The present study aimed to conduct ethnobiological studies and the antioxidant activity of selected medicinal plants for Diabetes Mellitus management. The field survey was conducted by a semi-structured interview focused on information about respondents and therapeutic habits among traditional health practitioners using the snowball sampling method. The polyphenols and flavonoid contents of various extracts were estimated by the spectrophotometric method. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by three methods including ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP. A total of 56 traditional health practitioners (39 male and 17 female) were interviewed wherein the age range of 51 years to 60 years old has the highest frequency (35.73%). As to marital status, the majority of informants (92.85%) were married and most of them were illiterate (82.14%). A total of 28 medicinal plants were reported belonging to 18 families of which the Fabaceae family (7 species) was the most represented. The species Phyllanthus amarus (26.24%), Chrysanthellum americanum (24%), Striga hermonthica (20%), Chamaecrista nigricans (18.69%), Leptadenia hastata (17.67%) and Detarium microcarpum (12.36%) were the most cited. The leaves (46%) and the whole plants (39%) were the most commonly used parts. The decoction (73.21%) and the drink (87.5%) were respectively the extraction method and the administration mode. The best content of polyphenols was obtained by
the ethyl acetate fraction of P. amarus (34.84 mg ±1.23 mg GAE/100 mg fraction) while that of flavonoids was obtained by the ethyl acetate fraction of S. hermonthica (15.77 µmol AAE/g ± 1.33 mg QE/100 mg fraction). As the antioxidant activity, methanolic extracts of P. amarus presented significant activities of ABTS (11418.70 µmol AAE/g ± 291.45 µmol AAE/g extract), DPPH (488.546 µmol AAE/g ± 0 µmol AAE/g extract) and FRAP (1348.74 µmol AAE/g ± 166.85 µmol AAE/g extract). The findings results might be used as baseline information for further scientific investigation to develop new antidiabetic plant-based drugs.

Ethnobotany, Medicinal plants, Diabetes, Polyphenols, Antioxidant