Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Diabetes in Ibadan North-East and Ibadan South-East, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract Background: Diabetes mellitus, which is described to be a lifestyle disease, affects about 8.3% of the adult population of the world. Due to its alarming rate, it is one of the most common non-communicable diseases of current era. The burden of this disease is immense owing to transition in lifestyle and dietary habits, ageing of the population and urbanization in the setting of a genetically predisposed environment.Methodology: The study was aimed at documenting the knowledge of Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMPs) in Ibadan on ethnomedicinal plants used in the management of diabetes. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from 100 TMPs and herb sellers within the study area. Data obtained was analysed using both descriptive statistics as well as quantitative ethnobotany including Use Mention Index, Use Value index and Fidelity level. Results:The total number of respondents from both study areas were 100, which were mainly females (94%) and most of them had no formal education. All respondents were Yoruba speaking. Results revealed 60 plants species belonging to 35 different families and 57 genera were cited by the respondents which they use in the management of diabetes. Hunteria umbellata is the most prominent plant species having the highest UMI reflecting it popularity and efficacy in the management of diabetes in both areas. Fabaceae (23%) has the highest number of plants species followed by Apocynaceae (17%), Annonaceae (11%), Curcurbitaceae (11%) and Liliaceae (8%). The leaves (25%) were the most commonly used plant parts for the management of diabetes followed by fruits (22%) and Bark (13%).in that order.Conclusion: The Southwest part of Nigeria is rich with unexplored plants useful in management of Diabetes and these documented traditional uses require scientific exploration and exploitation for drug discovery in diabetes therapy. Further studies are therefore encouraged in order to isolate, chemically elucidate and characterize the hypoglycaemic bioactive component which could serve as chemical lead for the development of novel antidiabetic drugs with desirable efficacy and safety profiles.