Abstract
M.Sc. (Botany)
Medicinal plants are widely recognised and acknowledged in rural areas and globally they contribute to the healthcare system within various countries. The core indigenous knowledge on the use of these medicinal plants resides in elderly people and it is traditionally passed from one generation to the next through oral transmission, and often not efficiently documented. The Ga-Mashashane area, situated in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province is no exception to the risk of losing some of this information through oral transmission. However, ethnobotanical studies have been conducted at District level within the Province covering Waterberg, Capricorn, Sekhukhune, Mopani and Vhembe. The aim of the current study was to explore and document the indigenous knowledge on the use of medicinal plants by the people in the Ga-Mashashane area and to determine the efficacy of these medicinal plants through antimicrobial and phytochemical screening.
Knowledge on the use of medicinal plants was gathered through structured questionnaires, which considered socio-demographics, plant organs used, dosage, and administration method. Forty-five medicinal plants were recorded to treat various human ailments in the area, and the majority of these plants were noted from Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Verbenaceae. Twelve new uses were recorded in the current study with Senecio barbertonicus Klatt (used as a purgative), recorded for the first time. Priority was given to gastrointestinal ailments treated with 22 medicinal plants, followed by respiratory ailments (18), skin ailments (16), and sexually transmitted infections (eight), while non-infectious ailments are treated with four species. Peltophorum africanum was the most highly utilized medicinal plant to treat all infectious ailments, followed by Acokanthera oppositifolia, Carissa bispinosa, Carpobrotus edulis, and Eucalyptus...