Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

Mbuni, Yuvenalis M.; Wang, Shengwei; Mwangi, Brian N.; Mbari, Ndungu J.; Musili, Paul M.; Walter, Nyamolo O.; Hu, Guangwan; Zhou, Yadong; Wang, Qingfeng

doi:10.3390/plants9030331

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Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

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Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

National Museums of Kenya, East African Herbarium, P. O. Box 45166, Nairobi 00100, Kenya

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Sino-Africa Joint Research Center (SAJOREC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China

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Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Plants 2020, 9(3), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030331

Received: 10 February 2020 / Revised: 1 March 2020 / Accepted: 2 March 2020 / Published: 5 March 2020

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Abstract

Medicinal plants are vital sources of easily accessible remedy used in the countryside healthcare system. This study aimed to find and make record of plants that are used for medicinal therapy by three communities living in Cherangani Hills. So far no single study has documented medicinal plants as a whole in the area. Ethnobotanical data were obtained through interviewing informants using semi-structured questionnaires and extracting information from journals and books. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to describe the data. Overall 296 plant species from 80 families and 191 genera were identified. Asteraceae family was the most dominant, representing 10.7% of the total plant species recorded. Roots (35.9%) represented the most commonly used parts of the plant. The commonly used method of preparation was decoction (54.9%). The reported diseases were classified into 14 diverse ailment groups out of the 81 health conditions on their underlying user reports. Rural communities in Cherangani Hills are rich sources of plants with medicinal properties. Therapeutic uses of the compiled plants provide basic information that can aid scientists to conduct additional research dedicated to conservation of species and pharmacological studies of species with the greatest significance. View Full-Text

Keywords: Cherangani Hills; ethnobotanical; medicinal plants; decoction; informants; ailment categories; conservation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Mbuni, Y.M.; Wang, S.; Mwangi, B.N.; Mbari, N.J.; Musili, P.M.; Walter, N.O.; Hu, G.; Zhou, Y.; Wang, Q. Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya. Plants 2020, 9, 331. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030331

AMA Style

Mbuni YM, Wang S, Mwangi BN, Mbari NJ, Musili PM, Walter NO, Hu G, Zhou Y, Wang Q. Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya. Plants. 2020; 9(3):331. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030331

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mbuni, Yuvenalis M., Shengwei Wang, Brian N. Mwangi, Ndungu J. Mbari, Paul M. Musili, Nyamolo O. Walter, Guangwan Hu, Yadong Zhou, and Qingfeng Wang. 2020. "Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya" Plants 9, no. 3: 331. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030331

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Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya

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