Ethnobotanical survey of plants used to treat respiratory infections and related symptoms in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Respiratory infections remain a major global health problem and are ranked amongst the top leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The present study was conducted in the Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg districts of Limpopo province, South Africa aimed at documenting medicinal plants used by Bapedi traditional healers (THs) to treat and manage respiratory infections and related symptoms. Ethnobotanical data was collected via interviews with 240 THs practicing as herbalists (58.7 %), herbalists and diviners (40.5 %), and diviners (0.4 %), using a semi-structured questionnaire, supplemented by personal observation. A total of 224 plant species (83.1 % indigenous and 16.9 % exotic) belonging to 177 genera and 85 botanical families, mainly belonging to the Fabaceae (25 spp.) and Asteraceae (16 spp.) families. The majority of species (84.1 %) were used to treat tuberculosis (TB), followed by sore throat (65.0 %), asthma (58.3 %), sinusitis (55.0 %), pneumonia (53.3 %) and rhinitis (43.7 %). The most widely used and preferred species characterized by high fidelity levels, use values, use mention and preference indexes included Clerodendrum ternatum, Cryptocarya transvaalensis, Enicostema axillare, Lasiosiphon caffer and Stylochaeton natalensis. Roots (64.0 %), leaves (13.0 %) and whole plants (6.0 %) were the most used plant parts. A total of 473 herbal recipes (66.3 %=mono and 33.3 %=poly), prepared mainly by boiling (46.0 %), pounding (43.1 %) and burning (2.9 %) were recorded. Different routes of administering these recipes were noted, with oral (75.6 %) and nasal (18.8 %), being the most preferred. Such repository of medicinal plants reinforces the need for evaluation of their ethnopharmacological properties as a basis for developing future medicines and pharmaceutical products.