Profile description of Pterocarpus erinaceus users in Benin.
Table 2 shows the profile of Pterocarpus erinaceus users in Benin. Adult men are the most users of the species in all ecological zones (˃ 90%). Most of users are carpenters (32.5%) farmers (32.5%) and charcoal makers in the Guinean zone while they are mostly pastoralists and traditional therapists in Guinean-Soudanese and Sudanian zones (respectively 10.53% and 17.84% then 24.67% and 74%). Exceptionally, more than 50% of users are farmers in the Guinean-Soudanese zone. With regard to sociolinguistic groups, Fons is major users of Pterocarpus erinaceus in the Guinean zone, while the sociolinguistic groups Nagot (26.32%) and Mahi (19.30%) are major users in Guinean-Soudanese zone. The sociolinguistic groups, Fons (15.79%), Idaatcha (14.62%) and Itcha (14.04%) are also users of the species in Guinean-Soudanese zone. In Sudanian zone, the sociolinguistic group Peulh represent about half (44%) of the users of Pterocarpus erinaceus. The sociolinguistic group Boo (26%), Bariba (17.33%) and Dendi (12.67%) also use the species for various needs in this region.
Table 2
Sociodemographic description of Pterocarpus erinaceus users according to ecological zones in Benin
Variables
|
Modalities
|
Guinean
|
Guinean-Soudanese
|
Soudanian
|
n
|
N
|
n
|
N
|
n
|
N
|
Sexe
|
Female
|
03
|
8.82
|
14
|
8.19
|
-
|
-
|
Male
|
31
|
91.18
|
157
|
91.81
|
150
|
100
|
Age
|
Adult
|
31
|
91.18
|
125
|
73.1
|
111
|
74
|
Old
|
01
|
2.94
|
33
|
19.3
|
36
|
24
|
Young
|
02
|
5.88
|
13
|
7.6
|
03
|
2
|
Profession
|
Breeder
|
02
|
5.88
|
18
|
10.53
|
37
|
24.67
|
Carpenters
|
11
|
32.35
|
05
|
2.92
|
-
|
-
|
Charcoal makers
|
06
|
17.65
|
13
|
7.6
|
-
|
-
|
Famers
|
11
|
32.35
|
102
|
59.65
|
-
|
-
|
Nurseryman
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
02
|
1.33
|
Sawyers
|
01
|
2.94
|
02
|
1.17
|
-
|
-
|
Traditherapist
|
03
|
8.82
|
31
|
17.84
|
111
|
74
|
Ethnic
|
Bariba
|
-
|
-
|
01
|
0.58
|
26
|
17.33
|
Boo
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
39
|
26.00
|
Dendi
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
19
|
12.67
|
Fon
|
32
|
94.12
|
27
|
15.79
|
-
|
-
|
Idaatcha
|
-
|
-
|
25
|
14.62
|
-
|
-
|
Itcha
|
-
|
-
|
24
|
14.04
|
-
|
-
|
Mahi
|
02
|
5.88
|
33
|
19.30
|
-
|
-
|
Nagot
|
-
|
-
|
45
|
26.32
|
-
|
-
|
Peulh
|
-
|
-
|
16
|
09.36
|
66
|
44
|
-: No variable modality in the zone, n: Absolute frequency, N: Relative frequency %. |
Ecology of Pterocarpus erinaceus according to populations
According to the populations, forests and farms (44.8% and 34.82% respectively) are the best habitats known for Pterocarpus erinaceus. The species can also be found in fallows (15.56%) and savannas (4.78%). Local perceptions of the species’ habitat are not the same from one ecological zone to another (χ2 = 81.91, df = 6, Prob < 0.001). Thus, whatever ecological zones, respondents indicated that farms and forests are the most occurring areas, while the inhabitants of Sudanian and Guinean-Soudanese zones also mention fallow. In Guinean-Soudanese zone people exclusively mentioned savannas as the preferred habitat of the species.
Diversity of knowledge of the specific uses of Pterocarpus erinaceus
Knowledge of the specific uses of parts of Pterocarpus erinaceus (Table 3) indicates that this species is used in the treatment of around sixty pathologies, symptoms and diseases and has different names depending on the sociolinguistic group. People of the sociolinguistic group Peulh use the bark and roots to treat wounds, colic, appetite disturbances, constipation, viral anemia and diarrhea, calving difficulties, hemorrhage, infectious disorder, toothache, snakebite and peripneumonia in cattle. Respondents from other sociolinguistic groups use the leaves, bark and roots in the treatment of malaria, fever, hernia, anemia, metrorrhagia, menstrual pain, irregular menses, abscess, hemorrhoid, etc. headaches, stomach aches, tooth decay, mental disorders, skin infections, edema, paralysis of the lower limbs, vision problems, female infertility, gastric ulcer, intestinal worms, general fatigue, typhoid fever, dizziness, urinary tract infections. Respondents from Itcha sociolinguistic group use the plant to treat infections and measles, while those from the Boo sociolinguistic group use the plant to treat abscesses, acne pimples, whitlow and scorpion stings. Bariba sociolinguistic group use the species to treat ringworm and wounds, while Dendi use it to treat snakebite in cattle, scorpion stings, and vision disturbances.
Table 3
Diversity of uses (organs/parts of the plant) of Pterocarpus erinaceus in Benin.
Sociolinguistic groups
|
Local names
|
Organs/parts
|
Categories of uses
|
Diseases/symptoms/pathologies
|
Bariba
|
Tonan
|
Bark, Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
Fever, hernia, anemia, metrorrhagia, menstrual pain, irregular menstruation, abscess, hemorrhoid, headache, stomach ache, dental carrie, abscess, mental disorders, skin infections, edema, malaria, paralysis of the lower limbs, vision problems, female infertility, gastric ulcer, intestinal worms, general tiredness, abortion, typhoid fever, dizziness, urinary tract infections (28)
|
Bark
|
Magic
|
For evil spirits, couple union (2)
|
Bark, leaves, roots
|
Food and Veterinary
|
Fodder, weight loss in ruminants, haemorrhage in ruminants (3)
|
Roots
|
Medicinal
|
Gonococcal disease, vaginal bleeding, babies fontanel, edema (4)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Ringworm, wounds (2)
|
Peulh
|
Banouhi
|
Bark
|
Veterinary
|
Wound, bovine colic, bovine appetite disturbances, bovine constipation, anemia, bovine viral diarrhea, calving difficulties, bovine hemorrhage, bovine infectious disorders, toothache, snake bite, bovine pleuropneumonia (13)
|
Bark, roots
|
Medicinal
|
Bewitching, hemorrhoid, hypertension, malaria, visual disturbances, menstrual pain, general tiredness, female infertility, stomach aches, body aches, human and bovine asthenia, hypotonia in children, anemia (14)
|
Leaves
|
Food, Veterinary
|
Bovine mange, diarrhea, intestinal worms, human and bovine asthenia, weight loss in cows (5)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Ringworm, abscess, wounds, skin infections, visual disturbances (5)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
Sickle cell disease (1)
|
Dendi
|
Tolo
|
Bark
|
Medicinal, Veterinary
|
Dental carrie, metrorrhagia, hemorrhoid, dentition, fever, malaria, Anemia, hypotonia in children, bovine hemorrhage, hemorrhoid, bovine infections, skin infections, stomach aches, snakebite in bovines, malaria, visual disturbances, pain menstrual, irregular menstruation, gastric ulcer (18)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Stomach ache (1)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
Paronychia, malaria, bovine infections (3)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Snake bite in cattle, scorpion stings, visual disturbances (3)
|
Nagot
|
Egui-Enian / Aïkpé
|
Bark, Leaves, root
|
Medicinal
|
Anemia, infections, menstrual pain, irregular menstruation, gastric ulcer, hypotonia in children, itching, diabetes, fever, general tiredness, measles, cough, virility (13)
|
Bark, Leaves, root
|
Magic
|
For evil spirits, bewitchments (2)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Skin infections, visual disturbances (2)
|
Boo
|
Kpinli
|
Bark
|
Medicinal, Veterinary
|
Anemia, diarrhea, human and bovine asthenia, hemorrhoid, headaches
belly, snakebite in cattle, bovine appetite disturbance, menstrual pain, irregular menstruation, cough (10)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Muscle weakness, asthenia, virility, scorpion stings (4)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal, Magic
|
Abortion, bewitchment, malaria, vaginal bleeding (4)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Abscesses, acne pimples, whitlow, scorpion stings (4)
|
Mahi
|
Kosso
|
Bark
|
Medicinal
|
Anemia, menstrual pain, irregular menstruation, fever, infections, hypotonia in children, leprosy, stomach ache, measles, infertility (10)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Stomach pain, abscess (2)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
General tiredness, gonorrhea, high blood pressure, malaria (4)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Wound (1)
|
Fon
|
Kosso / Kozo
|
Bark
|
Medicinal
|
Anemia, fever, general fatigue, female infertility, hypotonia in children, stomach ache, malaria, general tiredness (8)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Diabetes, virility, sickle cell anemia, stomach ache, teething, internal hemorrhoid (6)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
General tiredness, fever, hemorrhoid, hypotonia in children, malaria (5)
|
Idaatcha
|
Akpékpé
|
Bark
|
Medicinal
|
Anemia, hypotonia in children, fever, hernia, menstrual pain, hypotonia in children (6)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Hemorrhoid, hernia, measles, fever (4)
|
Lesves
|
Medicinal
|
General tiredness, hypotonia in children, stomach pain (3)
|
Itcha
|
Akpékpé
|
Bark
|
Medicinal
|
Anemia, diabetes, gonorrhea, stomach ache, malaria, measles, infertility (7)
|
Root
|
Medicinal
|
Menstrual pain, general tiredness, itching, hernia, stomachache, intestinal worms, lower abdomen pain (7)
|
Leaves
|
Medicinal
|
Diarrhea in ruminants, malaria, hemorrhoid (3)
|
Sap
|
Medicinal
|
Infection, measles (2)
|
The values in brackets represent the number of symptoms/diseases reported for each part/organ by each sociolinguistic group |
In addition, Bariba, Nago and Boo reported that the leaves, roots and bark are used to for evil spirits, and prevent bewitchments. These organs are particularly used by Bariba for wedding celebrations in order to guarantee peace in the home (Table 3).
Sociodemographic factors influencing the use of Pterocarpus erinaceus
The citation frequencies of use categories are significantly different from one category to another (χ² = 967.93, ddl = 7, Prob < 0.001 ; Table 4). Thus, respondents primarily use the tree as timber and service wood (respectively 25.66 and 25.41 as Relative Citation Frequency values). They also make it a medicinal use and a source of food for livestock (respectively 20.96 and 19.67 as Relative Citation Frequency values; Fig. 2).
In addition, there was a dependence of the categories of use on ecological zones (EZ), sex, sociolinguistic group and profession of the respondents (Prob < 0.05). Thus only men use Pterocarpus erinaceus in crafts. Uses as fuelwood and lumber are in the same proportions for both sexes. In addition, men use the species more for charring, while women use it in human food. The use in handicrafts is exclusively linked to the Guinean-Sudanese and Sudanian zones while the symbolic use is for Guinean and Guinean-Sudanese zones. Food use in humans is noted exclusively in Guinean-Sudanese zone.
Table 4
Dependence of citation frequencies on usage categories and sociodemographic factors
Sociodemographic factors
|
Df
|
χ²
|
P value
|
Ecological zone
|
12
|
58.27
|
< 0.001
|
Age
|
12
|
13.92
|
0.306
|
Sex
|
06
|
19.99
|
0.003
|
Sociolinguistic group
|
48
|
80.21
|
0.002
|
Profession
|
48
|
115.05
|
< 0.001
|
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performed on the Relative Citation Frequencies Matrix (RFC) of use categories and professions indicated that the first two principal components (PC) bear 61.3% of the baseline information. The categories of uses such as timber, fuelwood, carbonization, human food are strongly correlated (| Correlation | ≥ 0.5) with the first PC while the use in food livestock is for the second PC. The projection of professions on these two PC shows that the charcoal makers, farmers and lumberjack use Pterocarpus erinaceus more in carbonization, timber (Technology) and firewood while breeders use it more for feeding cattle (Fig. 3a). In addition, the PCA carried out on the matrix of relative citation frequencies (RFC) of categories of use and sociolinguistic groups indicated that the first two PC bear 85.7% of initial information. Human and animal food, use for fuelwood and services, use in craft industries are strongly correlated (| Correlation | ≥ 0.5) with the first PC while only use for carbonization is for the second PC. Thus, projection of sociolinguistic groups on these two PC indicates that the sociolinguistic groups Bariba, Boo, Dendi, Fon, Itcha and Mahi use more Pterocarpus erinaceus in human and animal food, for fuelwood and services and in the handicrafts whereas Idaatcha use it more for carbonization (Fig. 3b).
Use of Pterocarpus erinaceus organs according to sociolinguistic groups
The most harvested organs are the trunk (25.43%) followed by branch (23.90%), leaves (23.14%) and bark (22.09%) (Fig. 4).
Figure 5 shows the results of the PCA on the matrices containing relative citation frequencies of Pterocarpus erinaceus organs and the sociolinguistic factors. It indicates that the first two PC explain at least 70% of the initial information for all the sociolinguistic factors.
The correlation matrices indicated a strong correlation (|Correlation| ≥ 0.5) of the Guinean and Sudanian zones with the first PC while the Guinean-Soudanese zone is with the second PC; thus projection of the organs on these first two PC indicated that trunk, leaf, bark, branch and seed are the most used organs in the Guinean and Sudanian zones while the roots and latex are more used in the Guinean-Sudanese zone (Fig. 5a). Analyses also revealed that adult and young variants of the age categories are strongly correlated (|Correlation| ≥ 0.5) with the first PC while old variant is with the second PC. Thus, projection of the organs on these two PC showed that trunk, leaf, root, branch, seed and latex are heavily used by young and adults people while bark is more sought by old people (Fig. 5b). With regard to sociolinguistic groups, it revealed that the first PC is strongly correlated with the sociolinguistic groups Bariba, Boo, peulh, Dendi, Mahi and Nago; and the second PC is strongly coorelated with the sociolinguistic group Itcha and the third PC with the sociolinguistic group Fon. Thus, projection of the organs on these first three PC indicated that trunk, leaf, bark and branches are the organs most used by Bariba, Boo, Peulh, Dendi, Mahi and Nago while the root and latex are more used more by Itcha and seed by Fon (Fig. 5c & d). Finally, they showed that the traditherapist and Sawyers are strongly correlated with the first PC while famers and nurserymen are strongly correlated with the second PC. The projection of organs on these two PC indicated that trunk, leaf, bark and branches are more used by traditherapists and Sawyers while famers and nurserymen more used roots (Fig. 5e).