Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants used by Traditional Health Practitioners to Manage Diabetes Mellitus in Safi and Essaouira Provinces (Central-Western Morocco)

Abstract

The Moroccan population heavily rely on herbal remedies to control diabetes mellitus. The population of the central-western region of Morocco uses a  number of anti-diabetic medicinal plants, but there is a lack of good  ethnobotanical information on these plants. Thus, the present survey was  conducted in the Safi and Essaouira provinces to inventory the main medicinal  plants used in folk medicine to treat diabetes mellitus. Seventy-seven traditional  health practitioners were interviewed face-to-face throughout  different sites in the study area. The data were analyzed using relative  frequency of citation (RFC), Jaccard index (JI), Jaccard distance, and Sorensen's  similarity index (QS). In total, 84 plants species belonging to 41 families were  reported. Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, Apiaceae, and Asteraceae were reported as the  most represented families. Eight taxa were described for the first time for  treating diabetes mellitus. The most frequently cited plants species were  Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Artemisia herba-alba Asso, Olea europaea  subsp. europaea L., Allium sativum L., and Origanum compactum Benth. Leaves  and fruits were the most cited plant parts used, and decoction and infusion  were the preferred modes of preparation. As for the level of similarity to other  regions of Morocco, the province of Tarafaya in the south seems to be the most  like the study area (JI=36.94). The current survey represents a valuable  contribution that can help preserve ethnobotanical knowledge in this area as  well as explore medicinal plant, phytochemical, and pharmacological potential.&nbsp