Medicinal Plants Traded in Informal Herbal Medicine Markets of the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

Trading of herbal medicines generates economic opportunities for vulnerable groups living in periurban, rural, and marginalized areas. This study was aimed at identifying medicinal plant species traded in the Limpopo province in South Africa, including traded plant parts, conservation statutes of the species, and harvesting methods used to collect the species. Semistructured questionnaire supplemented by field observation was used to collect data from owners of 35 informal herbal medicine markets in the Limpopo province. A total of 150 medicinal plant products representing at least 79 plant species belonging to 45 botanical families, mainly the Fabaceae (11.4%), Asteraceae (7.6%), and Hyacinthaceae (6.3%), were traded in the study area. Roots (50.0%), bulbs (19.0%), and bark (16.0%) were the most frequently sold plant parts. Some of the traded species which include Alepidea amatymbica, Bowiea volubilis, Brackenridgea zanguebarica, Clivia caulescens, Dioscorea sylvatica, Elaeodendron transvaalense, Encephalartos woodii, Eucomis pallidiflora subsp. pole-evansii, Merwilla plumbea, Mondia whitei, Prunus africana, Siphonochilus aethiopicus, Synaptolepis oliveriana, and Warburgia salutaris are of conservation concern and listed on the South African Red Data List. Findings of this study call for effective law enforcement to curb illegal removal of wild plants especially those species that are at the verge of extinction.