Medicinal plants used by subsistence farmers for the treatment of cattle diseases in Nkomazi local Municipality, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Abstract

Farmers frequently use a combination of ethnoveterinary knowledge and contemporary veterinary medicine to treat their cattle. The sustainability of livestock production in local communities is continuously threatened by distinct types of diseases. The current study documented the medicinal plants used to treat and manage various cattle diseases in Nkomazi local municipality, Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The ethnoveterinary data were collected using semi-structured interviews (face-to-face). Descriptive data and ethnobotanical indices such as frequency of citation (FC) and informant consensus factor (ICF) were used to present the collected data. In the study area, 28 plant species from 19 families are used for medicinal purposes. Cissus quadrangularis L., Synadenium grantii Hook.f., Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud. Vernonia abbreviata DC., Vachellia sieberiana var. woodii (Burtt Davy) Kyal. & Boatwr. had the highest FC. Eighteen cattle diseases were classified into six categories in the study area. Dermatological diseases, diarrhoea, bloating, intestinal worms, and allergic reactions, scored the highest ICF value, whereas musculoskeletal diseases, such as fractured bones, received the second highest ICF value. Maggot infestations (30%) were the most frequently cited cattle disease treated by Cissus quadrangularis. The plant parts commonly preferred in the preparation of remedies for various cattle diseases were leaves (45%), followed by bark (28%), and seeds (3%) being the least used plant part. Poultice (39%) and decoction (36%) were the preferred methods of preparation. The frequent methods of administration were orally (54%) and topically (46%). These findings indicate that a wide range of plant-based remedies is used by farmers and herders for the treatment of health complications associated with subsistence cattle farming. Furthermore, the UPLC-qTOF-MS analysis tentatively revealed the presence of metabolites, 20 of which were identified in acetone extracts and another 20 in the ethanol extracts of V. abbreviata. The identified metabolites included compound classes such as terpenoids which were highest in the ethanol extracts (27, 77%) and Alkaloids which were highest in the acetone extracts (15.79%). The results showed significant chemical differences between both extracts of the plant in the profiles. V. abbreviata. leaf extracts were reported to possess compounds capable of providing healing abilities to various cattle ailments such as wounds and diarrhoea.