Local knowledge on spontaneous plants among the populations of the wilaya of Tamanrasset (Central Sahara, Algeria)
The authors carried out an ethnobotanical survey on the uses of medicinal plants at the level of the wilaya of Tamanrasset (Algerian Central Sahara). This survey was conducted with 41 informants through a direct interview. The results show that women prevail with 63.4%. They are the holders of ancestral therapeutic knowledge and the custodians of Saharan ethnobotanical information. Age groups over 50 years predominate with 61%. It is an index of better knowledge on traditional medicinal uses of plants by older people. Traditional healers are the primary source of ethnomedicinal information for the local population (68.3%). The local population surveyed reported 27 plants having current medicinal interests. These plant species belong to 15 botanical families, of which the Asteraceae and the Fabaceae are dominant. These medicinal plants can treat 58 illnesses and symptoms, of which rheumatism and constipation are the most frequently treated. The leaves and aerial parts prepared in decoction or infusion in water are considered the most common preparations. Concerning the other uses (food, fodder, artisanal, veterinary), 17 medicinal plants also have a fodder interest, 15 are used as human food, nine have artisanal interests, and three are used to care for livestock (notably the dromedary). There is still a great wealth of ethnobotanical and especially ethnomedicinal information among the Tuareg ethnic group from Tamanrasset. The preservation of this ethnoflora is necessary for the sustainability of this traditional medicine in the Algerian Sahara.