Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by nomadic peoples in the Algerian steppe

Abstract

This study highlights the importance of traditional medicine for Algerian nomad communities. This indigenous population has specific knowledge about plants from their steppe environment, but also shares a pool of knowledge with sedentary Algerian populations and Mediterranean people as a whole. Our research shows that a common North African and Mediterranean ethnobotanical heritage exists.

Ethnobotanical Survey of the Medicinal Plants used in the Southern Mediterranean. Case Study: The Region of Bissa (Northeastern Dahra Mountains, Algeria)

“…6,4,[38][39][40] It was also noticed that both men and women were involved in the traditional medicine, however; women were more informed about medicinal species compared to men (52% versus 48%). These findings were concordant with numerous national ethnobotanical studies, reporting women knowledge to be higher than men's herbal medicine (52-62%), 4,5,25,27 also in term of medicinal plants collection, storage and recipes preparation, women were more involved than men. This predominance of women over men can be explained by their responsibilities as mothers, 41,42 they are the ones who give first aid to their children in cases of illness and know the secrets of the kitchen and the tricks of the healthy meals and domestic chores.…”

“…These results were concordant with several ethnobotanical studies conducted in Algeria, indeed according to Boudjelal et al 6 Benarba et al 23 Ouelbani et al 28 Bouasla and Bouasla 4 and Miara et al 5 Lamiaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae were the most commonly used families throughout the country.…”

“…The ethnobotanical analysis was performed according to several indices (Equation I, II). [4][5]13,23,26,37 a) Informant consensus factor (FIC) This index was given by the following formula:…”

“…1,2 In most of the developing countries such as Algeria, the knowledge about traditional medicine has continued to be passed orally from generation to generation. [3][4][5] Unfortunately, with the recent development of life and the pharmaceutical industry, this knowledge became less and less transmitted and tends to disappear, thus, the necessity to archive and integrate the traditional medicine into the modern health system using ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology. 6 In this context, several ethnobotanical surveys in relation to traditional medicine have been conducted throughout the world, such as Turkey, [7][8][9][10] Northeastern Brazil, 11,12 India, 13 Philippines, 14 Ghana, 15 Côte d'Ivoire 16 and Morocco.…”

“…17,18 Recently, many ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies were undertaken in various regions throughout the Algerian country, in order to preserve the indigenous knowledge and to develop a strategy to protect biodiversity and plant species. [4][5][6][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] However, due to the large Algerian surface and diversity, most its geographical areas and ethnic communities have still not been explored ethnobotanically. 5 With the disappearance of the old indigenous connoisseurs, it became very urgent to document the traditional knowledge through ethnobotanical studies, 4 which is very important for the conservation of this knowledge, the use of the biological resources and at the same time represents an essential tool in the defense of biodiversity.…”