Determinants of the Utilization of Ornamental Plants as an Alternative Health Therapy in Akure South Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the determinants of the utilization of ornamental plants as alternative health therapy in Akure South Local Government Area in Ondo State, Nigeria. Random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and twenty (120) respondents for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and means were used to present study findings. Chi-square was used to test the study hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Data revealed that the majority (74.0%) of the respondents were married, with a mean age of 36.1 years and only 96.8 % of the respondents had formal education. The study revealed that 98.3% of the respondents were aware of  medicinal ornamental plants that could be used as alternative health therapy such as moringa, aloevera, roses, scent leaf, lemon grass, fern and jatropha  their medicinal and the health cases that they can be used for which range from malaria, stomach pain, skin diseases, eye defect to mouth diseases. The findings showed that moringa ( 15X"> : 3.68) was more often utilized among the common medicinal ornamental plants. The study has established that there was no significant relationship between the sex (P= 0.321≤ 0.05), marital status (P= 0.479≤ 0.05), educational status (P= 0.501≤ 0.05), religion (P= 0.291≤ 0.05) and primary occupation (P= 0.321≤ 0.05) of the respondents and the use of ornamental plants as alternative health therapy. Preservation, information and lack of standard measurement of usage were the factors influencing the utilization of ornamental plants as revealed by this study. It was recommended that research should be encouraged to find the means of preparing and preserving medicinal ornamental plants for people to use more efficiently and effectively.