Rapid Rural Appraisal methods were used to collate and code the indigenous knowledge on animal healthcare of Tsonga speaking people of South Africa. There was a rapport between local disease names as described by their clinical signs by the farmers and the local veterinary services important disease list.
An ethnobotanical survey of plants used for the treatment of cancer was carried out in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Information on the names of plants, parts used and methods of preparation was collected through a questionnaire which was administered to herbalists, traditional healers and rural dwellers.
Citrus green mould, caused by Penicillium digitatum, is a serious postharvest disease which affects oranges during storage and in transit. The disease is mainly managed by application of postharvest fungicides. Some plant extracts have been shown to effectively inhibit P. digitatumgrowth.
This ethnobotanical study on plants used for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections was undertaken to document the knowledge by lay people in a rural community in northern Maputaland, South Africa. The focus was on the medicinal plants which are growing in and around the immediate vicinity of the homesteads.
The increasing prevalence and distribution of malaria has been attributed to a number of factors, one of them being the emergence and spread of drug resistant parasites. Efforts are now being directed towards the discovery and development of new chemically diverse antimalarial agents.
This paper uses the case of the Batswana people to demonstrate the use of indigenous knowledge (IK) on plant species for medicine and food. The study showed that traditionally the Batswana have a rich indigenous knowledge about the plant species diversity of their environment including community uses of the plant species.
In view of the prevalence of dysentery in developing countries such as South Africa and the erosion of indigenous knowledge of phytomedicine due to lack of interest by the young generation, a survey of five local municipalities of Amathole district, Eastern Cape Province was carried out in 2012.
An estimated 5.7 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2009, more than in any other country. Up to 90% of all HIV/AIDS patients develop opportunistic fungi infections (OFIs) at some point during the course of the disease and 10 to 20% dies as a direct consequence of these.
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Traditional remedies from plants have been use to treat male reproductive related disorders for ages in South Africa. Aim: This study reviewed the current status of medicinal plants used in male reproductive healthcare as well as their effectiveness as a mode of treatment.
This paper reviews the antimicrobial research undertaken on South African medicinal plants during the period 1997–2008. Antimicrobial methods (disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), bioautography) are briefly discussed and an analysis of the publications reviewed indicates that the majority of papers use MIC assays for antimicrobial determination.