Table 1.
Ethiopian medicinal plants used traditionally to treat malaria
| Familya | Plant species | Local name | Parts used | Methods of preparation | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliaceae (2) | Allium sativum | Nech shinkurt (A) | Steams | Peeling the cover then eat with nutrient | [25] |
| Bulbs | The bulb, which is free of external scales, is crushed and blended with honey before being consumed on an empty stomach | [26] | |||
| Bulbs | Allium sativum bulb and Ginger officinale rhizome are pounded and eaten with honey | [27] | |||
| Fruits | Fresh or dry fruits is chewed orally | [28] | |||
| Bulbs | Before eating breakfast, take the bulb with Ethiopian traditional food 'injera' and Capsicum annuum for 5 days | [18] | |||
| Fruits | Crush the fruit and boil it, then drink it with much amount of milk for 1 day | [29] | |||
| Bulbs | Crush it and consume it alone or mixed with Lepidium sativum seeds | [30] | |||
| Allium cepa | Keye shinkurt (A) | Bulbs | Chew the bulbs and swallow it | [31] | |
| Aloaceae (3) | Aloe gilbertii | Kurunda (Had) | Leaves sap | Squeezed fresh leaves soup and taking the soup orally | [32] |
| Aloe sp. | Yeset qest (A) | Leaves | Fresh leaves were squeezed and diluted with water and drunk it. Syrup made from the plant's dried leaves, as well as those of Asparagus africanus and Senna italica, is also drunk | [33] | |
| Aloe megalacantha | Ere (T) | Leaves | Crush the leaves to get the juice, then filter and drink the filtrate | [30] | |
| Asteraceae (5) | Artemisia abyssinica | Aritimiza (Had) | Leaves | Fresh leaves were crushed and pounded with water, filtered and drunk until they were recovered | [34] |
| Vernonia amygdalina | Grawa (A) | Leaves and barks | For days, morning and evening, leaves and bark mixed with honey are consumed | [35] | |
| Leaves | Crushed leaves of Vernonia amygdalina concocted with leaves of Ruta chalepensis. One cup is served as a drink for 3–5 days with cold water in the morning | [22] | |||
| Artemisia afra | Chugughee (A) | Leaves | Powdered fresh/dry leaves mixed with butter is taken with coffee orally before breakfast for three days | [28] | |
| Leaves | Fresh leaves crushed and pounded with water and then filtered and drunk in one tea cup | [36] | |||
| Calpurnia aurea | Digita (A) | Leaves | Maceration, taken orally once daily for seven days | [37] | |
| Echnops kebericho | Kebericho (A) | Roots | Maceration; take orally once daily for seven days | [37] | |
| Boraginaceae (1) | Cordia africana | Wanza (A) | Roots and Barks | Decoction of roots and inner bark with ginger is consumed | [35] |
| Brassicaceae (1) | Lepidium sativum | Feto (A) | Fruits | Dried fruit is ground into powder, mixed with castor oil, and administered orally | [35] |
| Seeds | Pounded seeds mixed with Allium sativum bulbs and honey is taken orally for five days before breakfast After each dose, one glass of melted butter is recommended for immediate recovery | [28] | |||
| Seeds | The seed is powdered and made as Porridge with other grains | [38] | |||
| Capparidaceae (1) | Maerua oblongifolia | Ja”a (O) | Leaves | Pounded leaves boiled with goat milk and drunk. It is also taken in mixture with the leaves of Withania somnifera | [33] |
| Caricaceae (1) | Carica papaya | Papaya (A) | Leaves | Squeezed the fresh leaves juice and drunk | [39] |
| Leaves | The fresh leaves crush and drink with milk or without milk | [36] | |||
| Leaves | When the leaves become yellow, that means getting to dry, powdered and boiled in water and a cup of tea will be taken for 5 days | [18] | |||
| Leaves | Leaves are pounded and then boiled; the decoction is taken while cold | [38] | |||
| Caryophyllaceae (1) | Silene macrosolen | Saerosaero (T) | Roots | Crush and place it on fire for fumigation | [30] |
| Combretaceae (2) | Combretum molle | Agalo (A) | Leaves and Barks | Leaves and barks powder are mixed with tea or coffee and drunk | [35] |
| Terminalia brownie | Sebaea (T) | Barks | The fresh barks of Terminalia brownie pounding, homogenize with water and drink a bottle cup of the decant in the morning in empty stomach for 4 days | [40] | |
| Convolvulaceae (1) | Ipomoea kituiensis | Laalata (O) | Leaves | Juice of fresh leaves is drunk with coffee | [35] |
| Cucurbitaceae (1) | Lagenaria siceraria | Buqqe hadhaa (O) | Fruits | Ripe fruit of Lagenaria siceraria is bored rinsed with cold water, one glass is used as a drink early in the morning | [22] |
| Euphorbiaceae (4) | Croton macrostachyus | Bisana (A) | Leaves | Boil fresh leaf in water, filter, and drink with milk or tea | [36] |
| Leaves | Macerate with water; take two doses orally for one day | [37] | |||
| Leaves | Crushed/pounded fresh/dry leaves boiled with water is concocted with Allium sativum (bulb) roasted with butter and left over night outside home is taken orally at the morning | [28] | |||
| Leaves | Powdered leafy-stem of C. macrostachyus is mixed with H2O and butter and drank the filtrate part | [41] | |||
| Leaves | Crushing leaves and drinks with either Guizotia abyssinica or milk | [29] | |||
| Euphorbia abyssinica | Kulkual (A) | Latexs | Fresh latex of Euphorbia abyssinica eat bake with Eragrostis tef dough | [26] | |
| Jatropha curcas | Habet-muluk (So) | Leaves | The outer cover of the seed removed and the inside part swallowed with camel milk or chewed | [33] | |
| Euphorbia abyssinica | Kulkual (A) | Roots | Crushing the root and drink with milk | [29] | |
| Fabaceae (9) | Sesamum indcum | Eshkulubia (Ku) | Roots | Pounding the fresh root, mixed with boiled milk and drink a half cup of it in the morning and afternoon | [40] |
| Tephrosia gracilipes | Atotoka (Ku) | Roots | Crushing the dried root, homogenize with water and drink a bottle cup of it in the morning in empty stomach | [40] | |
| Acacia seyal | Tundukiyac (O) | Barks | Gum from bark is chewed | [35] | |
| Albizia amara | Ondoddee (O) | Barks | Bark is chewed | [35] | |
| Tamarindus indica | Mala (B) | Fruits | Chopped, dispersed in water and the suspension is drunk | [42] | |
| Cicer arietinum | Shinbira (A) | Seeds | The dried seeds germinate, then eat them with an Allium sativum bulb | [26] | |
| Entada abyssinica | Ambalta (O) | Barks | The bark ground along with rhizome of Zingiber officinale and bulb of Allium sativum and chewed once a day for few months | [22] | |
| Tamarindus indica | Ged-Kinin (So) | Fruit/pulp | Infusion of the fruit/pulp kept overnight and drunk after taking goat soup | [33] | |
| Senna italica | Salamaki (So) | Leaves | Dried leaves powdered and boiled with water and drunk after adding goat or camel milk | [33] | |
| Flacourtiaceae (1) | Flacourtia indica | Agnaneshewe (B) | Fruits | Eaten as it is | [42] |
| Lamiaceae (1) | Ajuga integrifolia | Anamuro (Hal) | Leaves | The fresh whole parts of plant crushed, the liquid is filtered & drunk it | [32] |
| Loganiaceae (1) | Buddleja polystachya | Amfar (A) | Leaves | Juice in empty stomach | [43] |
| Leaves | Maceration/decoction taken orally once daily for seven days | [37] | |||
| Melia azedarach | Almim (B) | Leaves | Leaves boiled with water and drunk | [42] | |
| Azadirachta indica | Neem (A) | Leaves | Fresh apical leaves (buds) are pounded and mixed with water (soaked) and the filtrate drunk. Lemon and salt and sometimes sugar are added | [33] | |
| Leaves | Grinding, chewing, boiling, liquid form | [44] | |||
| Skebergia capensis | Lol (A) | Barks | Infusion of fresh pulverized bark | [29] | |
| Moraceae (1) | Ficus sur | Oda’a (Had) | Fruits | Dry fruits pounded, powdered and then mixed with honey and taken orally twice | [34] |
| Myrtaceae (1) | Syzygium guineense | Duwancho (O) | Leaves | Well powdered leaves are taken with cold tea | [35] |
| Oleaceae (1) | Olea europaea | Awlie (T) | Bark | Boil it in water and drink the fluid | [30] |
| Phytolaccaceae (1) | Phytolacca dodecandra | Endod (A) | Roots | Fresh roots of Phytolacca dodecandra L’Herit. crush, squeeze then drink | [26] |
| Polygonaceae (1) | Rumex abysinicus | Mekimeko (A) | Roots | Dried roots of Rumex abysinicus boiled with butter and taken orally | [45] |
| Ranunculaceae (1) | Clematis simensis | Tauta (Ku) | Roots | Grinding fresh roots of Clematis simensis and giving a fingertip of this nasall | [40] |
| Rutaceae (1) | Ruta chalepensis | Xenadame (A) | Leaves | Leaves powder is mixed with water and drunk in the morning before breakfast for 3 days | [35] |
| Sapindaceae (1) | Dodonia angustifolia | kitkita (A) | Seeds | Grind and eat it with honey | [30] |
| Solanaceae (3) | Capsicum frutescens | Kariya (A) | Seeds | Eating the dry seeds mixing with foods | [32] |
| Datura stramonium | Manjii (O) | Fruits | Powdered fruit of Datura stramonium is mixed with honey and three to four spoons are eaten with pounded Allium sativum | [22] | |
| Withania somnifera | Gzawa (A) | Roots | Dried roots grounded and boiled and drunk after adding goat/camel milk | [33] | |
| Urticaceae (2) | Droguetia iners | Yewoba medihanit (Aari) | Leaves | Leaves chopped and mixed with Premna oligotricha and boiled together one glassful drank | [46] |
| Urtica simensis | Sama (A) | Roots | The crushed the roots and dried the mixed with fresh water, drink one glass of it and drink much amount of milk | [29] | |
| Verbenaceae (1) | Lantana trifolia | Yewoba medihanit (Aari) | Roots | Root chopped and soaked with water and mixed with local alcoholic drink (Areke) | [46] |
| Roots | Maceration, taken two doses orally for one day | [37] |
A Amhargna, O Oromigna, T Tigerigna, B Bertagna, Had Hadigna, So = Somaligna, Ku Kunamaigna, Hal Halabigna
aNumber of species studied by family in parentheses