Diversity of Medicinal Plants Used by the Local Communities of the Coastal Plateau of Safi Province (Morocco)

Lemhadri A. Achtak H. Lamraouhi A. Louidani N. Benali T. Dahbi A. Bouyahya A. Khouchlaa A. Shariati M.A. Hano C. Lorenzo J.M. Chen J.-T. Lyoussi B.
March 2023 IMR Press Limited

Frontiers in Bioscience - Scholar
2023 #15 Issue 1

Traditional herbal medicine is still used for basic healthcare by a significant portion of the population in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the medicinal plant’s diversity and to document related traditional knowledge in the Safi region of Morocco. We used semi-structured questionnaires to interview 222 informants living in the study area. To perform data analysis, we used quantitative indices like use value (UV), family use value (FUV), fidelity level (FL), the relative popularity level (RPL), rank of order priority (ROP), and informant consensus factor (ICF). We reported the ethnomedicinal uses of 144 medicinal plants belonging to 64 families. According to the findings, the dominating families were Lamiaceae (17 taxa), Asteraceae (15 taxa), and Apiaceae (12 taxa). The most commonly utilized plant part (48%) was leaves. The decoction was reported as the main preparation method (42%). Highly cited plant species were Marrubium vulgare (UV = 0.56), Salvia rosmarinus Spenn. (UV = 0.47), Thymus serpyllum (UV = 0.32), and Dysphania ambrosioides (UV = 0.29). Papaveraceae (FUV = 0.26), and Urticaceae (FUV= 0.23), Geraniaceae (FUV = 0.17), Oleaceae (FUV = 0.17), Lamiaceae (FUV = 0.17) had the highest family use-values. Gastrointestinal disorders (88%), respiratory diseases (85%), and anemia (66%) have the greatest ICF values. This study reveals the indigenous people’s reliance on plant-derived traditional medicine to prevent, alleviate, and treat a broad range of health concerns. Our findings will provide a scientific basis for ethnomedicinal legacy conservation and further scientific investigations aimed at new natural bioactive molecules discovery.

ailment , ethnobotanical surveys , ethnobotany , fidelity level , informant consensus factor , traditional knowledge

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Environment and Health Team, Department of Biology, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi, Cadi Ayyad University, Safi, 46000, Morocco
Laboratory of Applied Botany, Agrobiodiversity Team, Faculty of Sciences, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tétouan, 93002, Morocco
Laboratory of Human Pathologies Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, 10106, Morocco
Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Agency of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Taounate, 34025, Morocco
Semey Branch of the Institute, Kazakh Research Institute of Processing and Food Industry, Almaty, 050060, Kazakhstan
Laboratoire de Biologie des Ligneux et des Grandes Cultures, INRA USC1328, Orleans University, Cedex 2, Orléans, 45067, France
Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia, Parque Tecnológico de Galicia, SanCibraodasViñas, Rúa Galicia Nº4, Ourense, 32900, Spain
Área de Tecnología de los Alimentos, Facultad de Ciencias de Ourense, Universidad de Vigo, Ourense, 32004, Spain
Department of Life Sciences, National University of Kaohsiung, Nanzih, Kaohsiung, 811, Taiwan
Laboratory of Natural Substances, Pharmacology, Environment, Modeling, Health and Quality of Life (SNAMOPEQ), Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, 30000, Morocco

Environment and Health Team
Laboratory of Applied Botany
Laboratory of Human Pathologies Biology
Laboratory of Biochemistry
Semey Branch of the Institute
Laboratoire de Biologie des Ligneux et des Grandes Cultures
Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia
Área de Tecnología de los Alimentos
Department of Life Sciences
Laboratory of Natural Substances

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