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Monday 13 August 2012

Non-experimental validation of ethnoveterinary plants and indigenous knowledge used for backyard pigs and gamecocks in Trinidad and Tobago Abstract This paper documents ethnoveterinary medicines used for backyard pigs and gamecocks in Trinidad and Tobago. Fieldwork was conducted from 1996 to September 2000. Six plants are used for backyard pigs. Crushed leaves of immortelle (Erythrina pallida, E. micropteryx) are used to remove dead piglets from the uterus. Leaf decoctions of bois canĂ´t (Cecropia peltata) and bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) are used for labour pains or leaves are fed as a post partum cleanser. Boiled green papaya fruit (Carica papaya) is fed to pigs to induce milk let down. The leaves and flowers of male papaya plants (Carica papaya) are fed to deworm pigs. Sour orange juice (Citrus aurantium) is given to pigs to produce lean meat and coffee grounds are used for scours. Eyebright and planten leaves (Plantago major) are used for eye injuries of gamecocks. Worm grass (Chenopodium ambrosioides) and cotton bush (Gossypium species) are used as anthelmintics. Aloe gel (Aloe vera) is used for internal injuries and the yellow sap from the cut Aloe vera leaf or the juice of Citrus limonia is used to purge the birds. The ethnomedicinal literature provides support for the ethnoveterinary uses of the plants and they could be assigned level two validity.