Faculté des Sciences, Département des Sciences de la Nature et de la Vie, Université de M'Sila, 28000 M'Sila, Algeria.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Jul 9;148(2):395-402. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2013.03.082. Epub 2013 May 1.
The main aim of this study was to identify, catalogue and document the large number of wild medicinal plants used in the M'Sila region (northern Algeria) for the treatment of several human pathologies. Another more ambitious aim is to contribute to overcoming the limits of an orally transmitted pharmacopoeia, attempting to exploit the large ethnopharmacology patrimony of the region for further pharmacological purposes.
Our field study was carried out over a period of three years (2008-2010). During this period, herbalists were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires investigating the herbalist as a holder of information (gender, age and educational level) and about wild medicinal plants (local name, uses and part used). In addition, the relative importance value of the species was determined and informant consensus factor (ICF) was calculated for the medicinal plants included in the study.
A total of 83 herbalists were interviewed; men dominate the practice of traditional medicine in the region. About 41% of them are between 31 and 40 years, and about a third (34%) are illiterate. The traditional herbal knowledge is passed from generation to generation in the verbal form, a writing tradition being almost totally absent. The interviewed herbalists identified and recorded 58 plants species and 50 genera belonging to 27 plant families. Lamiaceae and Asteraceae were the most represented plant families. The aerial parts were the most commonly used plant part, while infusion and decoction were the most common method of traditional drug preparation.
The survey provides a veritable source of information on the herbalists and wild medicinal plants. Plants which are used in different parts of the world for the treatment of similar diseases may be deemed to be effective in pharmacological terms. These medicinal plants may be incorporated into the healthcare delivery system of the country.
本研究的主要目的是识别、分类和记录在阿尔及利亚北部 M'Sila 地区用于治疗多种人类疾病的大量野生药用植物。另一个更具野心的目标是试图利用该地区丰富的民族药理学遗产来克服口头传授的药物学的局限性，为进一步的药理学目的而开发这些植物。
我们的实地研究在三年期间进行（2008-2010 年）。在此期间，通过半结构化问卷采访了草药医生，调查他们作为信息持有者的情况（性别、年龄和教育水平），以及关于野生药用植物（当地名称、用途和使用部位）的信息。此外，确定了物种的相对重要值，并计算了纳入研究的药用植物的信息共识系数（ICF）。
总共采访了 83 名草药医生；男性在该地区传统医学实践中占主导地位。其中约 41%年龄在 31-40 岁之间，约三分之一（34%）是文盲。传统的草药知识是通过口头形式代代相传的，几乎完全没有书面传统。接受采访的草药医生确定并记录了 58 种植物和 50 属，隶属于 27 个科。唇形科和菊科是最具代表性的植物科。地上部分是最常用的植物部分，而浸剂和煎剂是最常用的传统药物制备方法。
该调查为草药医生和野生药用植物提供了宝贵的信息来源。在世界不同地区用于治疗类似疾病的植物可能在药理学上被认为是有效的。这些药用植物可以被纳入该国的医疗保健提供系统。
