Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to  Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Quarit District,  West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

PAULOS, GETNET

dc.contributor.author	PAULOS, GETNET
dc.date.accessioned	2024-12-06T08:14:58Z
dc.date.available	2024-12-06T08:14:58Z
dc.date.issued	2024-10
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/16312
dc.description.abstract	Medicinal plants have been utilized as a source of medicine to treat illnesses in humans as well as animals. The main objective of this study was to document the traditional medicinal plants used in the Quarit District. Semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and direct field observations of the local study areas were used as a primary resource to gather the data. A total of 182 general informants, 136 males and 46 females, over the age of 20, were purposively selected to gather data on the use of medicinal plants. Descriptive statistics like percentage and frequency were used to analyze the data. A total of 84 medicinal plant species belonging to 80 genera and 51 families were documented. In terms of families, Solanaceae and Fabaceae had the highest number of species, with 5, followed by Euphorbiaceae, with four (4). Out of these medicinal plants, 67 species were exclusively used to cure 46 human ailments, 10 species were mainly used for the treatment of 9 livestock ailments, and the remaining 7 species were used to treat both humans and livestock 6 different ailments. The majority of 55 (65.5%) species were collected from the wild areas, and 29 (34.5%) were collected from cultivated areas. From the total medicinal plant species, shrubs constitute the largest number, with 33 (39.3%) species, followed by herbs. The most frequently used plant parts were leaves, which accounted for 43(32.8%), followed by roots 35 (26.7%). Freshly harvested plant parts (60%) compared to dry form (34%) were commonly used. The most commonly used remedy preparation was crushing (31.7%) followed by pounding or powdering (16.7%). The major routes of administration were orally accounted for 65 (55.1%) followed by dermal 38 (32.2%), nasal 5(4.2%), and others 10(8.5%). In the disease category, the highest (0.90) ICF value was sudden sickness. There was the highest preference (51) for Phytolacca dodecandra to treat rabies. Hygenia abyssinica was shown to be the top multipurpose species, while agricultural expansion, firewood collection, and charcoal-making were considered the major threats to medicinal plants. This study demonstrates that the people living there continued to treat human and animal diseases with traditional plant based remedies. The participation of the local people, awareness rising through training or education on sustainable utilization and management of plant resources, and establishment of forest-protected areas should be encouraged.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.title	Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Human and Livestock Ailments in Quarit District, West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US