Ethnopharmacological survey and pytochemical screening of some medicinal plants of Algerian Sahara

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised the potential utility of traditional remedies and strives to preserve the primary health care involving medicinal plants. In various parts of Algeria, especially in the arid region, medicinal plants are widely used as an alternative to pharmaceutical drugs; the folk medicine represents a very important phenomenon in regional culture. Continuing our effort on the search of bioactives substances from medicinal plants of South-West Algeria, We report herein our results in this field. The traditional uses of medicinal plants for the treatment of illenes were selected based on the survey through interviews with local inhabitant, herbalist in the Souk and old women according to our previous works. This study report the use of 114 species of folk drugs plants belonging to 53 botanical families in Algerian Sahara (West region). Each information was considered only after confirmation through three or more informants. A phytochemical screening of 25 commonly occurring native plants was carried out, and in our knowledge, the selected species have not been previously reported in the literature. Thus, a qualitative analysis was performed for the presence of flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, Cardenolids, terpenes ad sterols. We report information about the 114 medicinal plants used in Algerian Sahara, and a preliminary phytochemical constituent of some native species.