ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY THE POPULATION OF THE MIDDLE SEBOU REGION (ATLANTIC MOROCCO)

Due to its particular geographical situation, Morocco benefits from a wide range of climates favoring the development of a rich and diversified flora. An appreciable contingent of medicinal plants often used is individualized in this flora. In order to enhance this heritage, we undertook a floristic and ethno-medicinal study in the Middle Sebou region via an ethnobotanical survey using a pre-established questionnaire. The objective of this study is to enhance the value of natural resources and preserve the ethno-pharmacological heritage of the region.

The survey revealed a multitude of results on the respondent’s profile, the floristic and pharmacological aspect of the inventoried medicinal flora.

Floristic analysis highlights the richness of the study area in medicinal plants. Of 235 species, 190 genera and 73 families were observed. The most dominant ones are the Lamiaceae (21 species), the Asteraceae (18 species), the Apiaceae (16 species) and the Fabaceae (16 species). While the mono-specific families represent 47.94% of the medicinal flora inventoried.

Altogether, this study showed that the foliage constitutes the most used part with a rate of 39.33% followed by the seed (17.18%) and the fruit (11.10%). As for the pathologies treated, digestive disorders are the most cited (28.03%) followed by respiratory diseases (10.54%), gyneco-obstetric disorders (9.72%) and metabolic disorders (8.71%).

These results constitute a complete database for further research in the fields of phytochemistry and pharmacology.