitula 2007, Charwi et al 2023. This might be due to culture and practices where women are more engaged in caregiving to sick people than male members.…”

Ethnomedicinal study of medicinal plants used for treatment of urinary tract infections in Mara region, Tanzania

“…Unlike in Urambo District in Tanzania (Kacholi & Amir 2022a), Katsina State, Nigeria (Kankara et al 2018), and Livingstone, Southern Province, Zambia (Chinsembu 2016), where male healers are highly trusted and dominate the traditional healing sector, for Kuria tribe is different. In many households, Kuria women are the central authority in home-based herbal therapeutics (Charwi et al 2023). Similar supremacy is also reported among the Bambara in Mali (Imperato 1981).…”

“…The number of cited MPs declined with increasing education levels. The negative correlation between formal education and MPs knowledge has been reported elsewhere (Charwi et al 2023, Girma et al 2022, Kacholi & Mvungi 2022, Kassa et al 2020. Most of the KTH informed to have learned the practices from their family members or close friends.…”

“…Mara region is the ancestral home of the Kuria tribe in Tanzania, and MPs' applications are popular among its residents. Unfortunately, there are limited records of in-depth ethnobotanical research in the Mara region (Charwi et al 2023). The autochthonous knowledge can vanish because of the immigration of locals to urban areas for employment, loss of natural habitats, industrialization, and extreme change in local ecology (Usman et al 2022).…”

Medicinal plants used in the traditional management of dog bites by herbalists in Eastern, Western, and Central Uganda

“…For example, crushing magnifies the efficiency of a decoction where boiling enables the active ingredients in the crushed plant materials to dissolve easily. During decoction, the boiling carried out also sterilizes the materials used (Charwi et al 2023) and preserves the herbal remedy prepared than when cold media is used. However, if boiling is done for a long time, it may lead to the degradation of bioactive ingredients in the plant part, more so the aromatic compounds (Tugume & Nyakoojo 2019).…”