Medicinal Plant Species Used to Treat Tonsillitis in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review

In various areas of Ethiopia, different plant species have been reported having a medicinal role for ailment tonsillitis. However, the ethnomedicinal information on those medicinal plant species that cure the ailment is not summarized in a way that gives general information and initiates further study. Therefore, the objective of this review paper was to summarize the ethnomedicinal information about medicinal plant species that used to treat tonsillitis in Ethiopia. The result of the review indicated that herbs, leaves, fresh plant materials, and water are the most utilized growth forms, part of the plants, condition of plant parts and diluent added respectively, during remedy preparation for the ailment tonsillitis in Ethiopia. Chewing and oral route of application are the most widely used methods of remedy preparation and administration correspondingly, for the ailment in the country. Utilization of herbs and leaves can be seen as an advantage from the conservation point of view of medicinal plant species that used to treat the ailment since herbs can be cultivated when they are in short supply and are also available as compared to other growth forms. Similarly, utilization of leaves can reduce damage to the medicinal plant species as compared to the use of other plant parts such as roots. However, the use of fresh materials should be reduced as much as possible.  Rhamnus prinoides L’Herit. and Zingiber officinale Roscoe. are the most commonly used plant species for the ailment in Ethiopia, thus further study should be considered on their phytochemistry and clinical trials.