AN INVENTORY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THE NANDI PEOPLE IN

TREATMENT AGAINST MALARIA

Jeruto Pascaline *, Mutai Charles^ and Ouma George*^

*Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), P.O Box 249 Kitale, Kenya; ^Center for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, P.O. Box 54840-00200, Nairobi, Kenya; *^Department of Botany and Horticulture,Maseno University, P.O. Box 333, Maseno, Kenya

BACKGROUND

Plants useful - food, shelter, clothing, fuel, medicine, crafts, cosmetics, income & employment (Balick,1996;Karori, 2003; Olembo,1995;Kokwaro,1976 &1993).

Herbal products- spices, tisane, medicinal raw materials, aromatics plants, functional food ingredients, essential oils, flavourings, fragrance products, dietary supplements and ecological balance (Kokwaro, 1976).

80-90% Africa population(WHO,2001). Increased demand both locally and internationally - High

population, poverty (rural and urban), increased awareness, high cost of modern medicine, limited access to trained doctors, food scarcity (dry and famine seasons).

IeCAB2010 Symposium held 1-15IeCAB2010 Symposium held 1-15th June 2010th June 2010

Introduction…

Malaria- major disease; affects over 90 countries; 10% of global population

Cause 400-900 million fever cases & 3 million deaths annually

Develops resistant strains of Plasmodium to drugs (derived from medicinal plants.

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Objectives

To carry out an ethnobotanical survey and document some medicinal plants used for treatment of

malaria and its symptoms.

Materials and methods

Face to face interviews & semi-structured questionnaire were administered

Information on medicinal use was taken to be correct if given by 3 or more informants.

Ethno-information-vernacular name, part used, preparation and dosage.

Herbarium specimens were collected using standard herbarium techniques ( Leenhout,1968 and Stace ,1993) & Identified at UON and East Africa Herbaria

Authentic specimens deposited – Botanic garden Maseno university herbarium (future reference)

RESULTSRESULTS

44 medicinal plants identified-27 families Habit of mostly used herbal plants are shrubs

(21species) & trees (10 species) and herbs (9 species).

Liana least used (4 species) Plant parts frequently used – roots 58.06%, bark

(40.32%) and leaves (32.26%)

Plant parts utilized in herbal medicines

PART UTILIZED FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE (%)

Roots 36 58.06

Leaves 20 32.26

Bark 25 40.32

Seeds 1 41.61

Whole plant 3 4.84

Flowers 1 1.61

Bulb 1 1.61

Total 100

ConclusionsConclusions

Survey helped bring to light the uses of plant species; utility and Survey helped bring to light the uses of plant species; utility and potentials that were previously little known.potentials that were previously little known.

The result indicates richness of medicinal floristic diversity in Nandi The result indicates richness of medicinal floristic diversity in Nandi district and possible on-farm conservation.district and possible on-farm conservation.

AcknowledgmentAcknowledgment

Nandi people for sharing generously their knowledge of medicinal plants with us

Co-authors

SGS- Grants

THANK YOUTHANK YOU