An Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used by Dusun Community in Kampung Bunga Raya Apin-Apin Keningau Sabah

Ethnobotany of medicinal plants is the study between human and medicinal plant. This study had been done in Kampung Bunga Raya Apin-Apin Keningau Sabah. It is situated 19 kilometres from Keningau town, and 30 kilometres from the boundary of Malapi Forest Reserve and Trus Madi Range. Survey by interviews session and collecting of specimen had been done in 10 weeks; 6 December 2014-25 February 2015. There were 34 respondents who are knowledgeable with medicinal plants had been interviewed and the data gathered the information on the type of medicinal plants, utilized part, ailments, and mode of consumption. A total of 66 medicinal plants belongs to 40 families have been recorded and 15 specimens have been deposited in Herbarium of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (HUMS). This study documented plants from Poaceae family; Cymbopogon citratus, Coix lacryma jobi, Gigantochloa levis, Eleusine indica, Hordeum vulgare, Imperata cylindrica, and Paspalum conjugatum as the most plant mentioned by the respondents followed by plants from Zingiberaceae and Solanaceae family. The most ailment mentioned by the respondents are fever, followed by wound and tooth ache ailment. The remedy can be consumed by two ways; externally by gargling, wrapping, applying or rubbing on the skin, or internally by drinking or eating. The information documented from this study can be used for the further study on phytochemical validation. As the knowledge of medicinal plants are more common by the elderly, there is needs in recording such data to conserve the medicinal plant knowledge so it can be pass on to the future generation