Medicinal applications of plants by Bapedi traditional healers for sore throat and related symptoms in the Limpopo Province of South Africa

Abstract

This survey reports on medicinally plant used by Bapedi traditional healers (THs) to sore throat and related symptoms. Presently there is no published ethnobotanical literature focusing on these conditions. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews aimed at addressing this gap in knowledge were used to gather data from 156 THs practicing in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A total of 80 plant species belonging to 73 genera and 43 botanical families, mainly the Fabaceae (10 spp.) and Asteraceae (8 spp.), were recorded as being used by THs. Croton gratissimus, Cryptocarya transvaalensis, Enicostema axillare, Jacaranda mimosifolia, Plumbago zeylanica, Solanum catombelense, Stylochaeton natalensis and Warburgia salutaris emerged as the most preferred species for healing sore throat and related symptoms according to fidelity level index analysis. However, the output of use value calculations positioned Adansonia digitata, Catha edulis, Lasiosiphon caffer and Zanthoxylum capense as Bapedi THs keystone species on the basis of its utility and applications in numerous ailments, scoring the uppermost values. This study showed that Bapedi THs employed a substantial number of plant species to treat the investigated ailments. Healing claim/s of most of these species is presently restricted to the Bapedi THs.