Abstract
BackgroundLimpopo province, South Africa, has a rich plant diversity and is referred to as one of the hotspots areas within the country. The aim of the current work was to identify and document medicinal plant species used by the indigenous Pedi people of Blouberg area, Limpopo Province, South Africa.MethodsA total of 40 informants which includes both traditional healers and medicinal plant sellers were randomly selected and asked about the plant species used in treatment of variety of infections using a structured questionnaire. Follow-up visits and various field walks were also used to identify and document various plant species used in Traditional medicine (TM). The interviews were carried out from April 2008 to June 2016 using indigenous language (Sehananwa).ResultsA total of 82 medicinal plants species belonging to 42 families have been collected, identified and documented. About 46.34% of the plant species were herbs, followed by trees (25.61%), shrubs (20.73%) and climbers (7.32%). The most used plant parts are roots and rhizomes (58.58%). Peltophorum africanum Sond revealed frequency index of greater than 70 and is used in combination with other plants species to treat various pathogenic infections. Most of the plant species reported are used in the treatment of sexually transmitted infections (24), management of HIV-AIDS (15) and stomach ache (14). Our informants indicated that the use of plant medicines in combinations is also applied to cure pathogenic infections.ConclusionThe current study demonstrate that the indigenous people of Blouberg area, Limpopo Province harbours an important information about the vegetation around them. The plant species are used in the treatment of various pathogenic infections, offers fruits as additional source of food and form integral part of other medicinal products that may in turn produce income.
Highlights
Limpopo province, South Africa, has a rich plant diversity and is referred to as one of the hotspots areas within the country
Socio-demographic information and diversity of plants species The communities around Blouberg area use diverse flora in treatment of various ailments and local people possess a rich traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants as medicine
About 40% of our informants have never been to school and only one of the 40 participants possess a diploma in Education and is a well-known traditional healer
Summary
South Africa, has a rich plant diversity and is referred to as one of the hotspots areas within the country. The aim of the current work was to identify and document medicinal plant species used by the indigenous Pedi people of Blouberg area, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Several ethnobotanical studies have been taken world-wide, documenting different plant species and preserving the indigenous knowledge of various communities [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Most of these surveys may well serve as possible leads for the discovery of potent new drugs that may be used to combat most harmful infections that pose a serious threat to human and animal health. Besides being the main source of drugs in the current threatened health care system with emerging multiple resistant organisms, the traditional medicine still receives little attention world-wide [18]
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