A Taxonomic Study Of Medicinal Plants Used In The Treatment Of The Digestive Tract Pathologies In Talassemtane’s National Park (Western Morocco)

Research Article
Mariam RHATTAS., Allal DOUIRA and Lahcen ZIDANE
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Ethnobotanical study, questionnaires, phytotherapy, Talassemtane national park, soft medicine, digestive disorders
Abstract: 

An ethnobotanical study was followed up in order to set up a medicinal plants’ catalog to be used in traditional phytotherapy against the digestive disorders in Talassemtane National Park. According to a stratified sampling (10 administrative towns), and through the use of 930 questionnaires, we carried on a series of ethnobotanical field investigations during 2014. In order to collecte all the information which concern, the one hand, the informant profile (sex, age, and level of studies), the treated symptoms, and on the other hand, the local phytotherapy (medicinal plants, treated ailments, method of preparation, form of employment and the used parts). The obtained results made us able to list of 60 species distributed in 52 genera and 30 botanical families, which are used in soft medicine for the treatment of digestive ailments. The Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae and Polygonaceae are families which are mostly exploited in traditional phytotherapy. Among the species which are represented according to the percentage of citation, there is Marrubium vulgare (11.39%), Matricaria chamomilla (8.23%), Lavandula stoechas (5.06%), Origanum grosii and Nerium oleander (4.75% each), Satureja grandiflora, Melissa officinalis et Laurus nobilis (3.48% each), Myrtus communis, Mentha pulegium et Eupatorium cannabinum (3.16% each), Calamintha officinalis, Cynara baetica, Rumex pulcheret Thymus zygis (1.90% each). The latin vernacular and scientific names, the used parts of the plant, recipes, preparation methods of the ethno-medicinal use, as well as the phytotherapeutical actions are presented in a table. In addition, 55.70% of the surveyed women, regardless of their age, use the preparations of the therapeutical recipes on the basis of plants which are gathered from the park while men represent only 44.30%. Most of the interviewees reported that they practice soft medicine in order to treat the digestive system diseases thanks to its very low cost and also its therapeutical virtues which the medicinal plants represent.