Plants used for female reproductive health care in Oredo local government area, Nigeria

Type Journal Article - Scientific Research and Essay
Title Plants used for female reproductive health care in Oredo local government area, Nigeria
Author(s)
Volume 4
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
Page numbers 120-130
URL http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380787612_Ogbe et al Pdf.pdf
Abstract
The state of maternal health in Nigeria is poor and can be attributed to inadequate access to reproducetive
health services, poverty and in some areas cultural resistance. Consequently, many rural people in
Nigeria turn to ethno-medicinal health care systems due to accessibility, affordability, availability and
an inherent trust in this method. These systems are threatened by erosion of plant diversity and ethnomedicinal
knowledge, creating an urgent need for intensive documentation. Therefore, this paper
presents an inventory, economic valuation, an evaluation of selected wild species for domestication
and a non-experimental validation for the medicinal activity of plants used in Oredo Local Government
Area, Benin City, Nigeria for female reproductive health care and gynaecological conditions. A total of
27 plants belonging to 20 families used in treating 16 female reproductive health and gynaecological
conditions were recorded, and their medicinal activity validated non-experimentally. With the exception
of two, all the plants documented are reported in scientific literature to have chemical constituents
which exhibit medicinal activity. Economic value of medicinally useful plants in the local market ranged
from < $1 - ˜ $6 per kg for fruits and leafy vegetables and < $1 per 10 g for spices. Most (92.31%) of
these plants are common and abundant, indicating availability to people irrespective of level on the
social scale particularly those in rural areas. Rauvolfia vomitoria and Newbouldia laevis, both wild
multipurpose and locally important, with potential for industrial raw materials, can be domesticated and
used to improve the livelihoods of rural communities.

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