Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants used in the treatment of skin burns in occidental Morocco (area of Rabat)

Moroccan herbalists use a very important range of medicinal plants to cure skin burns. These traditional healers rely mainly on their ancestral knowledge to prescribe recipes for an alternative, the reduction or to heal the skin burns. Unfortunately, no ethnopharmacological survey of plants used in the treatment of skin burns has been carried out in Morocco. This study describes the traditional practices for the use of medicinal plants against skin burns in six cities in the Rabat region (Rabat, Salé, Temara, Skhirat, Khemmisset, and Tiflet) for future pharmacological validations. The survey was carried out between September 2015 and April 2018 by means of semi-structured questionnaires in the region of Rabat. The survey was carried out among traditional herbalists, which were recorded in the studied areas. These traditional herbalists are specialists in the sale and use of medicinal plants, diagnosing and treating diseases based on the symptoms. A total of 65 herbalists from North-Western Morocco were involved in the study. Thirty-six species belonging to 35 genera and 23 botanical families were recorded. Twenty plants were reported for the first time as used in the traditional treatment of skin burns in Morocco. It was found that Lamiaceae and Asteraceae are the two families most recommended by herbalists questioned to heal skin burns. The most frequently cited plant species are Pinus halepensis, Cynara humilis and Salvia verbenaca. Leaves were the most cited plant part used and the pulverization of the plant is the preferred mode of preparation. The powder is sprinkled directly on the burns in most of the treatments. The results of the present study showed the importance of the use of medicinal plants to heal skin burns. This document is the first database of medicinal plants with anti-burn properties conducted at the national level. These plants can be used in the search for new bioactive substances through pharmacochemical studies.