The study was conducted at two main locations: the National Herbarium in Zomba and selected agro-ecological districts where Amaranth is cultivated. These districts included Mzimba (North), Lilongwe and Dedza (Central), and Machinga and Zomba (South). Data collection took place between October 2024 and January 2025. The geographical coordinates of the study districts are detailed in Table 1 , and the corresponding investigation sites are illustrated in Figure 1 .

The phytogeographical investigation of Amaranthus spp. in Malawi was conducted following the methodology outlined by Mounirou et al. (2019) [29] . This approach involved gathering data from various sources, including published articles, the Map of Life database ( https://mol.org/ ), the Botanical Research and Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS) software, and archival records from the National Herbarium of Malawi located in Zomba.

Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted in agro-ecological districts known for Amaranthus cultivation, namely Mzimba, Lilongwe, Dedza, Machinga, and Zomba. Data collection focused on informants’ demographic profiles and their knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs concerning Amaranthus spp., including its medicinal uses, cultivation practices, conservation methods, and nutritional value.

Responses were recorded using KoboToolbox, a digital platform for survey data collection. The questionnaire consisted of a combination of open-ended, semi-closed, and closed questions. A total of 600 informants (farmers, herbalists, vendors, consumers) were selected randomly to participate in the study. There were 458 women and 142 men ( Table 2 ).

During the study, Amaranth specimens identified by informants were promptly collected from either their farm plots or natural habitats, with assistance from a research aide. The collected specimens were preserved using a plant press and later submitted to the National Herbarium of Malawi, located in either Zomba or Zolozolo, where they underwent botanical identification to accurately determine their scientific names.

Data analysis was conducted using Excel 2017. The collected data were summarized by calculating averages and frequencies, and the findings were displayed in tables or figures. For quantitative analysis, the frequency of citation (Fc), informant consensus factor (FIC), fidelity level (FL), and use value (UV) were calculated using the formulas outlined below.

To identify the most significant species in the study area, the frequency of citation (Fc) was calculated, following the method described by Ahmad et al. (2014) [30] . Fc is the proportion of informants who mentioned a particular species relative to the total number of informants, as defined by Tardío and Pardo-de-Santayana (2008) [31] .

$\text{The}\text{Fc}\left(\text{\%}\right)=\frac{\text{Number}\text{of}\text{Informants}\text{Who}\text{Mentioned}\text{the}\text{Plant}\text{Species}}{\text{Total}\text{Number}\text{of}\text{Informants}\text{Surveyed}}\times 100$

where:

Number of Informants Who Mentioned the Plant Species refers to the individuals in the study (e.g., local people, experts, or researchers) who reported using or recognizing the plant species.

Total Number of Informants Surveyed is the total population sampled in the study.

The result is typically expressed as a percentage.

Agreement among informants about species for a particular remedy was determined by calculating the factor informant consensus (FIC) and fidelity level (FL). In this study, the informant consensus factor (FIC) was used to determine the level of similarity among information delivered by various informants. FIC is also explained as the importance of each medicinal plant use category depending on the homogeneity of the informants’ answers [32] (Trotter and Logan, 1986). The FIC was calculated using the following formula [33] (Heinrich et al., 1998):

The FIC is calculated as:

$\text{FIC}=\frac{\text{Nu}-\text{Nt}}{\text{Nu}-1}$

where:

Nu: The total number of use reports (individual mentions of plants used for a specific purpose) for a given category.

Nt: The number of taxa (plant species) cited for this specific category.

When

FIC = 1: Maximum consensus. All informants agree on the use of a single plant for a specific purpose.

FIC close to 0: Low consensus. Informants report a wide variety of plants for the same purpose, indicating either diverse knowledge systems or limited agreement.

Intermediate values (e.g., 0.5 - 0.8) indicate moderate levels of agreement.

The fidelity level (FL) was also calculated as a tool to obtain the percentage of informants claiming the use of a certain plant for the same major purpose. It is defined as the ratio between the number of informants who independently claimed the use of a plant species to treat a particular disease (Np) and the total number of informants who mentioned the plants as a medicine to treat any given disease (N) [34] :

$\text{FL}\left(\text{\%}\right)=\frac{\text{Np}}{\text{N}}\times \text{100}$

where:

Plant species with high fidelity levels are important to local people for treating ailments. It is noted that the number of times a given plant is mentioned by all of the informants for a specific disease was considered for this factor.

The most important medicinal uses of plants were assessed by calculating the use value (UV), which was used to calculate the citation of plants during interviews [35] .

The UV is calculated as:

$\text{UV}=\text{Ui}/\text{N}$

where:

High UV: Indicates that the plant is widely recognized and used for various purposes within the community.

Low UV: Suggests that the plant is either less well known or has a narrower range of applications.

The statistical tests were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. The association between Amaranthus species and sociocultural groups was analyzed with the chi-square test, while the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare UV across multiple regions. The results were statistically significant when p < 0.05.

The distribution of Amaranthus spp. is in Appendix.

The demographic information of the investigated population is listed in Table 3 and Table 4 . The minimum age of the informants is 18 years old, while the maximum age is 84 years old, with an average of 35.76 ± 11.09 years old ( Table 3 ). The gender of the most informed population is represented by females, that is above 3/4 (76.33%). The remaining population is male (23.67%). Regarding their education level, above 1/2 (50%) have a low education level (no formal education, 4.38% and primary school, 54.88%) ( Table 4 ).

The rate of informants familiar with Amaranth is presented in Table 5 . Except for 10% of the farmers in Dedza district, equivalent to 1.27% of all the farmers, and 4.1% of the consumers, equivalent to 1.1% of all the consumers, that are not familiar with Amaranth, the rest of the farmers, herbalists, vegetable sellers, as well as the consumers, are familiar with them ( Table 5 ). They often acquire the knowledge of Amaranth from various channels, such as family, neighbors or friends, as well as agriculture programs. The majority (93%) learned about Amaranth from their family ( Figure 2 ). 70.89% of the investigated farmers grow Amaranth. Although farming is not the main activity of the herbalists, vegetable sellers, and consumers, some of them, 48.75, 20.69, and 15.68, respectively, are engaged in the growth of Amaranth ( Figure 3 ). Among the 70 species of Amaranthus (A) in the world, A. dubius Mart. Ex Tell., A. graecizans L., A. hybridus L., A. spinous L., A. thumbergii Moq., A. hypochondriacus L., and A. cruentus L. are found in Malawi ( Table 6 ).

NB: x implies presence of Amaranth in the district.

While A. hybridus L. and A. hypochondriacus L. exhibited different distributions across the study site, A. dubius Mart. Ex Tell., A. graecizans L., A. spinosus L., A. thumbergii Moq., and A. cruentus L. showed a consistent distribution ( Table 7 ).

NB: a: 24 cells (60.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expect count is 48.

The morphological characteristics of each species of Amaranth identified are presented in Table 8 .

The most commonly used part of the Amaranth by the population is the leaf, followed by the seeds ( Figure 4 ). In Malawi, Amaranth is primarily consumed as food, as shown in Figure 5(a) (89.41%), with the leaves being frequently boiled during food preparation in Figure 5(b) (73.56%). The most common dish eaten with Amaranth leaves is Nsima, as shown in Figure 5(c) (81.77%).

The results of our investigation showed that 99% of the investigated population did not associate any cultural or traditional beliefs with Amaranth in Malawi, while 1% did ( Figure 6(a) ).

While 95% of the informants ( Figure 6(c) ) considered Amaranth as healthy food in Malawi, 63% of them did not consider it as a staple food ( Figure 6(b) ). From the informants who consider Amaranthus spp. as healthy food, 50% said that they are highly nutritive, while 33%, 12%, and 5% of them said Amaranth can increase blood cell production, provide vitamins to the body, and reinforce the immune system ( Figure 7 ).

About 21% of the total number of people investigated used some of the Amaranth species for medicinal purposes ( Figure 8 ).

Table 9 shows the Fc of Amaranth species used for medicinal purposes. A. hypochondriacus L. and A. hybridus L. are the most used species for medicinal purposes with 13.67% and 10.16%, respectively.

The FIC among informants about Amaranthus species for a particular remedy is presented in Table 10 .

There is strong agreement among all the informants that A. hypochondriacus L. is used for blood pressure regulation, while the agreement is moderate for A. hypochondriacus L. and A. hybridus L. for digestive problems treatment.

The percentage of informants claiming the use of Amaranth species for blood pressure regulation is presented in Table 11 .

The FL of A. hypochondriacus L., A. hybridus L., A. spinosus L., as well as A. dubius Mart. Ex Tell. are < 100%. This means that all those species of Amaranthus are used for multiple purposes, suggesting they have a broader range of applications or less specific association with a single use.

The UV of the Amaranth species assessed across the district is presented in Table 12 .

*p < 0.05.

A. hypochondriacus L. as well as A. hybridus L. have the highest across the district. Their UVs are statistically significant, p < 0.05, indicating they are widely recognized and used for various purposes within the Malawi community.

For the use of Amaranths in traditional medicine, 95.2% of users use them as a decoction, while 3.2% use them after drying and pounding or mixing with other trees, like ntuvituvi and ntutumuko, and fumigated to the infected person (1.6%). At the same time, 95.2% of the informants who used them for medicinal purposes declared using them for the whole family, while 2.4% of them used them to treat children or adults.

In Malawi, Amaranth species may be found in several areas, such as wild habitats, home gardens, and cultivation fields. Those used for food purposes may be found in marketplaces. This represents 44% of the answers given by the informants ( Figure 9 ), followed by 30% (cultivation fields), 17% (wild habitats), and 9% for home gardens. Despite their beneficial effects on humans, there are some challenges to their cultivation. Among the investigated population, less than 50% accepted the existence of this ( Figure 10 ). The most cited challenge by the informants is climate change (55.15%), followed by lack of seeds and planting materials (29.39%), pests and diseases (9.39%), and poor soil quality (5.45%) ( Figure 11 ).

Regarding their conservation, 87.31% of informants gave their agreement, while 54.73% think that Amaranth can play a role in improving food security ( Figure 12 and Figure 13 ).

The main reason the Malawian population uses Amaranth is due to its perceived high nutritional value, particularly its rich vitamin content. The majority of informants (88.32%) recognize Amaranth’s good nutritional value, with many specifically noting the high vitamin content (65%), while 30% consider its positive impact on children’s growth. Only 5% considered it a rich source of protein ( Figure 14 and Figure 15 ). Furthermore, a significant portion (91.05%) of those aware of its nutritional benefits incorporate Amaranth into their children’s diets, and 95.94% are interested to learn more about its nutritional value ( Figure 16(a) , ( Figure 16(b) ), while A. hybridus L. is the Amaranthus species used in children’s diets in Malawi.