Ethnobotanical Study Of Traditional Medicinal Plants Of Goma Wereda Jima Zone Of Oromia Region Ethiopia

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants was conducted to document the indigenous plant-basedrnmedical knowledge of the people of Goma Wereda in southwestern Ethiopia from September, 2009 tornMay, 2010. A total of 100 informants (73 males and 27 females) between the ages of 20 and 80 werernselected to collect information on medicinal plant use from ten sampled kebeles. Out of these, 24 keyrninformants (22 males and 2 females) were purposively selected based on recommendation from eldersrnand local authorities. Other informants were selected randomly. Data were collected using semistructuredrninterviews, field observations and group discussions. Informant consensus, preferencernranking, paired comparison, direct matrix ranking, informant consensus factor (ICF) and Jaccard’srncoefficient of similarity were calculated. A total of 160 plant species: 101 species from wildrnvegetation and 59 species from home gardens distributed in 124 genera and 58 families wererncollected and identified. Of these, 121 medicinal plant species were used as cure for 102 ailments.rnFrom these, 92 species were recorded for the treatment of human health problems, 12 species forrnlivestock and 17 species for the treatment of both human and livestock. From the total medicinalrnplants species 54 species of the medicinal plants were herbs, followed by 30 species of shrubs, 26rnspecies of trees and 11 species of climbers. The most frequently used plant parts were leavesrn(61.66%) followed by roots (13.33%). The most widely used method of preparation was crushingrn(26.80%) of the different plant parts followed by squeezing (22.68 %) and burning (7.21%). Therncommon route of administration recorded was oral (52.01%) followed by dermal (28.52%) and nasalrn(8.3 %). The most commonly used application of medicinal plant was drinking (43.37%) followed byrnpainting (10.84%) and put on and washing accounted for 10.84% each. The medicinal plants that arernpresumed to be effective in treating certain diseases such as Ocimum lamiifolium and Crotonrnmacrostachyus have high informant consensus. The disease categories such as rheumatism andrnstabbing pain as well as the categories of evil eye and evil spirit have higher ICF value of 0.907.rnPreference ranking showed that people of the area have preference for Acmella caulirhiza for therntreatment of tonsillitis. Paired comparison of five species of plants that are used for the same diseasernshowed that Indigofera spicata is the most preferred species by traditional healers for the treatmentrnof insect allergy (‘Hadha’). Direct matrix ranking showed Cordia africana as the most utilizedrnspecies by the community. Agricultural expansion, firewood collection, timber production andrnconstruction are major threats to plants in general and medicinal plants in particular in the studyrnarea. The participation of the local people, awareness raising through training or education onrnsustainable utilization and management of plant resources, establishment of forest protected areasrnshould be encouraged.rnKey words: Ethiopia, Ethnobotany, Goma. homegardens, informant consensus factor

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