Transcript ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY,PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS,BIOASSAY …

ETHNOBOTANICAL AND
PROPAGATION OF SOME
ENDANGERED MEDICINAL
PLANTS FROM NANDI SOUTH
DISTRICT
Jeruto Pascaline *, Mutai Charles^ and Ouma George*^
*Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), P.O Box 249 Kitale,
Kenya; ^Center for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research, Kenya Medical
Research Institute, P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya; *^Department of
Botany and Horticulture,Maseno University, P.O. Box 333, Maseno, Kenya
BACKGROUND
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Plants useful - food, shelter, clothing, fuel, medicine, crafts,
cosmetics, income & employment (Balick,1996;Karori, 2003;
Olembo,1995;Kokwaro,1976 &1993).
Herbal products- spices, tisane, medicinal raw materials,
aromatics plants, functional food ingredients, essential oils,
flavourings, fragrance products, dietary supplements and
ecological balance (Kokwaro, 1976; UNEP, 1993).
Herbal products recognized- scientific knowledge
(Rukangira,2001).
80-90% Africa population(WHO,1979;Karori,2003).
Increased demand both locally and internationally - High
population, poverty (rural and urban), increased awareness,
high cost of modern medicine, limited access to trained
doctors, food scarcity (dry and famine seasons).
Introduction…
SOUTH NANDI DISTRICT.
 high human population
 High demand for herbal products
 Over harvesting- reduces the inventory /
diversity
 Deforestation (Biketi, 1989 and 2000).
Objectives
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To document indigenous knowledge of medicinal
plants in South Nandi district.
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To identify propagation methods for the endangered
medicinal plants.
RESULTS
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152 medicinal plants identified belonging to 57
families.
Diseases frequently treated- respiratory (24%),
gastrointestinal (22%), skin ailments (18%), other
infections (16%).
Habit of mostly used herbal plants are herbs & shrubs
(69%) tree (20%) and liana (11%).
Plant parts frequently used – roots 38% and leaves
(32%)
Majority of the practitioners are women (60%).
Plant parts utilized in herbal medicines
PART UTILIZED
FREQUENCY
PERCENTAGE (%)
Roots
38
25.00
Leaves
32
21.05
Root/ leaves
31
20.39
Root /bark
14
9.21
Bark
10
6.58
Seeds
8
5.26
Whole plant
7
4.61
Bark/leave
3
1.97
Flowers
3
1.97
Fruit
2
1.32
Bulb
2
1.32
Sap/latex
2
1.32
152
100
Total
Discussion
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Compositae and Labiatae were the most commonly used medicinal plants –
they are also the most diverse plant families.
Low no. of trees & lianas is due to high deforestation and overgrazing
hence high no. of shrubs and herbs.
The predominant usage of roots in drug preparation (25%) is detrimental to
the plants and may lead to loss of wild resources.
Record of new medicinal uses for Datura stramonium to treat madness,
Ehretia cymosia & Conyza subscaposa shows that such surveys add value
to science.
Drug preparation by concoction & decoction were most frequently usedbest in extracting the active compounds.
Some compounds were active in vitro, suggesting they may exhibit activity
in vivo.
Discussion…
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Auxins promote rooting systems of 3 medicinal plants
3 species have different ranges of effective auxin
concentration.
M2 & M3 have broader ranges than M1 (0-200ppm)
Conclusions
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152 medicinal species were identified. New medicinal uses
reinforces importance of such surveys.
Plants reported in ethno studies should be tested broadly as
this may bring new data from bioassays that were not
registered in traditional folklore.
Plants conservation strategies should involve their propagation
on farm e.g. these studies show that it is possible to root stem
cuttings of Toddalia asiatica, Carissa edulis & Asystasia
schimperi using auxins. Stem cutting was the technique best
suited for propagation of Asystasia.
Non-mist polypropagator –used for propagation; promotes
good rooting /constructed from available & cheap materials
Acknowledgment
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People of Nandi for sharing the indigenous
knowledge.
 Co-authors for teamwork in writing the paper.
 Staff – NMK, UoN, Maseno University.
THANK YOU