Abstract
BackgroundAngola suffered a long-lasting military conflict. Therefore, traditional knowledge of plant usage is still an important part of cultural heritage, especially concerning the still very poor health care system in the country. Our study documents for the first time traditional knowledge of plant use of local Bakongo communities in the northern province of Uíge on a large scale with a focus on medicinal plants and puts data in context to different parameters of age, gender and distance to the provincial capital.MethodsField work was carried out during nine field trips in 13 municipalities between October 2013 and October 2016. In 62 groups, 162 informants were interviewed. Herbarium specimens were taken for later identification. Database was analysed using Relative Frequency of Citations, Cultural Importance Index, and Informant Consensus Factor. Furthermore, significances of influence of age, gender and distance were calculated.ResultsOur study presents 2390 use-reports, listing 358 species in 96 plant families, while just three out of 358 mentioned species are endemic to Angola about one-fifth are neophytes. The larger the distance, the higher the number of use citations of medical plants. Although women represent just a fifth of all citations (22%), their contribution to medicinal plants was proportionally even higher (83%) than those of men (74%). Fifty percent of all plants mentioned in the study were just listed by men, 12% just by women. We made some new discoveries, for example. Gardenia ternifolia seems to be promising for treatment of measles, and Annona stenophylla subsp. cuneata has never been ethnobotanically nor phytochemically investigated.ConclusionsWhile the study area is large, no significant influence of the distance in regard to species composition in traditional healer’s concepts of the respective village was pointed out. Although several plants were just mentioned by women or men, respectively, no significant restriction to gender-specific illnesses in medical plant use could be found. Merely concerning the age of informants, a slight shift could be detected.Graphical abstractVisual representation of the ethnobotanical study in Uíge, northern Angola.
Highlights
Angola is regarded as a country with an unusually rich biodiversity covering a high amount of vegetation zones and habitats [1, 2]
According to the distribution of the ethnic tribe Bakongo, covering northern Angola as well as the adjacent Bas-Congo area, ethnobotanical studies conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo should reveal comparable results of ethnobotanical uses in Angola [11]
In contrast to a study in southern Angola [6] and one in Namibia [59], woody plants are not used more frequently in our study area compared to herbs since herbaceous plants are found all year around due to the humid forest habitats, and because the much shorter dry season results in a higher availability of plants from savannah areas [6, 24]
Summary
It is generally assumed that indigenous traditional knowledge information is going to be lost because it is, at least partly no longer essential for the survival of people. This is either due to influences such as the rapid development of rural areas or because of displacement of indigenous people [13, 14]. Smith et al [18] documented that the overall prevalence of malnutrition is higher in rural than in urban areas In this context, ethnobotanical studies in northern Angola seemed reasonable in terms of documentation of the current state but urgently needed to record still existing knowledge. Moyo et al [19] stated that the rich flora of sub-Saharan Africa suggests enormous potential for discovery of new chemical components with therapeutic value
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
