Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the traditional treatments of measles in Akinyele Local Government, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted between April to December 2019 to document medicinal plant species used in the traditional treatments of Measles disease in Akinyele Local Government, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to select eight villages and sample size of 80 household heads was selected through simple random sampling technique. Information was collected by oral interview using a semi-structured questionnaire and presented with tables, percentages and frequency distribution, bar and pie charts. The results showed a total of 29 plant species belonging to 24 families effective in the treatment of measles disease.75.86% of the plant species are Indigenous /native, 24.14% exotic, 48.28% common and 51.72% are rare. 44.83% are found in the forest, 65.52% wild, 24.14% cultivated and 10.34% are wild/ cultivated. Fabaceae subfamilies of Papilionoideae (6.90%) and Ceasalpinioideae (3.45%), and Arecaceae family (10.34%) contributed the highest plant species. Trees (41.38%) and leaves (56.25%) constituted the highest plant form and plant parts used. 13 herbal formulations were used in the treatment of measles diseases; 5 formulations were mono-herbal and 8 were polyherbal. Decoction (33.33%) is general method of preparation and oral (52.38%) by drinking is the frequent mode of administration. The study concluded that villagers are more knowledgeable in the traditional treatment of measles disease and recommends more research to validate the plant species used in the production of novel drugs for measles treatments.The standardization of dosage and efficacy of recipes should be ascertained through research.