INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY

Volume 17, No. 01, Month JANUARY, Year 2021, Pages 193 - 212

Ethnomedicinal plants used by the local folks in two selected villages of san miguel, surigao del sur, mindanao, philippines

Montero, J. C. and Geducos, D. T.

Abstract Download PDF

The Island of Mindanao in the Philippines is blessed with abundant medicinal plants where most of its people around the archipelago are still relying on the traditional use of herbal plants as their primary health care. Despite several efforts to record and conserve other ethnomedicinal knowledge in Mindanao, many plant species are not yet fully explored, especially to other plant species that warrant practical use in the selected villages of the Province of Surigao del Sur. Thus, this paper aimed to document the ethnomedicinal plants used by the local folks of the two Villages (Tina and Libas Gua) of San Miguel, Surigao del Sur. Thirty (30) key informants ages 30 to 79 years old participated in the series of interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 46 plant species belong to 31 families were documented. Data analysis also revealed the highest frequency distribution of plant family were Gramineae/Poaceae (5 species), Fabaceae (4 species), Lamiaceae and Zingiberaceae (3 species) and Compositae, Verbenaceae, Liliaceae, and Malvaceae with two plant species each. Gastrointestinal ailments, skin conditions, body pain, cancer and tumor/cysts, high blood, leukemia, and diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and renal diseases were among the common health problems with remedies from the documented herbal plants. The decoction of the herb plants using leaves and water was mostly the mode of preparation, wherein this usually taken internally through drinking. Conducting pharmacological examination is vital to validate the ethnomedicinal uses of the identified plants.

Keywords

Ethnomedicine, Medicinal Plants, Traditional Knowledge, Conservation, Ailments

---