The use of medicinal plants against cancer: An ethnobotanical study in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra Region in Morocco

Aboufaras, Mohamed; Selmaoui, Karima; Ouzennou, Nadia

doi:10.1016/j.eujim.2022.102137

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…ese findings show that informants with lower levels of education have more frequent contact with medicinal plants, whereas those with higher levels of education have less exposure to medicinal plants and less relevant knowledge of traditional medicine. Several studies have found that illiterate people are more interested in medicinal plants than people with higher educational levels [2,[33][34][35].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morocco's Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region is in the northwest (34 °02′ 00″ N, 6 °50′ 00″ W) (Figure 1). It has a population of about 4,580,866 people and an area of 18,194 km 2 (2.56% of the national territory). e Tangier-Tetouan-Al-Hoceima region borders it on the north, the Fez-Meknes region on the east, the Beni Mellal-Khenifra and Casablanca-Settat regions on the south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west [19].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…e target population was 1216 cancer patients who consulted consecutively during the study period. e size of the sample was estimated using the following formula [2]:…”

Section: Ethnobotanical Fieldworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ese effects are difficult to manage and can significantly affect the quality of a patient's life [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in humans [ 1 , 2 ]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), there were approximately 9.6 million deaths and 18.1 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2018 [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moroccan Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Cancer: Ethnomedicinal Study and Insights into Pharmacological Evidence

Benkhaira

Ferioun

Kandsi

et al. 2022

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Cancer is one of the major medical challenges, with an unacceptably high death toll worldwide. In Morocco, medicinal plants continue to play a pivotal therapeutic role despite the development of modern sanitation systems. In the current study, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out at the Moroccan national institute of oncology, Rabat, and we aimed at (1) establishing an exhaustive inventory of indigenous knowledge of Moroccan medicinal plants used to manage cancer and (2) confirming the reported ethnopharmacological uses through bibliometric review. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted with 291 cancer patients at the Moroccan National Institute of Oncology, Rabat, during a period of 4 months, from February to May 2019, through semistructured interviews. Ethnobotanical indices, including informant consensus factor (FIC), use report (UR), relative frequency citation (RFC), botanical family use value (FUV), fidelity level (FL), and index of agreement on remedies (IAR), were employed in data analyses. The survey revealed that 39 medicinal plants belonging to 27 botanical families and 38 genera were used to treat cancer. The most used ethnospecies were Aristolochia longa with the highest RFC value (0.096), followed by Nigella sativa, Ephedra alata, Euphorbia resinifera, and Lavandula dentata, éwith RFC values of 0.072, 0.054, 0.044, and 0.044, respectively. In regard to the plant families, Lamiaceae contributed the highest number of plants with five species (FUV = 0.034), followed by Asteraceae (4 species; FUV = 0.020), and Fabaceae (4 species; FUV = 0.020). The leaves are the most popular plant part used by the studied population against cancer; otherwise, decoction was the most commonly used method for remedy preparation and the highest FIC was noticed for uterine cancer treatment (0.86). Considering these findings, further investigations into the recorded plant species should be performed to assess phytochemical constituents and pharmaceutical benefits in order to identify their active compounds for any drug formulations.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…e target population was 1216 cancer patients who consulted consecutively during the study period. e size of the sample was estimated using the following formula [2]:…”

Section: Ethnobotanical Fieldworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ese effects are difficult to manage and can significantly affect the quality of a patient's life [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%