An Ethnobotanical Survey of Medicinal Plants in El Mansourah (West of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria)

Abstract

The population of the west of Bordj Bou Arréridj (communes of the Daïra of El Mansourah) uses large-scale medicinal plant resources. This area is very rich and has many species of undeniable medicinal interest. The valorisation of this natural heritage requires an ethnobotany study which allows to describe the different uses of medicinal plants by the local population and to establish the catalogue of medicinal plants and their therapeutic uses. Our survey, conducted in March-May 2015, using 200 questionnaires, we identified 78 medicinal plants used in traditional medicine of the region studied. Which are divided into 40 families, of which six are the most dominant, including Lamiaceae (10 species), Asteraceae (9 species), Apiaceae (5 species), Poaceae (4 species), Fabaceae (3 species), and Chenopodiaceae (3 species). Leaves are the most used part. The majority of the remedies are prepared in the form of infusion. The almost exclusive use of the local population for medicinal plant species in its daily care and the opening of a more or less organized market of these plants will only accentuate the pressure on these medicinal resources which can lead to the disappearance of some of the most vulnerable species. It is therefore urgent to adopt a sustainable management approach for the safeguarding and preservation of medicinal plants in these regions. The results obtained are a very valuable source of information for the region studied and for the national medicinal flora. They could be a database for further research in the fields of phytochemistry and pharmacology and for the purpose of searching for new natural substances.