Ethnobotanical Survey of Antimalarial Plants in Areas of: Abukamola, Angeta, Oculokori and Omarari of Alebtong District in Northern Uganda

Rural populations depend heavily on traditional medicine to manage diseases, yet knowledge on traditional medicine is continually being lost. This study was undertaken to document antimalarial plants in a rural community with the view of contributing to conservation of traditional knowledge on antimalarial medicinal plants.

The study was carried out in areas of; Abukamola, Angeta, Oculokori, and Omarari of Alebtong district in Northern Uganda in September and October 2015. A semi structured interview questionnaire was administered randomly to households and to selected key informants. This questionnaire was tailored to providing socio-economic and information on antimalarial plants used in this area to treat malaria.

The majority (67.5%) of the respondents were subsistence farmers. Fourty three plants belonging to 26 families were identified. Papilionaceae followed by Asteraceae were the most represented families. Securidaca longipenduculata Fresen was the most known plant species for use in treatment of malaria PRK (23.5%). Most antimalarial medicine was derived from plant roots. The medicine was commonly prepared by macerating fresh pounded plant material in water. The extract in water was mostly administered orally. The use of antimalarial herbal medicines in the treatment of malaria was mainly attributed to the cheap price (32.2%) followed by easy access (27.2%) of the medicines and their perceived effectiveness (23.5%) among other reasons. Most (98.8%) of the plants were obtained from the wild and according to 98.8% of the respondents, the plants were still abundant in the wild. However, despite the plant abundance, conservation techniques were still suggested to protect the plants, top amongst these techniques were creating herbal gardens, suggestion by 25.9% of respondents; tree planting suggested by 24.7%.

Several antimalarial plants belonging to different families were document by this study. The adequate knowledge on Securidaca longipenduculata Fresen in treating malaria warrants further investigations of its bioactive properties.