DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2016.v03i03.021

Pages: 270-274

Diarrhoea remains one of the most prevalent diseases in Nigeria, especially among children aged between 1 and 5. In this survey, an ethnomedical inventory was done to document the various plant families, species and plant parts used for the treatment of diarrhoea in Abia State of Nigeria. The outcome showed that a total of 51 plant species from 34 families mostly the Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae were used to treat diarrhoea. Other families relatively used included Anacadiaceae, Apocynaceae and Malvaceae. The most plant parts used were leaves (50.9%), stem bark (14.54%), seeds (10.09%) and roots (9.09%). Other parts used were the aerial parts (7.27%), the fruits (5.45%) and the flowers (1.82%). Further research is required to isolate the active chemical constituents under clean and good hygienic environment and their mode of action investigated.