Quantitative Ethnobotanical Study, Phytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Assay of Ethnomedicinal Plants of T’boli In Lemsnolon, Tboli, South Cotabato

Abstract

Tbolis in Lemsnolon, Tboli, South Cotabato are one of the ethnic groups in the Philippines serving as repository of novel knowledge on ethnomedicine. On July 2014, a research was conducted among Tboli tribe in Lemsnolon to document the local knowledge on ethnomedicinal plants before environmental and cultural changes deplete the resources. Selected important ethnomedicinal plants were quantified through Relative Frequency Citation and Use Value. Selected important medicinal plants were screened for phytochemical constituents, and their antibacterial property was determined through paper disc diffusion method. A total of 28 medicinal plants belonging to 21 families were recorded, most are used for symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings (13spp.) and certain infectious and parasitic diseases (5spp.). The most abundant medicinal plant families were Asteraceae (5spp.) and Euphorbiaceae (3spp.), the most dominant life forms of the species includes herbs (17spp.) followed by shrubs (4spp.), the most frequent used part were leaves (42%) followed by stems (11%), the most common preparation method was decoction (47%), the most common route of administration is through oral (66%). Artemisia vulgaris, Bryophyllum pinnatum, Elephantopus sp., Emilia sonchifolia, Ficus pseudopalma, Hyptis capitata, and Leucaena glauca have the highest RFC (0.29), E. sonchifolia has the highest Use Value (0.71).Selected important ethnomedicinal plants, Artemisia vulgaris, Costus malorticanus, Elephantopus sp., Emilia sonchifolia and H. capitata, were found to be rich in alkaloids while free fatty acids, flavonoids, tannins and anthraquinones were present in most of these selected plants. However, ethanolic extracts of the selected important medicinal plants showed inactive zone of inhibition against S. aureus and E. coli. Results showed that plants used for healing among Tboli community in Lemsnolon are found to be possible sources of potential drugs and are subject for further phytochemical and pharmacological investigations.