Ethnobotanical Evaluation of Medicinally-Important Forest Plants Used by Coconut Farmers along Ulot Watershed, Can-avid, Eastern Samar, Philippines

Abstract

The prevalence of ethnobotanical study alongside indigenous knowledge in healing ailments using organic ingredients has instigated the authors to conduct this study in these upstream barangays; Salvationn, Pandol, Boco, and Balagon being near the vast rainforest of Ulot Watershed of Can-avid, Eastern Samar, Philippines. A total of 25 identified farmers interviewed with indigenous knowledge from each study area. The study has registered 19,21,18,18 variety of forest plant species perceived and claimed to have medical uses. The most common ailments cited by the farmer healers are diarrhea and stomachache (ulcer/gas pain/indigestion), bughat (relapse), diarrhea, allergies (poisonous animal bites), and toothache which have the higher number of cited forest plants used for treatment. The most common method of preparation is decoction either from the freshly prepared chopped and scrapped or ground/ pounded and sun-dried bark, roots, leaves, and vines of forest plant. The mode of administration generally through oral intake either by drinking the decocted bark, trunk, roots and leaves or freshly-raw eating the bark, leaves, and roots generally in amounts or reasonable quantities/dosage as needed or until the illnesses/ailments or diseases get well. The effectiveness of these medicinal forest plants used by the farmer healers varies from each study area according to the claimed efficacy of each forest plants used based on the proximity of the source from rainforest. The medicinally-important forest plants claimed by the farmer healers from the four barangays historically cited to be very useful in treating illnesses/diseases/ailments are sandigan (2 variant species )[identification in progress] in Salvacion, nagsumpay [calyphranthera sp.] in Pandol, manongal [identification in progress ] in Boco, and dabo-dabo [identification in progress] in Balagon.