Ethnomedicinal Plants Used By the Idoma People- Benue State, Nigeria

Content and purpose of study
An ethno medicinal survey of plants used by the Idoma people of Benue State, Nigeria, was carried out using a structural questionnaire via oral interview with Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs) and knowledgeable respondents by random sampling at different sites within the Local Government Area. Fifty knowledgeable respondents were consulted for information on the plants used for curative purposes.
Main findings
A total of 63 plants belonging to 36 families were identified. Their botanical names, ailments treated, plant parts used, mode of administration and their pharmaceutical forms were provided. Some plants like Azadirachta indica, Telferia occidentalis and Ocimum gratissimum are used for the treatment of common ailments such as malaria, anemia and stomach upset respectively among the people.
Brief summary and potential implication
The need to document, establish the cultivation and sustainable harvesting as well as incorporation of traditional medicinal plants into the primary health care system in Nigeria were also highlighted. The data were analyzed in the forms of ‘specific flora’ and ‘general floral’. The selectivity of a plant for a specific ailment was done by comparing between the expected and observed values of the proportion of citation of a plant for a specific disease. The difference (D) between the two proportions was then used to define the performance index (Ip), which ranged from 0 to 3.

Author(s): MacDonald Idu, Joseph O. Erhabor, Oghale Ovuakporie-Uvo

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