Herbal plant formulations used by the Malay ethnic traditional practitioners in the management of diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes is a serious and chronic ailments affecting millions of people worldwide with high rates of morbidity and mortality including Malaysia. The used of ethno-medicinal plants among the traditional practitioners are still reliable to treat diabetes. Hence, this study aimed to collect information regarding polyherbal formulations used by the traditional practitioners in the management of diabetes via ethnobotanical survey. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted from February 2022 to March 2022 to discover the potential herbal plant formulations used by the practitioners in Peninsular Malaysia. Information was gathered from the informal semi-structured interview session with the selected herbal practitioner informants. The respondents were comprised of old or experience persons, traditional healers and medicinal herbal sellers who practice and have experience in the use of medicinal plants to treat the diabetes. A total of sixteen polyherbal formulations were gathered from the ethnobotanical survey conducted. The leaves are the most commonly used plant part, usually in the fresh form and mainly prepared through decoction method as well as administered orally for the diabetes remedies. This study has revealed sixteen potential polyherbal plant formulation remedies used by Malay practitioners in Peninsular Malaysia as diabetes remedies which could be beneficial as a guide in the development of plant-based medication in pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries.