Ethnobotanical Survey and Profiling of Phytochemicals from Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Childhood Diseases in Nyamira County, Kenya
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Date
2025-04
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Medicinal plants have been in use for many years. Besides, the modern-day drugs can be traced to medicinal plants’ origin. Herbalists utilize medicinal plants to treat various childhood diseases that are common in children below eighteen years in Nyamira County. However, these medicinal plants used remain largely undocumented as many herbalists use these plants using the knowledge acquired from their grandparents and other elderly people of their villages. Therefore, this study explored, documented plants used to treat childhood diseases and determined the presence of phytochemical compounds in the selected medicinal plants from Nyamira County, Kenya. The herbalists targeted were those registered as herbalists in the four Constituencies within Nyamira County while purposive and snowballing sampling techniques was utilized to select the participating herbalists. The information of interest in the questionnaires were on questions involved on the medicinal plants used, methods of harvesting, preparation and conservation. The most cited medicinal plants were sampled randomly and dried under the shade to prevent them from losing their phytochemical properties, and then carefully packed in small polythene bags which were labeled before packing for transportation to the laboratory. These samples were used for screening of phytochemical compounds in the medicinal plant extracts using methanol extraction. Similarly, specimens of the same samples were collected dried, mounted and deposited at Kenyatta University Herbarium for future reference. Data was collected from traditional healers in the four Constituencies randomly using semi-structured questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires was coded in excel and imported to SPSS software version 20 for analysis. The qualitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics available in the SPSS software. The output was presented in form of figures and tables. The most cited plant part used as medicinal were the leaves (40.3%) followed by roots (29.6%), barks (13.3%) and fruits (10.3%). The most preferred method of herbal preparation was boiling cited by 36% of the interviewed herbalists, followed by soaking in cold water with 34% and pounding with 30% of the respondents. The selected medicinal plants were positive for phytochemicals; flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, terpenoid, cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins, anthraquinones and steroids. The findings from this study formed basis for documentation of other medicinal plants in Nyamira County. Besides, it presents phytochemicals which can be further purified and be used to treat not only childhood diseases but also other human diseases.