Zewdie Kassa|Zemede Asfaw|Sebsebe Demissew
An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in Sheka Zone of Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State, Ethiopia
Mizan Tepi University|Addis Ababa University|Addis Ababa University
abstract background peoples classification management use plants represent attempt attracting people different academic disciplines many countries use traditional medicine primary healthcare system medicinal plants important components healthcare systems since time immemorial objective research document analyze traditional medicinal plants used sheka people associated ethnobotanical knowledge methods data collected administering preprepared semistructured interview items 414 informants market surveys group discussion guided field walk used data analyzed using descriptive inferential statistics determination informant consensus factor fidelity level well ranking scoring results total 266 plant species belonging 192 genera 74 families identified 204 77 medicinal plants used treat human health problems ten 4 used treat livestock health problems 52 19 used treat human livestock health problems croton macrostachyus prunus africana peperomia retusa lobelia giberroa celosia schweinfurthiana found high ranking medicinal plants gastrointestinal problems based simple preference ranking conclusion high number medicinal plant species recorded study area indicates vegetation sheka reservoir medicinal plants hence area needs attention medicinal plant conservation priorities plant parts used medicines also play vital role entire medicinal plant life cycle therefore useful consider harvesting impacts except wellexperienced traditional healers people study area use medicinal plants haphazardly may high risk victims dosage improper usage high ranking medicinal plants candidates phytochemical profiling drug research development