ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF DIGESTIVE SYSTEMS DISORDERS IN BADUY ETHNIC, INDONESIA

Abstract

Digestive disorders rank among the most common problems faced in Indonesia, especially for the Baduy people in Banten Province. Although the Baduy live in water-rich areas, their lack of sanitation facilities and unawareness of methods of disease prevention have prompted high morbidity and mortality rates in their communities, largely due to digestive system disorders that they continue to treat with medicinal plants. This survey was undertaken to document Baduy indigenous medicinal plants that were used to treat and prevent different types of digestive system disorders in their communities using quantitative ethnobotanical approaches. Ethno medicinal data were collected from 30 informants regarding their knowledge on medicinal plants. Quantitative approaches were used to determine the use value and informant consensus factor values of collected data. The results revealed that the Baduy currently use 54 medicinal plant species belonging to 30 families to treat digestive system disorders. Additional research is required, however, to validate the function of the medicinal plants and identify their active compounds.