Inventory of medicinal plants prescribed by traditional healers in El Jadida city and suburbs (Morocco)

Background: Traditional medicine is still popular in Morocco since it is an important form of health care of many people. Aims: The present ethnobotanical survey aims to make an inventory of plants and their medicinal uses by the population of El Jadida city and suburbs (Morocco). Settings and Design: Given the nature of the project, it was decided that a qualitative approach would provide the most effective tool for data collection. For that a semi-structured interview was used with a set of pre-determined questions. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from October 2010 to April 2011. Forty-five interviews were conducted, each one involving more than one visit and sometimes with the participation of more than one informant. Statistical Analysis: All values are expressed in percentage. Results: A total of 102 species are inventoried belonging to 88 genera and 42 families of which 3 dominate: Apiaceae (13.7%), Lamiaceae (10.8%) and Asteraceae (8.8%). The most remedies are administered orally (88.2%) and prepared with an aqueous base, preferentially as decoction (42.2%), infusion (36.3%) or maceration (4.9%). The inventoried medicinal plants are widely used in indigenous pharmacopoeia to alleviate 22 pathological groups. Conclusion: Our results inventoried a wide range of medicinal plants used to treat various common human ailments. It appears necessary to preserve this medicinal knowledge and traditional system of health care by proper documentation and identification of specimens.