article · International Journal on Science and Technology
Indigenous medical knowledge in Zanzibar continues to rely on oral transmission, placing vital information at risk as traditional practices decline. To help preserve this knowledge and support its integration into official healthcare systems, an ethnobotanical survey gathered data on the local use of medicinal plants for treating chronic, non-communicable diseases. Researchers interviewed twenty-four traditional healers across twelve villages spanning all districts of Unguja and Pemba. The investigation documented twenty-four distinct plant species used locally to manage asthma, fifteen species utilised for hypertension, and twenty species employed against diabetes. These records demonstrate that communities in Zanzibar remain reliant on medicinal flora for primary health needs. By logging these botanical treatments, the work establishes a baseline catalogue intended to guide subsequent pharmacological and phytochemical investigations into the therapeutic properties of the identified species.
Oral traditions that hold crucial medical knowledge are fading quickly. Chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and hypertension present growing health challenges, and documenting how local plants are used allows essential botanical remedies to be safeguarded. This documentation preserves community heritage and provides an empirical starting point for investigating whether these plants could enhance broader public health systems.
This research provides baseline discovery data for ethnobotanists, pharmacologists, and drug discovery teams seeking natural therapeutic compounds. The work serves as an early-stage catalogue for future laboratory screening, meaning it remains far from commercial or clinical application until detailed phytochemical isolation, active compound validation, and safety trials are conducted.
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The current therapeutic use of medicinal plants mostly relies on indigenous knowledge, a system of knowledge that has been orally transmitted successively from generations to generation. Indigenous knowledge is being lost at a rapid pace as it still relies on oral transmission and that traditions such as story-telling are disappearing, which makes their documentation particularly crucial. In a similar vein, elders, parents, traditional health practitioners and herbalists have long transmitted orally from generation to generations their expertise of locally using herbs to treat various ailments. This repository of information, developed over millennia, needs to be documented and stored to allow integration into the official health systems. On this background, there is an urgent need for researchers to conduct studies and document on plants uses in the management of diseases, including non-communicable diseases. In Zanzibar, people have a tradition of using medicinal plants for their primary healthcare needs. The study aimed to collect information on medicinal plants used in the management of diabetes, asthma, and hypertension in Zanzibar. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted using a purposive sampling method, 24 traditional healers across 12 shehias/villages in all districts of Unguja and Pemba were interviewed. The study identified 24 plant species used for asthma management, 15 for hypertension, and 20 for diabetes. These findings highlight the continued importance of medicinal plants in disease management in Zanzibar and provide a foundation for further pharmacological and phytochemical research. Thus, the data revealed that, in Zanzibar, people still depend on medicinal plants for management of different diseases. The basic information on the medicinal plants identified will serve as a platform for ethnobotanists and pharmacologists to conduct further research regarding the pharmacological and phytochemical screening of plant species.
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DOI: 10.71097/ijsat.v16.i4.8458
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