Review on Ethnomedicinal and Pharmacological Uses of Echinops kebericho Mesfin in Ethiopia

Abstract

The genus Echinops is native to African countries, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia comprises 120 species. In Ethiopia, this genus is represented by well known endemic and critically endangered species Echinops kebericho Mesfin also known as “ Kebercho,” in Amharic language which has a long history of ethnomedicinal uses. Due to the popularity of species as a source of ethnomedicine, this species is severely over-harvested throughout their distributional ranges. This review documents fragmented information on traditional uses and pharmacological evidence of Echinops kebericho in Ethiopia. This review article was carried out by searching studies in PubMed, Google scholar and Google search up to August 2019. The search terms were “Echinops kebericho Mesfin”, “therapeutic” & “pharmacological”. Ethnomedicinal uses of Echinops kebericho Mesfin has been recorded from different regions of Ethiopia for 32 human and 2 livestock ailments. E. kebericho is used to treat evil eye, headache, cough, stomachache, febrile illness and malaria ailments. The extracts of E. kebericho, particularly those from root, exhibited a wide range of pharmacological effects including antihelminthic, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiarrheal, anti spasmolytic and antimalarial activities. These pharmacological studies have established a scientific basis for therapeutic uses of Echinops kebericho Mesfin. Although Ethiopian Echinops kebericho is widely used by traditional practitioners but, it is threatened due to over exploitation of root part. Therefore, E. kebericho need urgent conservation attention, micro propagation, effective documentation and further research.