A survey of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine by women and herbalists from the city of Agadir, southwest of Morocco

Abstract

IntroductionIn southern Morocco, medicinal plants are mostly used by women but their knowledge about plants is poorly documented. This work aimed to study the use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine by local women and compare this with herbalists from the city of Agadir, southern Morocco. MethodsThe study was conducted with 73 housewives and 27 herbalists, using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. ResultsNinety-six species belonging to 48 families and 92 species belonging to 43 families were cited by herbalists and housewives. The dominant plant families were Lamiaceae, Apiaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae. Herbalists recorded high Use Value (UV) for Ruta montana and Ocimum basilicum. Housewives had high UV for Ficus carica, Cichorium intybus, and O. basilicum. Seriphidium herba-alba, Origanum vulgare and Lavandula dentata showed high Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) for both groups of respondents. High RFC were also noted for Salvia rosmarinus and Tetraclinis articulata by herbalists. High Fidelity Level (FL) were recorded by herbalists and housewives for Rubia peregrina fort anaemia, Globularia alypum for burns, Ononis natrix forliver disorders, Punita granatum for stomach problems. Housewives noted high FL for D. ambrosioides for fever and Olea europaea for diabetes. Fever, diabetes, wounds and influenza showed high Informant Consensus Factor by herbalists and housewives, but housewives had higher agreement. New uses were reported by housewives: O. natrix for liver disorders, Ammodaucus leucotrichus for abdominal pain, and Origanum majorana for diabetes. ConclusionHousewives had a rich knowledge about the use of medicinal plants that was different to that of herbalists.