Ethnobotanical and Taxonomic Study of Catha Edulis Plant Grown in Embu and Meru Counties, Kenya
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ETHNOBOTANICAL AND TAXONOMIC STUDY OF CATHA EDULIS PLANT GROWN IN EMBU AND MERU COUNTIES, KENYA. BY KIUNGA JOSPHAT KINYUA BSc. (Hons) UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI. I56/69745/2013 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PLANT TAXONOMY AND ECONOMIC BOTANY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI DECLARATION I KIUNGA JOSPHAT KINYUA (I56/69745/2013) hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been submitted for a degree in any other university to the best of my knowledge. Signed……... …………………… Date…………………….. This thesis has been submitted for examination with our approval as university supervisors: 1. Dr. Catherine W.Lukhoba (Ph.D.) School of Biological Sciences University of Nairobi Signed…………………………… Date………………………… 2. Prof. Saifuddin F.Dossaji (Ph.D.) School of Biological Sciences University of Nairobi Signed………………………… Date………………………. 3. Prof. Abiy Yenesew (Ph.D.) Department of Chemistry University of Nairobi Signed…………………………. Date……………………… ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my grandfather Mr. James Kiunga, and Ms. Lucy M. Mwenda who have played the role of a mother and a mentor to me. Both of them have been a great source of inspiration in my life. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank the University of Nairobi for the scholarship which allowed me to pursue my M.Sc.studies.I would also like to wholeheartedly thank my supervisors for their generous support throughout the study. In particular, I would like to sincerely acknowledge the support given to me by Dr. Catherine Lukhoba who constantly provided guidance in this work and ensured that all the materials needed for taxonomic work were available. Her contribution towards the success of this work was immense and I will truly remain indebted to her for this and also for her moral support. Many thanks go to Prof. Abiy Yenesew for his guidance and also for allowing me to use his laboratory for phytochemical analysis as well as providing all the reagents, chemicals and apparatus that were required for TLC analyses. I would not have made it were it not for his generous noble gesture. I would also like to thank Prof. Saifuddin Dossaji for his patience, guidance and positive criticism of the work. I want to thank the people of Meru and Embu counties with whom and for whom this project was carried out. Their hospitality and keen interest in the proceedings was an inspiration during field work. Many have contributed to the information compiled in this document. I would also like to thank the East African Herbarium for allowing me to access herbarium specimens and conduct part of my studies in the herbarium. My life at the University of Nairobi would not have been complete, were it not for the social buffer created by colleague graduate Students. Last but not the least, I thank all my close relatives and friends who have supported, encouraged and inspired me throughout this research. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................... ix ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................. ix ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem statement ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Objectives ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.1 General objective ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.2 Specific objectives ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Justification ....................................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research hypothesis .......................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................................ 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Historical use of Catha edulis............................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Origin and Geographical Distribution of Catha edulis ...................................................................... 7 2.3 Taxonomy of Catha edulis ................................................................................................................ 8 2.4 Varieties of Catha edulis based on Traditional Knowledge. .............................................................. 9 2.5 Ethnobotany and its Significance ...................................................................................................... 9 v 2.6 Numerical taxonomy ....................................................................................................................... 10 2.7 Chemotaxonomy ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.7.1 Chemistry of Catha edulis ........................................................................................................ 12 2.8 Pharmacological and physiological effects of Catha edulis on humans .......................................... 14 CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................................ 16 MATERIALS AND METHODS ...................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Study area ....................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1.1Meru County ............................................................................................................................. 16 3.1.2 Embu County ........................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Ethnobotanical data collection ........................................................................................................ 19 3.2.1 Reconnaissance (Initial Contact with Respondents) ................................................................. 19 3.2.2 Selection of Key Informants..................................................................................................... 19 3.2.3 Collection of Ethnobotanical Information ................................................................................ 19 3.2.4 Conduction of Interviews ......................................................................................................... 20 3.3 Numerical Taxonomy ..................................................................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Selection of Operation Taxonomic Units (OTUS) ................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Character Scored and Method of Scoring ................................................................................. 21 3.4 Chemotaxonomy of Catha edulis .................................................................................................... 23 3.4.1 Collection of Plant Material ..................................................................................................... 23 3.4.2 Preparation of Crude Extracts for TLC Analysis ...................................................................... 23 3.4.3. Preliminary Analysis of Khat and Comparison of the Separation Efficiency of the Two Solvent Systems. ...........................................................................................................................................