Ethnobotanical survey of plant species utilised as spices among the indigenous people of Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Plant species used as spices in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, were assessed in this study. A total of twenty four spicy plants were identified. This included a fungal species and twenty three plant species. These species were of diverse life forms (25% trees; 8% shrubs, 58% herbs and 4% grasses). The study also revealed that the spicy plants identified were heterogeneously distributed across the three senatorial zones of the State. Fruits/seeds were the most utilized parts of the indigenous spicy plants identified. 63% of the identified spicy plants were sourced from the wild and 38% were cultivated in the State. Parts of the plants utilized for spices were fruits, seeds, leaves, shoots, bulbs, rhizomes and in some cases the entire-part. Fruits and seeds dominated the parts used (46%), while rhizome and the entire-parts were the least utilized parts (4%) for spices in the study area. Most of the methods employed in harvesting the spicy plants were annihilative and inhibitory. Also environmental pollution among other factors threatens the existence of the spicy plants growing in the wild in the study area. In conclusion conservational strategies that will ensure sustainable use of the identified spicy plant species were proposed.