ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY ON MEDICINAL PLANTS FOUND IN ANNANG COMMUNITY IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

This study was carried out to inventorize, describe, and document plant species and products used for ethnomedicinal purposes by the Annang ethnic group of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data were collected through ethnobotanical semi-structured focus-group interviews coupled to field observations. Eight (8) villages and nine (9) traditional healers were covered in all and a total number of 32 villagers were interviewed. The studies revealed that a total of 39 species spread into 37 genera and 26 families were used traditionally for various medicinal purposes. It was found that the most commonly used species were Garcinia kola, Costus lucausianus, and Elaeis guineensis. The medicinal plants are mostly used for the treatment of stomach ache, malaria, boil, cough, typhoid, convulsion, ulcer, fever, and gonorhoea. The study revealed that the indigenous people have administering preparation from barks, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds and whole plants of one or several species. The relevance of the data documenting indigenous knowledge and use of plants especially in the area of traditional health care system is discussed.