Conservation of Ocimum gratissimum in rural communities of Ekiti State of Nigeria and its use in self-medication

Abstract

The ethnomedicinal use of Ocimum gratissimum was valued against some socio-economic features which include household size, educational status, farm size holdings and economic status. Results obtained revealed that respondents as prerequisites did not consider these features to their consciousness to the efficacy of the extracts and its relative affordability.  At present, households, homesteads and farms constitute the major primary and secondary sources respectively. The relative abundance test, however, indicated that the plant was of rare occurrence at these sources, hence could be said to be endangered at the study area. The present report is on the need for the conservation of O. gratissimum in the study area. Strategies toward the achievement of this goal are proposed.