ANALGESIC MEDICINAL PLANTS IN SERANGPANJANG REGION, SUBANG, WEST JAVA, INDONESIA-AN ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDY

Many people still experience pain regardless of the available drugs for treatments. In addition, the available drugs have many side effects, which necessitated a quest for new drugs from several sources in which medicinal plants are the major one. This research aims to document and preserve the use of ethnomedicine to treat pain by people in the Serangpanjang Region, 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 study reports that 30 plant species are commonly used by people in the Serangpanjang Region to treat pain. Among the various plant parts used, leaves (56.7%) are most often used in making medicine, followed by fruit (23.3%), rhizome (10.0%), stem, rind, and seeds (3.3% respectively). Meanwhile, the most frequently used preparation method was infusion (56.7%), followed by decoction (20.0%), juice (20.0%), and paste (3.3%). The research results confirm that the Sundanese people in the Serangpanjang Region still rely heavily on medicinal plants for the treatment of pain. However, efforts to preserve medicinal plants and the local wisdom of the people in this area have not been significant. Therefore, it is recommended that local indigenous communities and the government carry out in situ and ex situ conservation strategies for medicinal plants in the Serangpanjang Region, so that the availability of medicinal plants in the region is maintained.