ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS WITH ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS IN THE CIATER REGION, SUBANG, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA

Inflammation can be said to be one of the body's reaction to tissue damage or infection and is typically characterized by redness, swelling, heat, and pain. This research aims to document and preserve the use of ethnomedicine to treat inflammation by people in the Ciater, Subang, West Java, Indonesia. Fieldwork was carried out from May to June 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 Ciater to treat inflammation. Among the various plant parts used, leaves (56.7%) are most frequently used in making medicines, followed by rhizomes (16.7%), seed (10.0%), fruit (6.7%), stem, flower, and rind (respectively 3.3%). Meanwhile, the most frequently used preparation methods were decoction (83.3%) and infusion (16.7%). The results of this research confirm that people in the Ciater Region still rely heavily on medicinal plants for their health care system, especially for the treatment of pain with the most frequently used parts of the leaves and their use in decoctions and infusions.