- Academic Editor
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Herbal medicine was used since the old time in the treatment of different types
of diseases in Sefrou province, Morocco. However, few studies have been carried
out to identify local medicinal flora and to scientifically document the
knowledge of the traditional use of these medicinal plants by the population.
This study aims to investigate the medicinal plants in Sefrou province, record
their usage in folk medicine by the population and evaluate the hypotensive
effect of selected plants using in vitro vascular activity. For that, an
ethnobotanical survey was conducted among the Arabs and Amazighs population of
Sefrou province from January 2017 to December 2018. The survey was conducted
through oral interviews with a structured questionnaire. It covered those who
knew and/or used plants for medicinal purposes, retailers, and wholesalers, and
also included ecological repartition as well as the mode of administration. Then
we selected some plants to evaluate the antihypertensive activity based on the
in vitro bioassay. A total of 134 medicinal plants belonging to 52
families were identified; 61% are wild species, 49 (36%) are cultivated and 4
(3%) are cultivated as well as spontaneous. Medicinal plants used in Sefrou folk
medicine have been investigated for their antihypertensive activity. They were
selected based on their usage as cardiotonic, diuretics, and other uses related
to the symptoms of hypertension. Most of the plants tested in this study were
found to be more sensitive to relaxing contractions induced by noradrenaline. Out
of 32 species examined, 14 (44%) showed more than 50% inhibition in isolated
rat aortic rings, the vasorelaxant activity of these plants used for the
screening was mostly inhibited by pre-treatment with
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