Utilization of Wild Melon in Human and Poultry herbal medicine among communities of Kwara and Ekiti States, Nigeria

Abstract

The utilization of wild melon (Adenopus breviflorus Benth) in human and poultry herbal medicine among communities of Kwara and Ekiti States in Nigeria was undertaken using a participatory rural approach, administration of structured questionnaire and interview were conducted on resident users within 35 randomly selected communities of Irepodun, Ifelodun, Oke-Ero and Ekiti LGA of Kwara State, Moba and Ijero LGA in Ekiti State of Nigeria, where the plant is ecologically adapted as a wild plant species of family Cucurbitaceae. Demographic information on respondents was analyzed using the percentage while research hypotheses were investigated using the chi-square statistics at a 4-point likert scale. The data obtained was therefore analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that there were more female users of wild melon (84.62%) who spread across the age groups, 46.15% of respondents were between 40- 49 years while 51.05% had no formal education. The communities considered WM fruits as herbal remedies for some diseases of man and livestock especially poultry, this is however without any scientific supports. The fruits are obtained from the wild, the communities does not attach any nutritional value to it. Intensive scientific experiments should be conducted on the WM fruits which should include the claim of its therapeutic potentials and husbandry.