Abstract

Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants use in Sokoto state of Nigeria for the treatment of diarrhoeal disorders was conducted. The plants documented were identified botanically and ranked based on informant frequency of citation. Ten top rank plants were then selected and screened for acute toxicity, phytochemical constituents and antidiarrhoea properties. A fixed single dose (3000 mg/kg b.wt.) of aqueous extract of each plant was administered orally to five female Sprague dawley rats in sequence to test for acute toxic effect. Another fixed dose of 200 mg/kg (b.wt.) of each extract was administered orally to treat diarrhoea induced with castor oil (1.0 ml) in each group of rats (n = 6). The results showed that, nineteen plants were cited by the Herbalist as being used for the treatment of diarrhoea in Sokoto state. The aqueous extracts of the ten selected plants were relatively safe after short term oral administration and tannins was the only phytochemical compound detected in all the extracts. Even though the ten selected plants exhibited varying degrees of antidiarrhoea activities, Lannea acida followed by Euphorbia hirta and Acacia niloticarespectively produced the most effective diarrhoea inhibition. This study has identified nineteen medicinal plants used in Sokoto for the treatment of diarrhoea.  Tannins was the only phytochemical compound detected in all the screened plants and Lannea acida showed the highest antidiarrhoea potential.

Keywords: Diarrhoea, medicinal plants, Wistar rats, oral administration.