2018, Vol. 6, Issue 4, Part A

author(s)
Yemane Tilahun

abstract
Traditional medicine is a form of folk or cultural activity which has been practiced from the very beginning by indigenous people to treat a number of human and livestock aliments. Traditional medicinal plants are certain plant species utilized in the preparation of herbal medicine. In this study, an ethnobotanical study was conducted to investigate the use of medicinal plants around Adigrat Town, Eastern Tigray Ethiopia. Semi-structured interviews, field observations and guided field walks with informants were employed to obtain ethnobotanical data. A total of 62 key informants (26 males and 36 females) were selected purposefully with the help of local administers and local elderly people. A total of 55 species of medicinal plants which belong to 31 families were collected and identified for treating 26 human aliments. Solanaceae was the most dominant medicinal plant family followed by Asteraceae and Lamiaceae. Most (76.98%) of the traditional medicinal plants were wild and were mostly harvested for their leaves (57.50%). Oral application was the highest and most commonly used route of application followed by dermal whereas crushing was the most frequently applied mode of preparing herbal medicine. Awareness creation among the traditional healers and community at large is important to preserve the indigenous medicinal plant species and for conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in this study area.