Wild plants used as nutraceuticals from Nebbi district, Uganda

Abstract:

Aims: To inventory the wild plant species used both as food and medicine and how they are used in Panyago Sub County, Nebbi district. Study Design: Ethnobotanical study. Place and Duration of Study: The villages of Kaal, Padoch South, Nyakaduli and Pacer South, Panyango Sub County, Jonam County in Nebbi district, between May and July 2011. Methodology: Data were collected from the local people using questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s) and field observations. Both purposeful sampling and simple random sampling methods were used to obtain the required information. Triangulation was achieved by combining the different data collection techniques and tools. Results: Forty six plant species belonging to 28 different plant families were reported to have overlapping uses as both foods and medicines. They were reported to treat 32 conditions, the commonest being stomach or abdominal aches. Leaves were the most frequently used parts of the plants as food (45.1%), while roots were the most commonly used parts of the plants as medicine (33.8%). Some of the plant species were reported to have the same parts used both as medicine and eaten as food (26.1 %) while other plant species had different parts used either as food or medicine. Infusions were the most commonly used methods of preparation, while most medicines were administered orally. An additional nine plant species belonging to eight plant families were reported to be used as famine foods, with no apparent medicinal benefits. Conclusion: Several species of wild plants are used as nutriceuticals or as medicines by the people of Nebbi. Notably, many of the plants have overlapping uses as food and medicine. Many families still rely heavily on these plant species but are not consistently transferring the knowledge to the younger generations.

INTRODUCTION

Currently, there is a global outcry over food insecurity [1]. This is worsened by the soaring food prices [2,3]. Uganda is not an exception, with a high average annual population growth rate of 3.2% and low annual growth rate of food production of about 1.5 %[4,5]. The proportion of undernourished people is highest in sub-Saharan Africa at 30 %[6,7], especially among children, women and the elderly [8]. Although Uganda has fertile soils and good climate, food insecurity exists throughout the country, but varies both geographically and amongst livelihood groups[9].Families in Nebbi have only one harvest or agricultural season per year causing a serious burden on the nutritional status, livelihood and health of the local people. Globally, mankind is dependent on a handful of widely cultivated plant species for food security[10,12]. During the course of history, some 12,000 plant species have been usedas food, but only 2,000 have been domesticated and only about 150 are commercially cultivated[13]. About 30 species of plants have been reported to provide about 90% of the world’s nutritional needs[13],and only 12 crops are known, to contribute between 85–90% of world’s caloric intake [14]. By contrast, wild foods provide a greater dietary, nutritional and medicinal diversity [12,15].Millions of people in developing countries depend on wild resources, for wild medicinal and edible plants [16].A foodplant may be used for medicine, andto treat ill health or to maintain wellness[17,18]. Hippocrates, 400–377 B.C. is famously quoted to have said ‘Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food’ [19]. Globally the majority of food plants are neglected or underutilized and are mostly wild [21,22].The number of non-cultivated edible plant species in Uganda has been reported to be far higher than those cultivated [20].This has created growing fear of the over reliance by humans on a narrow food base [20,23]. This has led to the growing or renewed interest in the documentation, collection, conservation and consumption of wild edible plants or wild crop relatives[24,25].These actions are consistent with themulti-pronged approach required for the conservation and promotion of sustainable utilization of neglected food plants [10]. Wild plants may be defined as those that growspontaneouslyin self-maintaining populations in natural or semi-natural ecosystems and can exist independently of direct human action [11]. Despite society’s primary reliance on crop plants, the tradition of eating wild plants has not completely disappeared[26].In many societies, a large number of wild edible plants are regarded as emergency or hunger gap or famine foods[22,14,25]. Wild food plants are accepted by rural communities through custom as appropriate and desirable[26].DespiteEuropean Journal of Medicinal Plants 4 641 , their wide( 6 ):660 , 20 14 spread use, no efforts have been made to document wild plant species in Nebbi district.