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Ethnobotanical
Leaflets 13: 665-67. 2009. Conservation and
Biodiversity Erosion in Ondo State, Nigeria: (3). Survey of Plant Barks Used
in Native Pharmaceutical Extraction in Akoko Region J.
Kayode1,3, O.E Ige1,4, T. A. Adetogo1 and A.
P. Igbakin2
1 Department
of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Adekule Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko,
Nigeria 2
Department of Biochemistry, Adekule Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria
3Permanent
Address: Department of Plant Science, University of Ado-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti,
Nigeria 3E-mail:
jokayode@ymail.com 4E-mail: olugbengaige@yahoo.com Issued
Abstract Survey of plant
barks used in native pharmaceutical extraction in Akoko region of Ondo State,
Nigeria was carried out. All the species identified were local and the
harvesting methods employed were inhibitory. Only about 26% of the species
were cultivated and these were cultivated for purposes other than medicine.
Sustainable strategies for the continuous supply of the species were
identified. Key
words: Conservation, biodiversity, plant
barks, native pharmaceuticals. Introduction The
indiscriminate harvesting of plant barks is now a common occurrence in the
southwestern parts of Nigeria (Fasola and Egunyomi 2002), that is mainly inhabited
by the Yoruba ethnic group. A distinct feature of this group is the
possession of a vast knowledge of the medicinal importance of the flora in
their area. Kayode (2002) had asserted that the use of plant parts for health
maintenance had an integral component of Yoruba culture that genuinely guided
and passed from one generation to another. The Akoko is a
distinct indigenous tribe among the Yoruba and are presently occupying the
northwestern parts of Ondo State, Nigeria where they are presently delineated
into four local government areas. The major vegetation formation of these
areas is the derived savanna. At present the area, like other parts of
Nigeria, is experiencing massive deforestation, bush burning, uncontrolled
farming and grazing activities. Thus the study being reported here is part of
on-going collaboratory studies on the ethnobotanical utilization in Ondo
State being conducted by the Department of Plant Science, University of
Ado-Ekiti, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria and the Department of Plant Science and
Biotechnology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria. Materials
and Methods Semi-structured
questionnaire matrix was used to interview relevant stakeholders who included
botanical vendors, individuals, groups and key informants. Two major market
centers were selected from each of the four local government areas. In each
market, five botanical vendors were randomly selected and interviewed.
Botanicals whose barks were used in native pharmaceuticals were identified
and voucher specimens of such were obtained from them. The specimens were
later taken to the herbarium of the Department of Plant Science and
Biotechnology, Akungba-Akoko. Also,
in each of the community where the selected markets were located, ten
individuals who had maintained continuous domicile in them, for a period of
not less ten years, were selected and interviewed on the indentified
botanicals. Separate visits were later made to the communities during which
group interviews were conducted with a view to verifying the information
obtained from the vendors and individuals earlier interviewed. Each group
consisted of a minimum of three people and five groups were interviewed in
each community. The key informants, made up of the officials of the Forest
Department and the Local Governments in the study area, were interviewed to
provide secondary information on the subject matter. Results
and Discussion The
barks of 27 plant species belonging to 18 families were identified as being
used for native pharmaceuticals in the study area (Table 1). The barks are
usually soaked in water in a bottle and the filtered aqueous extracts are
taken once or twice daily. The dosage however varied from one species to
another. Also the dosage prescribed for children differed from those of the
adults. All the barks were available for sale in the local markets of the
study area. This guaranteed their availability for use among the indigenous
communities who could also sourced them from the aboriginal forest community
as well as the individual household farms. Only 7 species, representing only
about 26% of the species, were cultivated in the study area. These species
were cultivated for purposes other than medicine. A. occidentale, B.
sapida, C. sinensis, C.nucifera, M. indica and P. guajava were
cultivated for their edible nutritious fruits, which also served as major
source of income especially during the off-farm season. A. indica is
cultivated to serve as shelterbelt and as a wind breaker usually in the
household areas. All the species could be said to be indigenous as they had
existed for several years in the study area and information about their
medicinal potentials had been passed over many generations. The
harvesting methods employed in getting the barks of these species were
predatory and annihilative. Debarking is carried out without consideration
for age and the demography of the species. Field observation revealed the
existence of some of these species with circular debarking already carried
out on them. Previous observation by Fasola
and Egunyomi (2002) had revealed that such individual species are liable to
death. Thus, supporting the previous assertion of Homman (1994) that
predatory and annihilative extraction methods entailed the destruction of
source(s) such that the rate of regeneration is slower than the rate of
extraction. The availability and sale of the barks in the markets is
indicative of an unhindered debarking exercise. That the over 70% of the
species were not cultivated is a cursor to their being endangered. Most of
the species, as observed by Shinwari and Khan (2000) required prolonged
period of growth and require considerable number of years to reach flowering
and fruiting stage thus minimizing their regenerating possibilities.
Respondents revealed that it is better and easier to get the barks of some of
these species from the markets rather than scavenging for them in the forest
as this could take several hours to obtain. This observation tends to suggest
that the economic potentials of these species could serve as incentive to
their being domesticated. Kayode (2006) had stressed the need for the
encouragement of individuals and communities’
participation in tree planting in Nigeria. Each structural unit-the local
government area-could be persuaded to establish a botanical garden where
important medicinal species could be planted. The forest department could be
encouraged to embarked on the enumeration of the existing species with the
aimed of developing an accurate data base on the indigenous species in the
state. Perhaps government could endeavour to make seedlings of these species
available to interested people willing to cultivate these species. These will
make these species available at all time in the study area. References Fasola,
T. R. and Egunyomi, A. 2002. Bark extraction and uses of some medicinal
plants. Nigerian Journal of Botany 15:
26-36. Homman, A. K. O. (1994). Plant
extractivism in the Amazon: Limitations and possibilities. Pp. 34-57. In
Clusener-God, M. and Sachs, Kayode, J. 2002. Ethnobotanical survey and conservation of plant
species used for curing malaria in Kayode,
J. 2006. Conservation in Shinwari, M. I. And Khan, M. A. 2000.
Folk use of medicinal herbs of Table 1.
Identified botanical species used for native pharmaceuticals in Akoko,
* Cultivated species |