Plant use knowledge and quantitative analysis of some medicinal plants from Ondo State, Southwestern Nigeria

This study was conducted to investigate the plants used medicinally in rural and semi-urban areas of Ondo State, Nigeria with a view to generating a comprehensive list of therapeutic plants and evaluating their importance quantitatively. Surveys were conducted in some communities in Ondo State between November 2021 and November 2022 with focus on different uses of plants. Structured questionnaires were administered to plant collectors and users. Data were analyzed based on some ethnobotanical indices. In total, 179 medicinal plants belonging to 66 plant families were recorded. The family Fabaceae had the highest (16.20%) representative species while shrubs formed the most used plant form (32%). The highest Frequency of Citation (FC, 49) was obtained for Azadirachta indica. The most valuable plant was A. indica (0.17) based on the Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) and highest (1.67) Use Value (UV). The Consensus Index and Fidelity Level (FL) were also found to be highest with A. indica (50% and 83.33% respectively) while Fabaceae had the highest Family Importance Value (FIV, 10.98%). The ethnomedicinal use of A. indica, V. amygdalina etc. in the treatment of malaria/fever has been further confirmed in this study. The family Fabaceae has been shown to contain plant species that are important to the informants. The use of quantitative techniques in ethnomedicinal studies allows the identification of commonly used plants and their recommendation for pharmacological research to confirm traditional claims. There is need to properly educate plant users in the communities on the sustainable use of plant resources.