Update of the list of medicinal plants traditionally used in the Province of Taza

¹ Natural Resources and Environment Laboratory, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Taza, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco
² Environment and Health Team, FP-Safi, UCA, Marrakech
³ Biotechnology, conservation and Valorization of Natural Resources Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco

^* Fatimazahra.elaboui@usmba.ac.ma

Abstract

A large number of plants have very interesting biological properties, and are found to have application in various fields, namely in medicine, pharmacy, cosmetology and agriculture. The objective of this work is to list the uses of plants in traditional medicine in unexplored areas of the province of Taza. Thus, a recent survey was conducted in the Pre-Rif of Taza (North-East of Morocco); among the rural population, between May / 2022 and January / 2023; to carry out an inventory of medicinal plants and a collection of information relating to their therapeutic uses using a questionnaire. The series of visits carried out made it possible to inventory 91 species belonging to 48 floristic families with a predominance of the following families: Lamiaceae (30%), Asteraceae (8%), Myrtaceae (6%) and Fabaceae (5%). 91 species are used to fight different pathologies: the digestive system (13%), Diabetes (10%) and Colds (9%). The leaves (57%), the aerial part (13%) and the seeds (9%) are the main parts used to prepare the recipes. Alone or in combination, these parts are involved in the development of recipes by processes mainly using infusion (36%), decoction (29%) and powder (23%). The products obtained are administered mainly orally (74%) and by external applications representing 19%.