ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY OF PLANT USED FOR TREATMENT OF MOUTH ULCER IN KAITA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

The study of medicinal plants for managing mouth ulcers in Kaita local government area, Katsina State, Nigeria reveals that a diverse collection of medicinal plants used by the local population, taking various plant families and parts. A family such as Fabaceae has the higher diversity, followed by, Myrtaceae, rhumnaceae, moraceae, are relatively dirversed each represented by two species. In contrast, several families including anacardiaceae, musacea, euphorbiaceae, and others, were limited to only one species. The Fabaceae family demonstrates moderate diversity with two species summarily. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of "decoction" as the key method of plant preparation that consists 91% of the reported preparation methods. "meceration" represented a smaller proportion with 6%, while "Infusion" was the least commonly used method at 3%, signifying the traditional and practical significance of "decoction" in the local application of medicinal plants for treatment of mouth ulcer management. In terms of plant parts, "bark and Leaves" emerged as the most frequently used, garnering six mentions, followed by "root" and "Fruit" with three and four mentions each. The results imply that "Bark and Leaves" are of greater significance and relevance among the plant parts mentioned by the respondents.