An Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants Used to Manage Diabetes in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder associated with hyperglycaemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion reaction. Medicinal plants are becoming a strong potential alternative to synthetic medication, diet, and exercise due to their reported fewer side effects, affordability, and availability. The study gathers traditional information about medicinal plants used for diabetes in Bulawayo province. Methods: Eighty traditional medical practitioners and twenty diabetes patients were recruited for the survey. Interviews, observations, and field surveys were used to collect data. Results: Ninety-seven plants were mentioned (40 cultivated plants and 57 indigenous plants). Only 49 plant species belonging to 28 families were identified at the National Herbarium, with Fabaceae recorded the highest (22%). Zanthoxylum capense (Thunb.) Harv., Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill and Monotes engleri Gilg. were fre quently used for diabetes management. In addition to having high ethnobotanical indices values, the identified plants were reported to be antidiabetic in the literature reviewed. Only five species were not reported. Tamarindus indica L. was cited 15 times, followed by Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (14 times) and Adansonia digitata L. (10 times). Herbal formulations were mainly infusion of fresh/dried parts(36%) or powder(13%) followed by decoction(12%) and cooking(6%), and were all administered orally. The commonly used plant parts were roots(32%), leaves(11, 5%), and fruits(7%). Discussion/Conclusions: Various diabetic effects reported by the participants were affirmed by the reviewed literature. The study recommends the use of ethnomedicinal plants as both alternative and complementary diabetic medicine. Introduction Diabetes mellitus (DM) has become one of the 21st century's deadliest diseases with the highest morbidity and mortality rates (Ouhaddou et al., 2024). The prevalence of the disease has increased globally affecting almost 536, 6 million people and the numbers are expected to rise to 643 million and 783, 2 million by 2030 and 2045, respectively (Eddouks et al., 2021; IDF, 2017; Katiri et al., 2017). It is a metabolic disorder associated with various organ failure complications due to continuous hyperglycaemia and serum cholesterol concentration in the blood. In 2019, the World Health Organisation classified common types of DM as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, commonly known as type I DM, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, referred to as type II DM, gestational diabetes, and secondary diabetes (Alam et al., 2022; Balwan et