Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Trees and Shrubs from the Rashad District of Southern Kordofan, Sudan

Abstract

This is the first quantitative ethnobotanical study conducted in the Rashad District, in Southern Kordofan, Sudan. The objective was to collect and identify trees and shrubs used by local people for medicinal purposes and to summarize local knowledge about traditional herbal medicine. Ethnobotanical data were obtained by conducting several ethnobotanical surveys, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, field observations, inquiries, and group gatherings from September 2018 to January 2019. Quantitatively, the data were analysed in terms of use-value (UV) and the relative frequency of citation (RFC). A total of 56 trees and shrubs used in medicine and belonging to 22 families were listed in this Research. The most common families were Fabaceae (14%), Combretaceae (8%) and Malvaceae (5%). In terms of growth form, 35 species (61%) were trees, and 21 (39%) were shrubs. Fruits were the most common structures used to prepare herbal medicine (23%), and they were usually administered as a powder (13%). The most commonly used species in terms of Use Values (UV) by the local community in the Rashad area were: Adansonia digitata L. for dysentery diseases, followed by Tamarindus indica L. for the treatment of malaria & fever, Balanites aegyptiacus (L.) Delile for the treatment of enteric worms, Vangueria madagascariensis J. F. Gmel (for kidney problems), Ximenia americana L (for toothache) Guiera senegalensis J. F. Gmel for treatment of kidney problems. This study reveals significant local ethnobotanical knowledge and intense human-plant interactions. It is critical to record indigenous uses of woody plants to identify potential species for future domestication.