Taxonomy and ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the local population of the Algerian highlands

Abstract

In this study, interviews were conducted with 313 informants from the Algerian highlands, including 47 traditional practitioners, 26 herbalists and 240 inhabitants over two successive years. These informants cited 121 species, classified into 108 genera and 49 botanical families. The most cited plant families were Asteraceae (14%) and Lamieaceae (13%), then Apiaceae (6.5%). Thymus algeriensis Bioss. & Reut. had the highest use and use value reports (UR=197, UV=0.82), followed by Artemisia herba-alba Asso (UR=191, UV=0.80) and Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. (UR=180, UV=0.70). The most cited plant species were A. herba-alba with citation frequency (CF) value, followed by T. algeriensis (CF=170) and E. camaldulensis (CF=155). The highest informant consensus factor (ICF) was for digestive system diseases (ICF=0.90), followed by respiratory system infections (ICF=0.87). This information would be very beneficial for researchers in pharmacology and modern medicine, as the discovery of new bioactive substances.