Abstract            Volume:6  Issue-3  Year-2018         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

This ethnobotanical study documented the diversity and use of spices and condiments growing in Konta special District (woreda), Southern Ethiopia. A total of 61 informants, among them 20 key informants and 4 spice vendors were selected for this study. A total of 120 home gardens were visited. In the home gardens a 2 x 2m quadrat was made and the number of spices and condiments in each quadrat were counted and recorded. A total of 26 species of spices in 24 genera and 15 families were studied. There are prdominant herbs (92%) with only two shrubs (8%). Informant consensus on the cultural value of the spices and condiment plants showed that all the informants considered Zingiber officinale, Aframomum corrorima, Coriandrum sativum, Lipidium sativum, Ocimum americanum, Piper capense and Ruta chalepensis as the well-known spices in the area. Of the spices and condiments species documented, 16 (60%) of them have also been used in traditional medicine. Informants also identified major threats of spices and condiments in the area. Both cultivated and non-cultivated species of spices and condiments of the district need enhanced development and conservation, as it has been indicated that some of these species are threatened by deforestation.

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