The aim of this study was to provide information on medicinal plants used to improve the reproductive health of pygmies’ women. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in July 2016, involving 96 women living in Mbandaka commune and in four neighboring villages of Mbandaka town, on the basis of a fact sheet.
The identification of the plants was carried out in relation to the specimens available in the herbarium of the garden of Eala in the city of Mbandaka or to the Laboratory of systematic botany and plant ecology of the University of Kinshasa.
We have inventoried 35 plants species belonging to 27 families. The most represented being Euphorbiaceae (9%) and Asteraceae (9%). These 35 species are reported for 12 indications of use and are involved in the manufacture of 39 recipes. The leaf (43.6%) is the organ that brings the many recipes, followed by bark (33.3%).
Among the methods of preparation of recipes, beating and decoction are reported at the same frequency (28.2%). The main modes of administration of these receipts are oral (34.4%) and vaginal (34.4%). Wearing the plants organs on the hips is the least common mode (4.3%). Sexual appetite (22%) is the most common use, followed by birth spacing (12%) and vaginal narrowing (12%). These data reveal the way of life of the Pygmies and some problems to be solved in the context of reproductive health. It is important to establish the scientific basis for the phytotherapeutic uses reported by the surveyed population.