Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by the Amhara people in the Afromontane Lay Gayint District, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted from October 2012 to June 2013. A total of 184 voluntary households were randomly selected for questionnairebased field survey from stratified sampled ten kebeles (lowest administration unit). Informants between the ages of 20 to 84 were used to collect information on medicinal plant use. Twenty-four key informants (19 males and 5 females) were purposively selected for Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and preference ranking. A total of 104 medicinal plant species from 91 genera and 56 families were identified. From these, 73 (70.2%) of the medicinal plants were used for human treatment, 25 for livestock and 6 for both. Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the plant families most represented with 9, 7, and 4 species, respectively. The most frequently used plant part was roots (43.86%). Remedies were mainly prepared as a concoction (27%) and homogenization (24%). Most of the species were native to Ethiopia with a limited number of introduced species. There was high informant consensus for popular medicinal plants. It is possible to conclude that the Lay Gayint inhabitants have a uniquely roots-based herbal medicine that remains closed to be accessed only through cultural and social pathways. Therefore, documentation is very important in order to transfer the knowledge to the coming generation as well as for development and incorporation into modern drugs.

Keywords/phrases: Afroalpine, Gonder, Medicinal plants, Phototherapy