title: Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Mascara (North West of Algeria).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medicinal plants are considered as a rich source of bioactive compounds. The present study aimed to document the local knowledge of medicinal plants' use by traditional healers in Mascara, North-west Algeria.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study was carried out in Mascara (North West of Algeria). Ethnobotanical data were recorded from 43 traditional healers practicing in Mascara. Data collected was analysed using quantitative indices such as the use value (UV), fidelity level (FL) and Informant Consensus Factor (FIC).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Traditional healers reported 141 medicinal plant species belonging to 54 families and 125 genera for the treatment of different ailments grouped into 14 ailments categories. Lamiaceae were the most represented family with 19 species (13.57%) followed by Asteracea, Apiaceae and Fabaceae. Thymus vulgaris L. was the most frequently used by local informants, with the highest UV of 0.883 (38 use reports). Our findings revealed that 39 species have not been previously reported as medicinal plants in the region. Furthermore, we report for the first time a total of 100 new therapeutic uses for 37 known plant species. FIC values ranged from 0.125 to 0.658. Gastro-intestinal diseases had the highest FIC (0.658) with 60 species and 261 use reports.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study revealed the important local knowledge as showed by the variety of species used to treat several ailments. Recorded species with high UV should be subjects of further pharmacological studies to validate their popular use and to isolate the bioactive compounds.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria; Department of Biology, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria. Electronic address: bachirsb@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Bachir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Benarba
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Lakhdar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Belabid
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Kada
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Righi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Ahmed Amine
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Bekkar
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Mouffok
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elouissi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Abdelkader
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khaldi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Research on Biological Systems and Geomatics, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University of Mascara, Algeria.
authors.forename: Abderrahmane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hamimed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000462:Algeria; D019448:Ethnobotany; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Algeria; Ethnobotanical; Mascara; Plants; Traditional healers