Ethnobotanical And Ethnopharmaceutical Studies On Medicinal Plants Of Chifra District Afar Region North Eastern Ethiopia

Medicinal plants have not been well studied, tested or documented in Afar region, NorthrnEastern Ethiopia. Most of the information is still in the hands of the traditional healers. Arnstudy was carried out during Nov.2002 – May 2003 to explore ethnobotanical information onrnthe use of medicinal plants by Afar people in 13 rural communities of Chifra District, AfarrnRegion, North Eastern Ethiopia. Based on the information found from ethnic leaders, 29rntraditional medicine practitioners were interviewed by using pre-tested semi structuredrnquestionnaire. A total of 70 plant species were reported for their medicinal use in the district.rnOf these, 33 were fully identified by their botanical name, 10 at generic level and 27 couldn’trnbe identified and were recorded only by their vernacular names. 15% of the identified speciesrnbelong to the family Fabaceae. Among 144 ethnoformulations reported, the majority werernliquid preparations followed by unprocessed herbs and powder. The most widely used solventrnto prepare the formulations was water. Size reduction, extraction and filtration were the mostrncommonly employed unit processes in the formulation. Intranasal route of administration wasrnfrequently used next to oral route. Polyherbal preparations were common in order to havernsynergistic or summation effect. Although there is difficulty of determining accurate dose, thernpractitioners have an idea of dose and frequency of herbal preparations. Side effects arernreported only for Aloe sp in therapeutic dose. Most of the oral herbal drugs arerncontraindicated for pregnant women. The practitioners have no idea of drug interactions andrnshelf life of the reported plant species. The data were analyzed using the concept of healerrnconsent in order to identify culturally important medicinal plants. The medicinal uses of thernplants were grouped into 9 disorder categories to have the factor of informant’s consensusrn(Fic) for each group. Accordingly, snakebite had the highest value (0.53) indicating therndependence of the practitioners on certain plants for the indication. The most frequentlyrnx irnrecorded medicinal plants of the Afar people were Aloe sp. used for the treatment ofrn“Urribaqla”, malaria, abdominal cramp, TB and pasterlosis; Acalypha sp. for snakebite,rnblackleg, anthrax, “Barelitta”and impotence. The medicinal plants were assessed usingrnpublished phytochemical and pharmacological data. Of the fully identified 33 medicinal plantrnspecies, the claimed medicinal uses of the six were in good agreement with other similarrnstudies and pharmacological activity tests reported elsewhere. The medicinal uses of most ofrnthe reported plant species have not been documented in other parts of the country. This studyrnunderlines the need for further exploration of ethnobotanical information in the region and thernresults will be used as a basis for subsequent studies on pharmacology, phytochemistry andrntoxicology of medicinal plant.

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