Ethnobotanical study of knowledge and medicinal plants use by the people in Dek Island in Ethiopia.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE It reveals the trend of knowledge of medicinal plants and the documentation serves as a baseline data for future phytochemical and pharmacological studies. AIM OF THE STUDY The medicinal plants are the integral part of the variety of cultures in Ethiopia and have been used over many centuries. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess knowledge specifically with regard to gender and age, and to document medicinal plants used by the people in Dek Island. MATERIALS AND METHODS The ethnobotanical surveys and quantitative analytical methods were used to study the level of knowledge and medicinal plants use in Dek Island. RESULTS The male (mean=5.75+/-0.65; p<0.001) and informants with > or =40 years of age (mean=5.25+/-0.56; p<0.05) reported more medicinal plants. Age (p<0.05) and sex (p<0.05) have influence on knowledge of medicinal plants though sex (partial eta squared=0.496) has stronger influence than age. The medicinal plants uses showed similarity with other studies conducted in different cultural setups and locations. CONCLUSION The trend of knowledge loss in both age categories and sexes implicates the likely risk of loss of knowledge. The documented data could be useful for future phytochemical and pharmacological studies.