Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used in Treating Viral Infection in Saki West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

Most indigenous people have acquired expertise in the use of medicinal plants, but information on the utilization of the medicinal plants are poorly documented. Thus, this study deals with the ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in treating viral infections in Saki West Local Government Area, Oyo State. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and oral interviews to acquire information from selected members of Saki West Local Government Area. A total of sixty (60) structured questionnaires were given randomly to respondents in the selected villages in the study area. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The finding shows that the majority of the respondents were females (61.7%). Moreover, 50 % of the respondents were from the age group of 31 to 40 (also the largest group). In addition, a majority (88.3%) of the respondents were married, and only a few (16.7%) had no formal education. Furthermore, the major occupation of the respondents was herb selling (35.0%). The findings on the various plant parts utilized for herbal medicine indicated that the leaves, stem bark and whole root were the most commonly used parts. Most of the respondents also prepared herbal medicine by decoction. What is more, oral ingestion (drinking) was found to be the most (70.0%) preferred mode of administration in the study area. Finally, the major problem encountered while acquiring medicinal plants was wild animal threat. This work indicated that there is a need for an ethnobotanical survey in every state of the nation on the medicinal plants used in the treatment of viral infection.