ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY AND PHARMOCOGNISTIC FEATURES OF SENEGALIA POLYACANTHA (WILLD.) SEIGLER & EBINGER

Abstract

Senegalia polyacantha (Willd.) Seigler & Ebinger formally known as (Acacia polyacantha syn) is a plant of the
Fabaceae family. It is used traditionally for treatment of different ailments. Ethnobotanical survey as well as the
pharmocognostic studies of the plant were conducted using standard procedures. They root, stem, and leaf samples,
along with their powdered forms, were studied macroscopically and microscopically. A semi-structured
questionnaire was applied for interviews with respondents. Among 120 respondents studied for the traditional
importance of the plant 76.7% were male, 69.2% married, 61.7% with no Western education, 39.2% herbalist, 65%
of low economic level, 49.2% of age range of 35-54. The most mentioned uses are voice refreshing, followed by
easy labour, abdominal pain, male aphrodisiac, back pain, cough, leg pain, cleaning teeth, numbness, osteoarthritis,
urinary tract infection and least was spirituality. Anatomically, the leaves were found to be isobilateral with a
vascular bundle. Powdered samples revealed some important diagnostic features, including thin-walled fibres with
clearly visible lumen and pointed ends, parenchyma cells that are thin-walled, and isodiametric with no intercellular
spaces. The fragment stem tissue includes sclereids with phloem, fibre and epidermis. The plant has an
ethnobotanical importance and the plant can be distinguished from close related because of the unique
pharmacognostic features.