| dc.description.abstract | Aspects of ethnobotany , ethnosystematics and ethnomedicine of the Luo , an
agropastoral community ofMigori district, Kenya are recorded based on a one year field and
laboratory research. The area covered was 2506 sq. kms. with a population of 520,000
inhabitants. Interview was the main method used in seeking specialists (23 herbalists and 9
herb vendors) and non-specialists (99 villagers) information on plant use and names. The
interviews lasted at least an hour, many took place during repeated sessions of guided walks
through areas of wild plants. Voucher specimens, 308 in duplicates, are deposited at the
Nairobi University and East African herbaria.
The study reveals a rich ethnobotanical knowledge and a fascinating relationship
between drug use and culture. Field and statistical results suggest consistency in responses on
diseases and plants by the informants. Though two medical systems (Western medicine and
African traditional medicine) co-exist in Migori, it appears from the study that traditional
medicine is still favoured duefo socio-cultural and economic considerations.
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Entries on 10 medicinal plants in272 genera of80 Angiosperm families are made.
1,781 remedy reports are ascribed to these plants. 76% ofthese remedies are reported more
than once. 42% ofthe Migori pharmacopoeia is from 6 plant families with high species diver
sity. These are Compositae (14 %), Leguminosae (12%), Euphorbiaceae (6%), Labiatae
(4%), Solanaceae (3%) and Acanthaceae (3%).
Aspects ofLuo herbalism, medicinal plant trade and medicinal plant conservation have
also been recorded. Some plant species appear threatened in the field due to overuse (a list
of some 21 vulnerable and 21 cultivated, species medicinal plants) is recorded. Detailed
ethnosystematics (indigenous plant nomenclature), 343 names in total and drug preparation
methods are made. 28 broad categories of diseases have been identified, the major disease
conditions reported being associated with gastrointestinal complications. The roots, bark and
leaves are the most used medicinal plant parts and fiuits least used. The herbaceous plants are
the most preferred medical material and decoctions the most popular galenical preparations.
Crude ethanolic extracts of 11 medicinal plants, selected on basis of their consistent folk use,
are analysed and a broad array of phytochemicals ; alkaloids, aurones, chalcones, flavones,
bound anthraquinones, tannins, saponins, sterols and cardiac glycosides noted.
A log-linear quantitative model
log(nij + 1)
is used in statistical analysis of ethnobotanical data ofthe 11 medicinal plants to establish their
likely efficacy quantitatively. The merits of quantitative analyses are discussed and possible
unknown pharmacological potential ofthe plants based on numerical values, Yij ,(interaction
effects calculated for each plantas a measure of its degree of confirmation) also discussed. | en |
