Ethnobotanical and taxonomical study on medicinal plants used by Bajau Community at coastal area of Tanjung Melinsung, Papar, Sabah / Clotilda A. Eric Adik

Ethnobotanical is the study of relationship of plants with people while taxanomy is the classification and naming of organisms. The purpose of this study is to determine the types of medicinal plants used by Bajau community at Coastal area of Tanjung Melinsung, Papar, Sabah as well as the taxonomical classification among the medicinal plants collected which then being classified based on diseases treated and lastly development of the dichotomous key of the medicinal plants collected. This study involved major standard ethnobotanical methods which are pilot study, interview, collecting samples, compressing, drying, mounting, identification, classification and construct dichotomous key. 54 samples was collected which most of the parts used for treatment was the leaves and stem. From all the samples collected, there are 16 categories of diseases can be treated using the plants: digestive system diseases, endocrine system diseases, bacterial infection, urogenital diseases, immune system diseases, muscular skeletal diseases, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, nervous system diseases, wounds and injuries, cancerous diseases, congenital diseases, zoonotic diseases. The plants are classified into Kindom Plantae, phylum Tracheophyta, Class of Liliopsida and Magnoliopsida, 8 sub-class, 25 order, 35 family, 41 genus and 54 species. This study have high potential to provide a documentation of medicinal plants that found in Sabah which give knowledge to the society about the usefulness and contribution of the medicinal plants in our environment.