Abstract
Morocco has a high level of biodiversity and endemism of medicinal plants. However, these plants are threatened by the growing human population and climate change. The loss of medicinal plants will have a potential negative impact on the population who rely heavily on these plants for the treatments of diseases. The objective of the present study was to document ethnomedicinal knowledge use to treat different human ailments from people living in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Field work was conducted between March and May of 2017. Data was collected from 320 users through a questionnaire survey. Results of the study indicate that people of the Middle Atlas use 44 plant species mostly herbs (66%) for ethnomedicinal purposes. The highest the Informant Consensus Factor value (0.93) was obtained for gastrointestinal problems followed by respiratory infections (0.92), and neurological problems (0.82), and based on the species Use Value, the five most commonly used ethnomedicinal plants species were Thymus vulgaris, Mentha pulegium, Aloysia citriodora, Rosmarinus officinalis, Lavandula dentata and M. rotundifolia. The present study showed that traditional treatment using medicinal plants in widespread in the study area. Protection measures should be taken to conserve precious multipurpose species that are facing overexploitation. Moreover, medicinal plants treating major ailments in the region may be subjected to phytochemical and pharmacological investigations for the identification of bioactive compounds.
Highlights
Traditional medicine, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illnesses [1]
This diversity is threatened by numerous factors including destruction of natural habitats, cleaning of vegetation for agricultural expansion, and climate change. These factors lead to a serious decline in the number of medicinal plant species available, which in turn lead to a decline in annual revenues generated from the medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) industry and more importantly a loss of traditional medical knowledge associated with these plants
There was no correlation between the age of the respondent and the number of medicinal plants known
Summary
Traditional medicine, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illnesses [1]. The MAP sector plays a very important socio-economic role, with annual revenues generated from MAP export of about 500 million Moroccan Dirhams (about US $56 million) and provides employment to local and rural communities generating an estimated 500.000 work-day per year This diversity is threatened by numerous factors including destruction of natural habitats, cleaning of vegetation for agricultural expansion, and climate change. These factors lead to a serious decline in the number of medicinal plant species available, which in turn lead to a decline in annual revenues generated from the MAP industry and more importantly a loss of traditional medical knowledge associated with these plants
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
