Traditional medicinal uses and essential oil composition of leaves and rhizomes of korarima (Aframomum corrorima (Braun) P.C.M. Jansen) from southern Ethiopia

Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted in Gamo Gofa, Debub Omo and Kaffa; which are the three major korarima (Aframomum corrorima (Braun) P.C.M. Jansen) growing regions of southern Ethiopia. Plant parts used as a medicine for different aliments were documented. Eightythree percent of key informants replied that seeds were mostly used as traditional medicine followed by leaves (75%) and rhizomes (72%). The remedies were prepared from freshly collected plant materials and were mostly taken orally. The values of preference ranking on the main use categories of korarima indicated that the cash value obtained from sale of korarima was the 1st use category for the majority of interviewed key informants. Essential oils of korarima were obtained by hydrodistillation. The oil refractive indices were recorded for leaf (1.494) and rhizome (1.445). When analyzed by GC and GC/MS, 38 (leaf) and 52 (rhizome) compounds were identified from the essential oils. The major component of the oil of the leaf was β-caryophyllene (60.7%). The rhizome oil was dominated by γ-terpinene (21.8%) and β-pinene (17.6%). © 2007 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.