Quantitative Ethnomedicinal Analysis of Medicinal Plant Utilization by the Madurese Community in Kendit Village, Situbondo Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Ethnomedicine plays an important role in documenting traditional knowledge of medicinal plant use, which is increasingly threatened by the shift toward modern healthcare and the gradual decline of intergenerational knowledge transfer. This study aimed to identify medicinal plant utilization among the Madurese community in Kendit Village, Situbondo Regency, Indonesia, and to quantify their use through four ethnomedicinal indices: Use Value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), and Plant Part Value (PPV). A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted involving 98 respondents recruited by snowball sampling and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. A total of 17 medicinal plant species were documented. Zingiber officinale had the highest UV (0.255), indicating the most frequently reported species. Seven species: Azadirachta indica, Averrhoa bilimbi, Jatropha multifida, Hippobroma longiflora, Elephantopus scaber, Sauropus androgynus, and Paederia foetida, showed an FL of 100%, reflecting highly specific use for a single ailment, although this value should be interpreted with caution given the small number of underlying reports for some species. The highest ICF (1.00) was recorded for epistaxis, joint pain, and flatulence. Leaves were the most frequently used plant part (PPV = 49%), while boiling (72%) and oral administration (57%) were the predominant preparation and application methods. These findings indicate that traditional medicinal plant knowledge remains well preserved among the Madurese community of Kendit Village and provide baseline data to guide further phytochemical and pharmacological research as well as local conservation efforts.