Ethnobotanical uses of medicinal plants of two ethnoecological regions of Cameroon

T. Jiofack^1,2*, C. Fokunang², N. Guedje², V. Kemeuze¹, E. Fongnzossie³, B. A. Nkongmeneck¹, P. M. Mapongmetsem⁴ and N. Tsabang⁵

¹Millennium Ecologic Museum, P. O. Box 8038 Yaounde - Cameroon.

²Department of Pharmacy and African Phytotherapeutic, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon.

³Organisation pour l’Environnement et le Développement Durable (OPED), Cameroon.

⁴Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Ngaoundere, Cameroon.

⁵Medical Institute of Medicinal Plants Research, Yaounde - Cameroon.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: renbernadin1@yahoo.fr.

Accepted 15 February, 2010

      Abstract

This paper documents the herbal drugs that are used in two ethnoecological regions of Cameroon, namely littoral and South-west and Sudano-sahelian regions. The data on popular medicinal plants used to cure several diseases were collected through direct interviews with herbalists, traditional healers and customers between 2006 and 2007. An inventory of 289 plants species belonging to 89 families was prepared along with their local and botanical names. The present study also details the herbal cures for different disorders, based on the information obtained from local herbalists or traditional healers. Sixty eight percent of the documented plants are used in the two regions to treat more than twenty important diseases.

Key words: Herbal drugs, medicinal plants, ethnoecological zone, Cameroon.