ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL STUDY OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE IN THE BLANAKAN REGION, SUBANG, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA

Amanda Kharisa Sa’diyah, Ananda Sofiana Sandi, Devi Destianawati, Dindin Zaenudin, Farhah Laili Fauziyah, Fatwah Normalita, Feyka Azzahra Herawan, Julia Khoerunnisa, Kamelia Azizahra, Maullidina Afrillia, Siti Aulia Putri, Siti Nurpadilah Ramadani, Wafda Sabila Halwa, Nabilla Sulistiyawati, Nia Paramita, Nabila Sakti and Maulana Yusuf Alkandahri*

ABSTRACT

All over the world cardiovascular diseases have remained one of the leading cause of death, hypertension (HT) being the most common and the main contributor to the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction, stroke and renal diseases. About 600 million patients suffer from hypertension as reports from WHO show that the incidence of hypertension exceeds more than 10% of the worldwide population. This research aims to document and preserve the use of ethnomedicine to treat HT by people in the Blanakan Region, Subang, West Java, Indonesia. Fieldwork was carried out from November to December 2025 using direct interviews, questionnaires, and discussions. Plant species are identified based on standard taxonomic methods, flower morphological characteristics, and where possible, using samples for comparison, as well as consultation with experts and the literature. The plant types obtained were grouped into families according to the Cronquist classification system. Plant names were checked against the Plant List (www.plantlist.org) and the International Plant Name Index (www.ipni.org). This research reports that 30 plant species are commonly used by people in the Blanakan Region to treat HT. Among the various plant parts used, leaves (63.3%) are most often used in making medicine, followed by rhizome (13.3%), fruit (6.7%), flower (6.7%), stem, rind, and seeds (3.3% respectively). Meanwhile, the most frequently used preparation methods were decoction (76.7%) and infusion (23.3%). The results of this research confirm that people in the Blanakan Region still rely heavily on medicinal plants for their health care system, especially for the treatment of HT with the most frequently used parts of the leaves and their use in decoctions and infusions.

Keywords: Traditional medicine, Ethnomedicinal plants, Blanakan Region, Hypertension.