SURVEY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED TO TREAT HUMAN DISEASES IN SEKA CHEKORSA, JIMMA ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: More than 80% of people in developing countries depend on traditional medicine for their primary health care. Ethiopia is home for a number of traditional knowledge on traditional medicine. Among resources utilized by indigenous knowledge traditional medicinal plants are key resources. This involves the use of plants to treat variety of diseases. In this regard people of Seka Chekorsa are nor studied. Therefore, this study is aimed at the identification of those plant species having medicinal value to humans and document indigenous knowledge for further use

METHODS: survey was conducted by ethno botanical approach as formulated by Martin (1995) during February to end of May 2003. By preferential sampling representatives local people of Seka Cheqorsa were involved in the study. A semistructured questionnaire was used to collect the specimens and knowledge on their medicinal uses. The collected specimens were identified and voucher specimens are deposited at Jimma Unverisity College of Agriculture.

RESULTS: Thertynine medicinal plant were collected and identified for the treatment of 24 different kinds of diseases. Therty three of them are used as poly herbal prescription and 20 are used as single plant to treat diseases. The study indicated that leaves are the most commonly used (58%), roots (11%), completely plants and fruits (9%), stem and bark (2.6%) and (1.3%) respectively. Most of the medicines are taken orally (77%) followed by external application (topically on skin-bandaging or ointment (3.8%) and nasally inhaling (7%). Most of the plants are collected from the wild while very few are cultivated.

CONCLUSION: The study showed that people of Saka Chekorsa have used medicinal plants to treat their ailments since long. Local people know which part of plant used to what type of diseases. Therefore, the documented plants should be further "gated for their efficacy and safety to be integrated into conventional medicine. hermore these plants need to be conserved for their sustainable utilization