Abstract:
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a non-communicable metabolic disease which is caused due to
inappropriate elevation of blood glucose levels due to the impairment of insulin synthesis or
utilization. The usage of medicinal plants for managing DM differs according to
geographical and cultural differences. Ethnobotany is essential to preserve the knowledge of
medicinal plants and to discover new chemical entities for treating diseases. Therefore, this
study aims to describe the ethnobotany of medicinal plants used in treating DM among
indigenous medical practitioners (IMP) in the Jaffna district, Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional
descriptive study was conducted among all 31 registered IMPs in the Jaffna Divisional
Secretariat (DS). The data was collected using a validated and structured interviewer-
administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to generate the summary of the
data gathered. Family Important Value (FIV) indicates the value of a biological plant taxon,
whereas Related Frequency Citation (RFC) means the citing percentage of informants for
every species. FIV and RFC were calculated to quantitatively determine the common consent
between the informants on using endemic medicinal plants in the DS district. The response
rate was 87%. A total of 72 species belonging to 47 families have been reported by the 27
respondents from the Jaffna DS. Among them, Syzygium cumini (16) was stated as the
species with the highest RFC value (0.59), and Myrtaceae (24) was the most dominant family
with an FIV value of 88.88. Among the reported medicinal plants 33.3% were trees, while
33.3%, 23.6%, 8.3% and 1.4% were shrubs, vines, grasses, and runners, respectively. Leaf
(31.63%) was the most used part for the herbal preparations. The survey also indicated that
the powdered form (77.58%) was the most preferred form among the preparations. These
findings facilitate the documentation and conservation of medicinal plants used for DM by
the IMP in the Jaffna DS, Sri Lanka, and allow the phytochemical screening and
identification of antidiabetic active compounds.
