Medicinal Utilisation of Exotic Plants by Bapedi Traditional Healers to treat Human Ailments in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Document Abstract / Summary Overview

Ethnopharmacologicalrelevance: Most exoticplantsareusuallylabelledasalieninvasivesandtargeted for eradication.However,someoftheseexoticplantsplayanimportantroleinthetraditionalprimary healthcaresectoroftheBapedicultureintheLimpopoProvinceofSouthAfrica.Themedicinalusesof mostofthesespecieshaveneitherbeendocumentednortheirbiologicalactivityevaluated. Aim ofthestudy: To makeaninventoryofexoticspeciesemployedbyBapeditraditionalhealerstotreat differenthumanailmentsintheLimpopoProvince,SouthAfrica. Materialsandmethods: Semi-structuredinterviews,observationandguidedfieldwalkswith52 traditionalhealerswereemployedtoobtainethnobotanicaldataduringfirsthalfof2011ontheuse of exoticplantspeciesbyBapedihealerstotreathumanailments.Basedonethnobotanicalinformation providedbythesehealers,specimenswerecollected,numbered,pressed,anddriedforidentification. Results: A totalof35exoticsspeciesbelongingto21familiesand34genera,mostlyfromtheFabaceae and Solanaceae(11.4%foreach),ApocynaceaeandAsteraceae(8.5%foreach)wereusedbyBapedi healerstotreat20humanailments.Trees(45.7%)andherbs(37.1%)aretheprimarysourceofmedicinal plants.Speciesmostfrequentlyreportedwereusedforthetreatmentofhypertension(35%),diabetes mellitus,erectiledysfunctionandgonorrhoea(25%foreach).Thehighestconsensusfromindividual accountsofthetraditionalhealersontheuseofexoticplantremediesinthisstudywasnotedforthe three ailments.Thesewerefor Catharanthusroseus (gonorrhoea,60%), Punicagranatum (diarrhoea, 38.4%) and Ricinus communis (sores, 21.5%).Ofthe35exoticplantspeciesrecorded,34.2%areregulated by the ConservationofAgriculturalResourcesAct(1983) (CARA) No.43of1983eitherasworstweeds or invaders. Conclusion: The presentstudydemonstratedthatexoticplantspeciesplayanimportantpartas medicinalremediesemployedbyBapedihealerstotreatdifferenthumandiseasesintheLimpopo Province.Theuseofthesespeciesasalternativesourcesofmedicinalremediescouldalleviate harvestingpressureofwildindigenousplants,therebyenhancebiodiversity’sregion.However,there is aneedtoformulateanappropriatepolicytoretainsomeoftheusefulmedicinalexotics(listedunder CARA No.43of1983)withintheenvironmentbeforetheirmedicinalvaluevanishesastheyare eradicatedthroughmanagementstrategiesadoptedbytheSouthAfricangovernment.