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

Hypertension (HTN) causes difficulty in the functioning of the heart and is involved in atherosclerosis, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke. Many drugs are available for managing these diseases, though common antihypertensive drugs are generally accompanied by many side effects. Medicinal herbs have several active substances with pharmacological and prophylactic properties that can be used in the treatment of hypertension. This research aims to document and preserve the use of ethnomedicinal to treat HTN by communities in the Kalijati 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 Kalijati Region to treat HTN. Among the various plant parts used, leaves (60.0%) are most frequently used in making medicines, followed by rhizomes (16.7%), fruit (10.0%), rind (6.7%), stem, and bark (respectively 3.3%). Meanwhile, the most frequently used preparation methods were decoction (63.3%), followed by infusion (23.3%), and juice (13.3%). The results of this research confirm that people in the Kalijati Region still rely heavily on medicinal plants for their health care system, especially for the treatment of HTN with the most frequently used parts of the leaves and their use in decoctions and infusions.