Indigenous Traditional Knowledge on Health and Equitable Benefits of Oil Palm (Elaeis spp.)

Abstract

Recent international policy resolutions have recognized the importance of indigenous knowledge and potential of native medicinal plants in providing health and equitable benefits to the indigenous communities. Lack of knowledge on available native medicinal plants and their health potential may result in inappropriate health care practices causing ailments and associated problems. Oil palm is among the plants that are widely used by the traditional natives of West Africa. Every part of the oil palm has domestic, economic, environmental and medicinal values. This review aims at exploration, perpetuation and preservation of indigenous knowledge on oil palm for health and equitable benefits for incorporation of the same into primary health care system. The traditional medicinal uses of oil palm by indigenous communities are well known from the bibliographical records. The literature consulted for this review was obtained from Medline, PubMed, Embase, Science Direct, Scopus, SID and Google Scholar search carried out from October, 2018 to November, 2018. The literature survey and screening of data revealed that preparations from different parts of Elaeis guineensis are widely used in traditional medicine by the indigenous communities, with most of the uses relating to leaf, fruit, seed, infructescence/inflorescence, root and heart. E. guineensis is used in traditional medicine mostly without being mixed with other plants, and less commonly in mixtures, sometimes in mixture with products of animal origin to treat ailments like malaria, anaemia, gonorrhoea, amenorrhea, menorrhagia, hernia, rheumatism, bronchitis, hepatitis,