Traditional healers are often practiced in rural areas due to cultural beliefs and are known to provide various forms of healthcare and home remedies. Patients in the Mediterranean region rely on traditional medicine to cure a variety of health concerns, like skin burns. This study was conducted to identify the various practices used by traditional healers for treating skin burns. The survey was conducted in eighteen Arab countries, including Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Bahrain, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Oman, Morocco, and Sudan. Between September 2020 and July 2021, an online questionnaire was administered to 7,530 participants from twelve Asian and five African countries. The survey was designed to gather information from common medicinal plant users and herbalists on their practices as specialists in using various herbal and medicinal plant products for diagnosis and treatment. Among the participants, 2,260 had a scientific background in plant application, and the study included one phytotherapeutic professional. The crude-extraction technique was favoured, by Arabic folk, for plant preparation over the maceration and decoction method. Olive oil was the most commonly utilized product among participants as an anti-inflammation and for scar reduction. A. vera, olive oil, sesame, C. siliqua, lavender, potato, cucumber, shea butter, and wheat flour are used as crude drugs to reduce pain because of their analgesic and cooling effects.
The present study is the first database of medicinal plants with burn-healing properties conducted in Arab countries. These plants can be employed in the search for new bioactive substances through pharmacochemical investigations, as well as in the development of new formulations containing a combination of these plants.
