Abstract
The present study presents an ethnobotanical survey of the plants used in the treatment of mosquito transmitted diseases in Egbeda, Oluyole, Ibadan South-East and Akinyele, Local Government Areas in Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria. The survey was conducted through interviews using semi structured questionnaires. Twenty-four respondents, comprising of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (TMPs), herbalists, herb sellers, and the elderly were interviewed. Fourteen (58.3%) of them were males while ten (41.7%) were females and their ages ranged from 28 to 65 years. The Use-Mentions index (UMi) was calculated for each plant. Thirty-seven plant species belonging to 25 families were found to be useful for the treatment of mosquito transmitted diseases in the study areas. Ethno-medicinal information gathered on the plants includes vernacular names, plant parts used, forms of application and method of administration. The most prominent plant family is Euphorbiaceae with four species, while Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Meliaceae had three species each. Other plant families include Apocynaceae, Combretaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Asteraceae with two species each. In all, the commonest species among the recipes given by the respondents was Hyptis suaveolens having a UMi of 0.250. Ocimum gratissimum, Xylopia aethiopica, Chromolaena odorata, and Nicotiana tabacum all had UMi of 0.167each. The study plays an important role in documenting and conserving traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used in treating insect transmitted diseases.
Highlights
There are many reports on the evaluation of mosquitocidal properties of medicinal plants. These include a report on the larvicidal properties of natural product compounds isolated from Chinese herbs and synthetic analogs of Curcumin against Aedes aegyptica Linn. (Diptera:Culicidae) [8], mosquito larvicidal and ovicidal properties of Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk (Asteraceae) against Ae. aegypti[9], larvicidal activities of six Indian plants against mosquito species, Ae. aegypti and Anopheles stephensiListon [10], larvicidal and ovicidal properties of leaf and seed extracts of Delonixelata (L.) Gamble against An. stephensi and Ae
Results showed that Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) A
Rich. , Nicotiana tabacum L. and Morinda lucida Benth. are dominant in the recipes, which are indicative of their importance in the treatment of insect transmitted diseases
Summary
In Nigeria, there are many literature reports on larvicidal and insecticidal activities of plants. In Nigeria, the larvicidal and insecticidal activities of several medicinal plants have been reported. These include A. melegueta, Alstonia boonei, Croton zambesicus and Newbouldia laevishave been reported [13,14,15]. The present survey was undertaken to document indigenous knowledge on the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of mosquito transmitted diseases among indigenes of four local government areas (LGAs) of Oyo State in South-western Nigeria with a view to promoting sustainable use of the medicinal plants and further studies on testing the ethnopharmacological claim on the uses of the plants through bioassay techniques
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