Documentation of medicinal plants used to treat cardiovascular ailments in the Rif region of northern Morocco.

Background: Moroccans have used medicinal plants for centuries to treat various human and cattle health issues. However, there is a need for more research to document and share indigenous ethnopharmacological knowledge. In this study, we aimed to identify medicinal plants indigenous people in the Rif region used to treat cardiovascular problems and assess their ethnomedicinal abilities.

Methods: From 2016 to 2018, we conducted an ethnobotanical study in the Moroccan Rif area, surveying 520 traditional herbalists and consumers. We used quantitative ethnobotanical indicators such as family importance value (FIV), the relative frequency of citation (RFC), plant part value (PPV), fidelity level (FL), and informant consensus factor (ICF) to analyze the data.

Results: Our analysis revealed 33 plant species from 20 families, with Poaceae being the most dominant (7 species). Among the cardiovascular disorders treated, cardiac arrhythmias had the highest ICF (0.98). Leaves were the most frequently used plant part (PPV = 0.353), and decoction was the most common preparation method (31%).

Conclusions: Our study found evidence of indigenous ethnomedicinal knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat cardiovascular illnesses in the Moroccan Rif. We recommend further phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology research to discover new drugs from these documented medicinal plants.

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