Medicinal Plants of the Washambaa (Tanzania): Documentation and Ethnopharmacological Evaluation

Abstract

Medicinal plants are an important local resource for the Washambaa of the Western Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. In this study the Washambaa medicinal plants are inventoried. It is based on ethnobotanical fieldwork carried out over 15 months. This study presents for the first time an analysis of medicinal plants used in Africa with a ranking of these taxa by the frequency of their reported use. A total of 328 taxa were collected and yielded 2260 individual use reports. The most popular species are Myrica salicifolia and Toddalia asiatica. Subsequently, the use reports were arranged into 9 groups of medicinal uses based on the types of illness treated. The Factor of Informant Consensus (FIC) is used in order to evaluate the ethnobotanical importance of the plants. The largest number of plants and of use reports are in the group of gastrointestinal disorders. For the most commonly used taxa, an ethnopharmacological evaluation was performed. Studies to evaluate the Washambaa therapeutic claims as well as toxicological data are still lacking for many of the species. This study will form the basis for pharmacological and phytochemical research on selected Washambaa medicinal plants.

Documented Utility and Biocultural Value of Aloe L. (Asphodelaceae): A Review

“…The formula has since been applied to datasets that have ranged in volume and geographical extent from 2,260 records of 328 species in Tanzania (Schlage et al 2000), four datasets each comprising up to 3,059 records of 445 species in Mexico (Heinrich et al 1998), to 25,000 records of 2,735 species in North America (Moerman 2007). The present dataset differed principally from previous examples in that data were collected from the literature and referred to the known uses of plant species in a single genus throughout its range.…”

Current outlook and future promise of ethnobotany in Nigeria: A review and personal observation

“…Theoretically, the discipline informs the link between people and plants, the cultural significance of plants, as well as ecological relations of plants in human societies. The practical implications of these are the understanding of indigenous food production (Omohinmin, 2012), documentation of traditional botanical knowledge (O'Brien, 2010), and the scientific evaluation of plants used in traditional medicine (Gustafson et al, 1992;Cox and Balick, 1994;Schlage et al, 2000). Ethnobotany also provides explanation for biodiversity, cultural diversity, and indigenous bio-resources management practices.…”

Untitled

“…It occurs throughout India, most commonly grow in forests. [26] Argyreia nervosa (family: Convolvulaceae) plant is also known as elephant creeper or woolly morning glory. This plant is found on river banks, edges of lakes, and as undergrowth in semi-deciduous forests.…”