Plants and wound healing in Uganda: A mixed methods study

In Uganda, many people rely on traditional healers and medicinal plants for their health needs including managing wounds. To date no studies have been published regarding the local Ugandan practice of the use of medicinal plants for wound healing. This study was undertaken to document Ugandan local knowledge of wound healing, the preparation, administration and identification of local medicinal plants. The mixed methods study comprised three phases: 1. A literature review of the existing literature on plants and wound healing employing systematic techniques. 2. Fieldwork where forty consenting traditional practitioners and local knowledge experts in South Western Uganda were interviewed about their knowledge of wound healing and participated in quantitative surveys regarding medicinal plant use. 3. The interviews and surveys yielded knowledge of wound healing and a list of plants used from which three were selected for relevant phytochemical assays in the laboratory work phase. The literature review found nine studies that reported on the use of medicinal plants for wound healing in Uganda. The interviews provided data which demonstrated that respondents possessed knowledge of the definition, classification, and diagnosis of wounds. The ethnobotanical survey revealed 38 plants as being important for treatment of wounds. The most represented families were Asteraceae (26.3%) and Solanaceae (15.8%); Bidens pilosa L, Musa paradisiaca L., solenostemon latifolius, Ageratum conyzoides L., Hoslundia opposita Vahl. and Microglossa pyrifolia (Lam.) Kuntze were the most widely used. Preliminary phytochemical screening confirmed the extraction efficiency through presence of polyphenol and flavonoid compounds and demonstrated antioxidant activity of the plant extract. Ultimately, this thesis uses the mixed methods approach to gain a fuller and more complete understanding of the research questions. It also demonstrates evidence for the use of selected medicinal plants for wound healing in South Western Uganda and gives a description of the category of professionals involved in traditional medicine using medicinal plants.