Ethnomedical study of plants used by indigenous people of Nyiev and Mbawa Districts, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

An ethnomedical survey was carried out to document medicinal plants used in the treatment of ailments by indigenous people in Nyiev and Mbawa Districts, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria. Copies of 64 semi-structured questionnaires were used for collecting information from the rural dwellers and traditional medical practitioners selected from the various villages in the study area. Plants and the parts commonly used, method of preparation, dosage use and disease treated, were noted and recorded. A total of 59 medicinal plant species belonging to 41 families were found to be used in treating 56 different types of diseases in the study area. The family of Meliaceae had the highest (13%) proportion of medicinal plants used, followed by Fabaceae (11%), Lamiaceae (9%), Asteraceae (8%) Annonaceae (7%) and the remaining 36 families had (52%). About 80% of all the medicinal plants recorded were collected from the wild, while only 20% were collected from home gardens. The parts of the plants that is predominantly used were leaves (44%), roots (34%), branches (7%), bark and fruits (6%) and flower, tuber and whole stem (1%) respectively. Most of the plant species were used to treat one form of disease, while some were used to treat more than one type of diseases. The plant species used for the treatment of many diseases was Ocimum gratissimum which was reportedly used in treating 8% of the diseases. The study area was observed to have to different plant species that the indigenous people depended on for their health care.