Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, PO Box 05, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2023 Nov 23;19(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s13002-023-00629-w.
Documenting traditional knowledge on plant use among ethnic groups has enabled researchers to obtain a better understanding of how indigenous flora is seen and used in daily life. Their therapeutic applications will also encourage future conservation and phytochemical research, potentially leading to the development of novel drugs. However, past ethnobotanical studies conducted in Ethiopia mainly focused on rural areas, and limited coverage to document the ethnobotanical knowledge at the rural‒urban interface. Therefore, this study was conducted to document and analyze traditional ethnobotanical knowledge on medicinal plants among three selected ethnic groups in peri-urban areas of south-central Ethiopia. In addition, we attempted to investigate the range of cultural similarity and disparity between the studied ethnic groups in relation to traditional medicinal plants and diseases treated.
Data were collected using semistructured questionnaires and in-depth interviews of 189 key informants, floristic species inventories, and field observations. Several cultural importance indices and Rahman's similarity indices were applied to analyze the relevance of medicinal plants and cultural similarity among the ethnic groups.
A total of 189 therapeutic plants representing 159 genera and 69 families were identified and documented across the three studied ethnic groups. Of these, the Sidama, Gedeo, and Oromo ethnic groups reported 28, 34, and 38%, respectively. Most medicinal plants were represented by herbs (36%), followed by shrubs (31%), trees (27%), and herbaceous climbers (7%). Rahman's similarity index (RSI) revealed considerable ethnobotanical knowledge variation among ethnic groups. Oromo and Sidama showed the highest disparity (63.8%), followed by Gedeo and Oromo (63.2%). Of the total collected therapeutic plants, 78 most important medicinal plants were selected for the cultural importance analysis, which revealed that Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Delile scored the highest point in the Gedeo and Oromo ethnic groups and Zingiber officinale Roscoe in the Sidama ethnic group. Whereas Cinnamomum verum J.Presl, Psidium guajava L., and Melia azedarach L. are the least.
The present study revealed the presence of cultural differences in medicinal plant knowledge practices and therapeutic plant use among the studied ethnic groups in rural-urban interface areas of south-central Ethiopia. The diverse healing potential of plants would support future pharmacological investigations, emphasizing the need for adequate documentation of indigenous knowledge and versatile flora to prevent their further loss.
记录族群对植物利用的传统知识，使研究人员得以更深入了解原住民如何看待和在日常生活中使用本土植物。这些植物的治疗应用也将鼓励未来的保护和植物化学研究，可能会开发出新的药物。然而，过去在埃塞俄比亚进行的民族植物学研究主要集中在农村地区，对记录城乡界面的民族植物学知识的覆盖范围有限。因此，本研究旨在记录和分析埃塞俄比亚中南部城乡过渡地区三个选定族群的药用植物的传统民族植物学知识。此外，我们试图调查所研究族群在传统药用植物和治疗疾病方面的文化相似性和差异性范围。
使用半结构式问卷和对 189 名关键知情人进行深入访谈、植物物种清单和实地观察收集数据。应用了几种文化重要性指数和 Rahman 相似性指数来分析药用植物和族群之间的文化相似性。
在所研究的三个族群中，共鉴定和记录了 189 种治疗植物，代表 159 属和 69 科。其中，Sidama、Gedeo 和 Oromo 族群分别报告了 28%、34%和 38%。大多数药用植物以草本植物（36%）为主，其次是灌木（31%）、乔木（27%）和草本攀援植物（7%）。 Rahman 相似性指数（RSI）显示族群之间存在相当大的民族植物学知识差异。Oromo 和 Sidama 之间的差异最大（63.8%），其次是 Gedeo 和 Oromo（63.2%）。在所收集的治疗植物中，选择了 78 种最重要的药用植物进行文化重要性分析，结果表明，Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Delile 在 Gedeo 和 Oromo 族群中得分最高，而在 Sidama 族群中得分最高的是 Zingiber officinale Roscoe。而 Cinnamomum verum J.Presl、Psidium guajava L. 和 Melia azedarach L. 的得分最低。
本研究表明，在所研究的埃塞俄比亚中南部城乡过渡地区的族群中，药用植物知识实践和治疗植物使用存在文化差异。植物的多样治疗潜力将支持未来的药理学研究，强调需要充分记录本土知识和多样的植物群，以防止它们的进一步丧失。
