Medicinal plants and traditional healing practices in ehotile people, around the aby lagoon (eastern littoral of Côte d’Ivoire)

Malan DF, Neuba DF, Kouakou KL
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2015 Mar 14;11(1):21
PubMed Central PMC4391329

Researchers from Université Nangui Abrogoua and Institut Botanique Aké-Assi d’Andokoi surveyed the ethnomedicinal knowledge of the Ehotile people, one of the smallest and oldest ethnic groups around the Aby Lagoon of Côte d’Ivoire.

The authors note that “the land occupied by Ehotile is one of the most degraded of the Ivorian Coast. Scarce natural vegetation that has withstood the plantations of coconut, oil palm or rubber is composed of the marshy patches and the islands of the Ehotile Islands National Park.”

The team documented 123 species employed by the Ehotile in the treatment of 57 diseases, including malaria, sexual asthenia, troubles linked to pregnancy, dysmenorrhea and hemorrhoids.

Among the most salient medicinal species used were Harungana madagascariensis, Alstonia boonei, Ocimum gratissimum and Xylopia acutiflora. Exploitation for medicinal purposes of Harungana madagascariensis and certain other plant species has led to their scarcity or their disappearance.

From the conclusion:

“Despite the virtual disappearance of natural formations in Ehotile land, medicinal plants are important in the Ehotile health system. Medicinal plants are known and used alone or in addition to medical prescriptions to treat several ailments. However, some of them are becoming rare, and it is feared that this scarcity will result in the inevitable loss of associated knowledge and practices.”

Read the complete article at PubMed Central.

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