DOCUMENTATION OF ETHNOMEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THE SUBTRIBES OF LOWER KALINGA PROVINCE.
Kalinga is a landlocked province situated in the Northern Luzon of the Philippines where the absence of data-build up about the identity of ethnomedicinal plants used by the subtribes of lower Kalinga was crucial Methods were anchored in the Exploratory Sequential Design were ethnobotanical data were obtained by conducting many field trips, questionnaires, open-end and semi- structured interviews, inquiries, and group gathering from 2019-2021. The study looked into the names, parts used, diseases used, mode of preparations, and route of administration and classification of the documented ethnomedicinal plants. The ethnobotanical data were quantitatively studied using the informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (F.L.), and medicinal use values (MUV) of plants. Results show 80 medicinal plants in the study areas, belonging to 80 species, 73 genera, and 42 families, leaves have the highest utilization of 63%, decoction with the highest 52%, and oral with the highest 53%. Four diseases have the highest ICF of 100, ten plant species have the highest fidelity level of 100%, and five notable medicinal plants have high MUV; Cinnamomum species with 3.95, Eleusine indica with 2.40, Vitex negundo with 1.96, Lagerstroemia speciose with 1.33, Cymbopogon citratus with1.26, and “omos” 1.25. Result of the study revealed that subtribes have maintained the use of medicinal plants for common, infectious, and even emerging diseases such as CoViD-19, leaves are the most utilized parts, decoction and oral are the commonly used preparation and administration respectively, there are diverse medicinal plants in the area, and some unusual plants are becoming rare and extinct. The researchers recommend conducting a follow-up study on the effectiveness of medicinal plants against CoViD-19, conducting training on the proper preparations of various medicinal plants, and conserving and propagating rare medicinal plants.
Ethnomedicinal plants, subtribes, Lower Kalinga Province, Fidelity Level, Informant consensus Factor, Medicinal Use Value