Indigenous Knowledge and Quantitative Analysis of Medicinal Plants Used to Remedy Respiratory Tract Disorders in Mid‐Western Tanzania

Abstract

This study is aimed at documenting the indigenous knowledge and quantitative analysis of medicinal plants (MPs) used by traditional health practitioners (THPs) of Urambo District in mid-western Tanzania to manage respiratory tract disorders (RTDs). The ethnomedicinal data were collected using semistructured interviews with 55 THPs using a snowballing technique in the district. The data were analysed for indigenous knowledge among gender, age groups, education status, and experience. Family importance value (FIV), use value (UV), relative frequency of citation (RFC), informant consensus factor (ICF), and Jaccard index (JI) were computed. A total of 42 MPs representing 28 families were recorded being used against RTDs in the district. Fabaceae was the dominant family in terms of species (16.7%) and FIV (84%). Decoction (51.0%) was the preferred technique for preparing remedies, while trees (61.9%) and leaves (38.1%) were the most utilised life form and plant parts, respectively. The RFC in the current study varied from 0.055 (<i>Musa paradisiaca</i> L.) to 0.655 (<i>Zingiber officinale</i> Roscoe) and 0.073 (<i>Dichrostachys cinerea</i> (L.) Wight & Arn.) to 0.673 (<i>Entada abyssinica</i> Steud. ex A.Rich.), respectively. The highest ICF was recorded for cough (0.922). The JI ranged from 2.7 to 7.9. Among the documented MPs, 55% had least concern, 2% were endangered, 7% had data deficiency conservation status, and 36% had no record in the IUCN Red List. The study revealed that the district's population depends on MPs for healthcare. Thus, conservation strategies are needed for the sustainable utilisation of the MPs. Importantly, the documented MPs hold immense potential in future pharmacological and phytochemical studies, offering hope for the development of new drugs for RTDs. Also, the study suggests the need for scientific validation of the MP's efficacy and safety.