An Ethnobotanical Study of Plant Species Used for Medicine by the Eegun Indigenous Tribal Group of Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The ethnobotanical study of plant species used for medicine by the Egun indigenous tribal group of Lagos State, Nigeria was undertaken with a view to assess the valuable plant species in the area and their methods of preparation. In the recent time, there have been a lot of ethnobotanical studies conducted among the varying ethnic compositions in Nigeria, but a gross dearth of such studies abounds among the Eegun ethnic composition. Several communities were selected, among which 10 respondents were randomly interviewed with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire guide. Even more, in the LGA, a major market (Badagry market), was chosen where 5 botanical vendors were interviewed on the plant parts sold. A semi-structured questionnaire matrix was used to interview the respondents. All the interviewed were focused, conversational and two-way in communication. Group interviews were conducted in each community to established group consensus on the individual responses provided. The results revealed that a total of 44 plant species, belonging to 38 families, were observed to be valued for medicine and health maintenance. The respondents’ indigenous knowledge on these species revealed that diverse diseases were managed with the identified plant species. The parts of the plants used varied, as well as the methods of preparations which were simple, as well as the mode of utilization. Results obtained from the test on the abundance of the identified plant species used in the present study revealed that 7% of the identified species were very abundant, 41% were abundant, 41% were frequent, while 2% of them were rare. Adequate protection of medicinal plant resources through conservation in their natural reserves is recommended.