Studi Etnobotani Tumbuhan Obat untuk Diabetes pada Masyarakat Karo Sumatra Utara

Abstract

Medicinal plants have played an important role in managing a variety of diseases in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The study aimed to document the ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants used by traditional healers of Karo ethnic in the treatment of diabetes and to assess qualitatively the phytochemical constituents in the medicinal plants. This studi was undertaken on the two Karo sub-ethnic living at the highland (Karo Gugung) in Karo Regency and in the lowland one (Karo Jahe) in Langkat Regency starting from September 2016 until April 2017. The field data survey was conducted by open-ended interviews among four traditional healers who were selected by snow ball sampling method; qualitative data was gathered by interviews using questionaires among 240 non traditional healer partisipants who were selected randomly; quantitative analysis of ethnobotanical data was formulated by calculating the familiarity index (Fi). Fresh plant sample that were used for phytochemical screening were collected using partisipatory method. The results showed that 15 plants were used to treat diabetes by traditional healers. The plants are Blumea balsamifera, Nypa fruticans, Bischofia javanica, Eleutherine americana, Allium cepa, A. sativum, Eugenia polyantha, Piper betle, P. nigrum, Citrus aurantiifolia, Boesenbergia pandurata, Curcuma longa, Kaempferia galanga, Zingiber montanum, and Z. officinale. Familiriaty index (Fi) value of each of all gathered plants was 25 which explained that each of medicinal plant was used by only one traditional healer. Karo people who living in Karo and Langkat Regency still used traditional medicine and most of them possessed the general knowledge of medicinal plants which were used for treating a variety of ailments. The phytochemical screening showed that the medicinal plants contained phenolic, terpenoid, alkaloid and organic acid. Further studies were needed to determine the dosages, minimum inhibitory concentrations, bioactive compounds and toxicities. Diabetes for Karo people was something new, hence their knowledge about diabetes was a little.

Tumbuhan obat dimanfaatkan dalam penanganan berbagai penyakit oleh masyarakat lokal di Sumatra Utara, Indonesia. Penelitian ini bertujuan mendokumentasikan data etnobotani tumbuhan obat diabetes yang digunakan oleh penyehat tradisional suku Karo dalam penanganan diabetes dan melakukan analisis kualitatif kandungan senyawa kimia ekstrak kasar organ tumbuhan obat tersebut. Penelitian ini dilakukan terhadap masyarakat suku Karo yang bermukim di daerah dataran tinggi pegunungan (Karo Gugung) di Kabupaten Karo dan di daerah dataran rendah (Karo Jahe) di Kabupaten Langkat mulai September 2016 sampai April 2017. Pengambilan data lapangan dilakukan melalui wawancara terbuka dan mendalam terhadap empat penyehat tradisional yang dipilih berdasarkan metode snow ball sampling; pengambilan data kuantitatif dilaksanakan menggunakan kuesioner terhadap 240 masyarakat non penyehat tradisional yang dipilih secara acak; data kuantitatif perhitungan FI (Familirity index) dilakukan terhadap masing-masing tumbuhan obat yang diperoleh. Sampel tumbuhan obat diambil menggunakan metode partisipatif, spesimen voucher dibuat dan dilakukan uji deteksi senyawa fitokimia. Diperoleh 15 jenis tumbuhan yang digunakan penyehat tradisional dalam pengobatan diabetes yang terdiri dari Blumea balsamifera, Nypa fruticans, Bischofia javanica, Eleutherine americana, Allium cepa, A. sativum, Eugenia polyantha, Piper betle, P. nigrum, Citrus aurantiifolia, Boesenbergia pandurata, Curcuma longa, Kaempferia galanga, Zingiber montanum, dan Z. officinale. Nilai Fi semua sampel tumbuhan diperoleh 25 yang menandakan bahwa setiap tumbuhan obat hanya digunakan oleh satu hatra. Masyarakat Karo masih menggunakan pengobatan tradisional dan sebagian besar mereka memiliki pengetahuan penggunaan tumbuhan obat dalam penanganan berbagai penyakit ringan. Uji deteksi senyawa fitokimia menunjukkan sampel tumbuhan obat mengandung fenolik, terpenoid, alkaloid, saponin dan asam organik. Diabetes bagi masyarakat Karo merupakan hal baru, sehingga pengetahuan mereka sedikit tentang diabetes.