BACKGROUND: Ethnic groups throughout the world have developed their own cultures expressed in the form of customs, taboos, and traditional healthcare systems. Traditional medicine system is one of the widespread cultures known throughout the world which is very much tied to cultural practices of the community or ethnic group. Medicinal plant treasure found in Gurage and Silti zones remained poorly characterized and understood. Therefore, this study was conducted in four ethnic groups: three from Gurage zone (Gurage, Qebena, and Mareqo) and one from Silti zone (Silti) which have lived in close proximity and contact for many centuries in the respective zones. In the present study, unique and shared cultural elements in connection to traditional herbal medicine were examined through investigation of the diversity of medicinal plants. Moreover, attempts have been made to determine similarities among the society in the medicinal plants they have used in general and in medicinal plant species considered culturally most important. METHODS: In a study that involved 320 randomly sampled informants, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation were used and qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Descriptive statistics, rank order priority (ROP), informant consensus factor, Jaccard similarity coefficient, and clustering were used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 244 medicinal plant species and a fungal species used to treat human and/or livestock ailments were documented. The number of plants (80 plants, 33 %) with ROP value greater than 50% were considerably fewer than that of plants with ROP < 50% (164, 67 %). Jaccard similarity index and clustering analysis for all cited plants, among the respective studied districts, indicated that grouping generally followed the existing ethnic origin. On the contrary, clustering based on culturally important medicinal plant species (80 plant species, score ROP ≥ 50%) showed the influence of proximity and geographical orientation rather than ethnic relation. CONCLUSIONS: Culturally, most important plants (80 spp.) are widely used and best shared with nearby communities and this could imply current (new) knowledge being practiced in the communities. This knowledge must be documented and better utilized in a modern way including modernized use of traditional medicinal plants.

• MeSH
• etnicita * MeSH
• etnofarmakologie * MeSH
• léčivé rostliny klasifikace   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• tradiční africká medicína MeSH
• znalosti * MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Etiopie MeSH

BACKGROUND: To overcome the escalating problems associated with infectious diseases and drug resistance, discovery of new antimicrobials is crucial. The present study aimed to carry out in vitro antimicrobial analysis of 15 medicinal plant species selected according to their traditional medicinal uses in Gurage and Silti Zones, south central Ethiopia. METHODS: Ethanol extracts of various plant parts were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against 20 bacterial and one yeast strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by broth microdilution method. RESULTS: Asparagus africanus, Guizotia schimperi, Lippia adoensis var. adoensis and Premna schimperi were active against Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus at a concentration of 512 μg/ml or lower. Strong antibacterial activity (MIC≥128 μg/ml) was observed for G. schimperi extract against 17 resistant and sensitive Staphylococcus strains, at a concentration comparable to standard antibiotics. Moreover, this extract showed higher antibacterial activity for the test against S. aureus ATCC 33591, ATCC 33592, SA3 and SA5 strains (128-256 μg/ml) than oxacillin (512 μg/ml). CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed in vitro antibacterial activity of plants used in folk medicine in south central Ethiopia. The usefulness of these plants, in particular of G. schimperi, should be confirmed through further phytochemical and toxicity analyses.

• MeSH
• antibakteriální látky farmakologie   MeSH
• antifungální látky farmakologie   MeSH
• antiinfekční látky farmakologie   MeSH
• Asparagus (rostlina) MeSH
• Asteraceae MeSH
• Bacteria účinky léků   MeSH
• Candida albicans účinky léků   MeSH
• Enterococcus účinky léků   MeSH
• hluchavkovité MeSH
• léčivé rostliny * MeSH
• Lippia MeSH
• Magnoliopsida * MeSH
• mikrobiální testy citlivosti MeSH
• rostlinné extrakty farmakologie   MeSH
• Staphylococcus aureus účinky léků   MeSH
• tradiční lékařství * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Etiopie MeSH