NIGERIAN ETHINOMEDICINE AND MEDICINAL PLANT FLORA: THE BENUE EXPERIENCE — PART 3

Abstract

In continuation of the ethobotanical survey of medicinal plants of the Benue Area of Nigeria, thirty plants (belonging to twenty families), which are used as phytomedicines by the natives, were studied. The plants are arranged in alphabetical order of the taxa with their vernacular names in Idoma, Igala and Tiv given. The highest number of species (4 each) belongs to two families (Euphorbiaceae and Malvaceae). Four families each have two representatives while the remaining fourteen families are each represemted by one specie. The folk medicinal uses of the plants as well as mode of preparation and administration of the crude drugs are given. Secondary metabolites detected from preliminary phytochemical screening tests are listed. The availability of each plant in the area as well as any special features is noted. The use of Cola millenji and Uapacca togeonsis in Nigerian folk medicine is probably being documented for the first time while members of the euphorbiaceae were showed to be widely employed in trational medicine in the area.


Key Words: Ethnobotanical survey, decoction, infusion, folk medicine, secondary metabolities.


Nig. J. Nat Prod. And Med. Vol.4 2000: 13-22