Quantitative Ethnomedicinal Study of Plants Used by the Population in the Middle Plateaux of Uvira Territory (D. R. of Congo).

Abstract

BackgroundThis work increases the ethnomedicinal plants information in the Uvira Territory and, in particular, the middle plateau. Till now little is known about ethnomedicinal researches in Uvira Territory and no previous study has surveyed the medicinal uses of plants in the middle plateau of Uvira Territory. MethodsThe plant uses information survey was collected through a direct interview conducted with 25 local healers in 7 villages. The ethnobotanical information for each species, including scientific name, family, local name, morphological type, plant parts used, preparation, disease name, plant habitat was collected. The conservation status of plant species was checked by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. various quantitative indices (Relative frequency of citation Use Value, Informant consensus factor, Family Importance Value, Pearson’s correlation, Jaccard Index) were calculatedResultsInformation on 69 medicinal plants belonging to 61 genera and 34 families was collected. The total number of species per family showed that Fabaceae, Asteraceae, and Myrtaceae were most represented. Most species were herbs. Leave was the most frequently used part and decoction was the principal preparation method. Significantly higher numbers of medicinal plants were used against digestive system disorders and intestinal parasites. Tetradenia riparia, Syzygium guineense, Morella salicifolia and Erythrina abyssinica were the medicinal plants with the highest UV values. The Pearson correlation coefficient between RFC and UV was 0.95 showing a highly positive significant association. A total of 14 species were recorded as vulnerable.ConclusionThis study was able to show that this area, located in middle plateau of Uvira Territory, can provide a considerable medicinal plant diversity with an heterogenous medicinal importance to the community. With the relative high number of vulnerable species, there is a requirement for a sustainable management for these medicinal plants.

Exploring In Vitro Inhibition of the Causal agent of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt by Medicinal Plant Extracts sourced from North Kivu province, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“…There is great potential for plant extract-based treatments, as shown in ethnobotanical research conducted in DRCongo [29,30], e.g., in Kinshasa and Kasangulu [30,31,32], and in North and South Kivu [33,34,35]. These studies have identi ed numerous medicinal plant species from families such as Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae, Papilionaceae, Malvaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Caricaceae, Poaceae and Myrtaceae that are effective in controlling infectious diseases.…”