An ethnobotanical survey of plants commonly used in traditional medicine in Kano, Nigeria

An ethno botanical survey of plant species used by traditional medicine practitioners in Kano State, North Western Nigeria, was carried out. Data was collected through interviews and administration of questionnaires to 250 people to obtain information on knowledge base of the practitioners, plant parts used in making the preparations and types of prepations, among others. The objectives of the study were to identify the plant species commonly used by traditional medicine practitioners in the study area for the treatment of various ailments and to assess the knowledge base of the traditional healers with respect to the usage of the plant species for treatment of common ailments. The research tool used was the focussed research group which targetted traditional medicine practitioners of the Hausa ethnic group. The investigation revealed that various plant species belonging to twenty-five (25) families are used in the treatment of different ailments in the study area. Majority of these plants (73.2%) are wild species while 18% and 8.2% are wild/cultivated and cultivated species respectively. The most commonly reported plant species were Azadirachta indica, Gueira senegalensis and Ficus platyphyla. The validation of botanical taxa by comparing with herbarium collections of the Department of Plant Biology, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. The study further revealed that leaves constitute the major (40%) plant part used in making preparations compared to stem (27.2%), root (12.8%) and flower/seeds (8%). Concoctions are the most commonly used type of preparation, while decoctions, infusions, steamed preparations and others constitute 22.8%, 13.8%, 8.8% and 8.8% respectively. Generally the dry form of the plant parts is mostly used and more than one plant species is used in making the preparations as against the use of a single species..