Benarba Bachir, Belabid Lakhdar, Righi Kada, Bekkar Ahmed Amine, Elouissi Mouffok, Khaldi Abdelkader, Hamimed Abderrahmane
Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria; Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2015 Dec 4;175:626-37. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.09.030. Epub 2015 Oct 9.
Medicinal plants are considered as a rich source of bioactive compounds. The present study aimed to document the local knowledge of medicinal plants' use by traditional healers in Mascara, North-west Algeria.
The present study was carried out in Mascara (North West of Algeria). Ethnobotanical data were recorded from 43 traditional healers practicing in Mascara. Data collected was analysed using quantitative indices such as the use value (UV), fidelity level (FL) and Informant Consensus Factor (FIC).
Traditional healers reported 141 medicinal plant species belonging to 54 families and 125 genera for the treatment of different ailments grouped into 14 ailments categories. Lamiaceae were the most represented family with 19 species (13.57%) followed by Asteracea, Apiaceae and Fabaceae. Thymus vulgaris L. was the most frequently used by local informants, with the highest UV of 0.883 (38 use reports). Our findings revealed that 39 species have not been previously reported as medicinal plants in the region. Furthermore, we report for the first time a total of 100 new therapeutic uses for 37 known plant species. FIC values ranged from 0.125 to 0.658. Gastro-intestinal diseases had the highest FIC (0.658) with 60 species and 261 use reports.
The present study revealed the important local knowledge as showed by the variety of species used to treat several ailments. Recorded species with high UV should be subjects of further pharmacological studies to validate their popular use and to isolate the bioactive compounds.
药用植物被认为是生物活性化合物的丰富来源。本研究旨在记录阿尔及利亚西北部马斯卡拉传统治疗师使用药用植物的当地知识。
本研究在阿尔及利亚西北部的马斯卡拉进行。从马斯卡拉的43名传统治疗师那里记录了民族植物学数据。使用诸如使用价值（UV）、保真度水平（FL）和 informant 共识因子（FIC）等定量指标对收集的数据进行分析。
传统治疗师报告了141种药用植物，属于54科125属，用于治疗分为14类疾病的不同病症。唇形科是代表植物最多的科，有19种（13.57%），其次是菊科、伞形科和豆科。百里香是当地受访者最常用的植物，最高使用价值为0.883（38次使用报告）。我们的研究结果表明，该地区此前尚未将39种植物报告为药用植物。此外，我们首次报告了37种已知植物物种总共100种新的治疗用途。FIC值范围为0.125至0.658。胃肠道疾病的FIC最高（0.658），有60种植物和261次使用报告。
本研究揭示了重要的当地知识，这体现在用于治疗多种疾病的植物种类繁多上。具有高使用价值的记录物种应作为进一步药理学研究的对象，以验证其广泛用途并分离生物活性化合物。
