ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN ERHUWAREN COMMUNITY IN UGHELLI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE

Abstract

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out to explore and document various plants and plant parts used for medicinal purposes in Erhuwaren Community, Ughelli-South Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Ethnobotanical data was collected from 40 respondents (16 males and 24 females) by means of Semi-structured questionnaires to obtain information on the Local names of the medicinal plants, their medical uses, the plant parts used, methods of preparation and method of administering treatments to people. The study exposed 65 medicinal plant species belonging to 36 families, used to prepare 120 recipes for different ailments. The major methods of herbal preparation were juice (28%) and decoction (26%).  Family Asteraceae was the most commonly represented plant family having about 9.7% of all the medical plant species recorded in this study. The plant parts most frequently used were the leaves (53.8%). The disease categories with the highest ICF values were Gastrointestinal (0.80) and Antipyretic disorders (0.77). Solenosternon monostachyrus, Musa paradisiaca, Phyllantus amarus and Ocimum gratissimum were the most utilized medicinal plant species with the highest RFC value. Results revealed that residents in the study area find the use of traditional medicines cheaper and effective as compared to orthodox medicine.