**2. Ethnomedicine study on medicinal plants used by local communities in West Sumatera, Indonesia**

#### **2.1 Ethnomedicine**

Ethnomedicine is a branch of medical anthropology which deals with the origin of disease, causes, and treatment according to certain groups of people. The ethnomedicine aspect is an aspect that appears along with the development of human culture. In the field of medical anthropology, ethnomedicine gives rise to various therminologies. This branch is often called folk medicine, primitive medicine, however ethnomedicine is considered more appropriate [1].

Ethnomedicine is a field of ethnobotany studies that reveals local knowledge of various ethnicities in maintaining their health. Empirically, it can be seen that traditional medicine uses both plants and animals. However, in terms of the number and frequency of use, plants are more widely used than animals. Eventually, this resulted in traditional medicine being identical to medicinal plants.

Currently, ethnomedicine research is aimed at finding new chemical compounds that are useful in the manufacture of modern drugs for dangerous diseases, such as cancer drugs. Up until now, most of the drugs used for cancer treatment are still extracted directly from plants because synthetic compounds cannot be made or their production costs are much more expensive than direct extraction from plants. In addition, treatment for diseases which are currently developing, the new purpose of ethnomedicine research is to find new compounds with fewer side effects, the emergence of resistant effects from existing drugs, and also to anticipate the emergence of new diseases. This has resulted in ethnomedicine research continuing to develop, especially in countries rich in biodiversity such as Indonesia.

The use of plants as herbs and medicine traditionally or often referred to as empirical is often associated with uses that have no scientific basis at all. Even though research is so advanced, it is very possible that in the past the use of traditional medicine was only based on lineage and undocumented experience and there was no scientific data. Now, there are numerous recent studies that support the practice of using plants for the treatment of various diseases. Exploration of Local Knowledge of Ethnomedicine and Community-Based Medicinal Plants in Indonesia, hereinafter referred to as Research on Medicinal Plants and Herbs (RISTOJA) has succeeded in collecting data related to the use of plants for medicinal purposes in almost every ethnicity in the territory of Indonesia (34 Provinces) [2].

#### **2.2 West Sumatera**

West Sumatra is one of the provinces in Indonesia located on the west coast in the central part of Sumatra island which consists of lowlands on the west coast and volcanic plateaus formed by the Bukit Barisan on the eastern side. This province has a land area of 42,297.30 km2 which is equivalent to 2.17% of Indonesia's area. More than 45.17% of this area is still covered by protected forest. The coastline of this

*Ethnomedicine Study on Medicinal Plants Used by Communities in West Sumatera, Indonesia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96810*

province is entirely in contact with the Indian Ocean along 2,420,357 km with a sea area of 186,580 km2 . Mentawai Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, are included in this province (**Figure 1**).

Astronomically, West Sumatra is located between 00.54 'North Latitude and 30.30' South Latitude and between 98.36' − 101.53 'East Longitude and is traversed by the equator or the equator. Based on its geographical position, West Sumatra Province has the following boundaries: North - North Sumatra and Riau Provinces; South - Indian Ocean; West - Indian Ocean; East - Jambi and Bengkulu Provinces. Located on the west coast of the central part of the island of Sumatra with an area of approximately 42.2 thousand square kilometers.

Like other regions in Indonesia, the climate of West Sumatra is generally tropical with temperatures quite high, between 22.6 ° C to 31.5 ° C. This province is also traversed by the equator, precisely in Bonjol city, Pasaman district. There is a number of large rivers flow from this province into the east coast of Sumatra, such as Batang Hari, Siak, Inderagiri (referred to as Batang Kuantan in the upper part), and Kampar. Meanwhile, the rivers that flow into the west coast are Batang Anai, Batang Arau, and Batang Tarusan.

## **2.3 Study area**

This research was conducted to identify plants used by the people of West Sumatra as medicinal plants. This research was conducted in several areas in West Sumatra, namely Padang city, Padang Pariaman district, Pariaman city, Padang Panjang city, Bukittinggi city, and Payakumbuh city.

### **2.4 Data collection**

Field observations were carried out in January-April 2020. Using the purposive sampling method, ethnomedicine data were collected through semi-structural interviews and discussions from 18 informants. Information regarding local medicinal plants, parts used, method of application and preparation is recorded. Data on the gender, age and educational status of informants were also collected. Plant specimens were also collected to help identify the medicinal plant species obtained.

**Figure 1.** *Map of West Sumatra. Source: perpustakaan.menlhk.go.id.*
