Ethnobotanical Practices of Tagabawa Tribe on Selected Medicinal Plants at Barangay Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, Philippines

Abstract

Aims: This research gathered information and offered a baseline data for more comprehensive studies on effectiveness of the preparations and the medicinal applications in the Tagabawa community. Moreover, the area is rich in medicinal plants but has no studies documenting the traditional practices so far. The purpose of this study was to determine the traditional medicinal plant used by the Tagabawa tribe in Barangay Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur for future pharmacological and phytochemical studies of the identified medicinal plants. Study Design:  Descriptive research method was employed in the study. This design allows the researchers to gather data by using self-made questionnaires that were verified by experts. Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at Barangay Jose Rizal, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, Philippines. This study was conducted from November 2015 to February 2016. Methodology: Semi structured interviews were administered among 50 randomly selected informants, with ages between 20 years old to 70 years old after plant collection, which is followed by data recording, documentation, plant pressing, drying and identification of the plant species. Results: Results showed that there were 47 medicinal plant species being utilized by the Tagabawa Tribe belonging to 36 families. Trees were commonly the source and the parts mostly utilized for treatment were the leaves for decoction and extraction for the preparation of ethnomedicines for drinking. Furthermore, the study revealed 28 plant species having the highest Fidelity Level value of 1.0 with the highest Informed Consensus Factor (ICF) was for dengue (0.925) followed by wounds (0.854) sprain (0.833) and respiratory infections (0.808). Conclusion: It can be concluded that the Tagabawa tribe mostly utilizes medicinal plants in treating ailments in their area thus, it indicates the high abundance of medicinal plants in the community. It is further recommended that there is a need to conduct phytochemical and pharmacological studies on the reported medicinal plant species to gain more information about the possibilities of identifying the active ingredients for production of drugs and to conduct studies involving conservation of these medicinal plant species.