Medicinal plants used in the treatment of diabetes in karo ethnic, north sumatra, indonesia

Abstract

Medicinal plants derived from traditional medicines have played an important role in managing a variety of healthcare and diseases in Karo ethnic in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The study aimed to document the ethnobotanical information on medicinal plants used by traditional healers of Karo ethnic in the treatment of diabetes and to assess the crude extract of phytochemical constituents qualitatively from medicinal plant organ. The study was conducted on two Karo sub-ethnic living at the highland (Karo Gugung) in Karo Regency and the lowland (Karo Jahe) in Langkat Regency with the length of the study was eight months of observation. The survey was conducted using open-ended interviews among four traditional healers those who were selected by snowball sampling method; quantitative analysis of ethnobotanical data was performed by calculating the familiarity index (Fi). Fresh plant samples which were used for phytochemical analysis were collected using participatory method. The results showed that 15 plants were used to treat diabetes by Karo traditional healers. The plants are Blumea balsamifera, Nypa fruticans, Bischofia javanica, Eleutherine americana, Allium cepa, A. sativum, Eugenia polyantha, Piper betle, P. nigrum, Citrus aurantiifolia, Boesenbergia pandurata, Curcuma longa, Kaempferia galanga, Zingiber montanum, and Z. officinale. Familiarity index (Fi) value of each plant was 25 which explained that each of medicinal plant was used by only one traditional healer. The phytochemical screening showed that the crude plant extracts contained phenolic, terpenoid, steroid, and saponin.