*2.2.1 Ethnobotanical survey*

Ethnobotanical investigations were carried out from June 30th, 2016 to June 1st, 2018 to collect knowledge on plant species used to treat neurological disorders in the Rif. The techniques employed for data collection were semi-structured interviews [13], free listing, open-ended, group discussion, and noted and recorded with a digital voice recorder. The free survey was designed to collect data on: Socio-demographic information of the informants (gender, age, academic level, and origin of oral health information) and plants used in the treatment of neurological disorders (local names, popular uses, parts used, the form of preparation, method of administration, and posology). Five hundred twenty interviewees aged 17 to 80 were randomly chosen for discussions (cautery installer, farmers, elder people, bonesetters, herbalists, and therapists) in the study area (houses, pharmacies, weekly markets, hospitals, and mosques). By conducting a stratified random sampling, samples were then formed in each of the 28 strata (**Figure 2**), including seven urban communes, and they are put together to make up the overall sample of all informants. The inhabitants in the study area speak Amazigh, Arabic dialects, and therefore, informants were conducted in Arabic dialects or Amazigh. All the documented data was later translated into English.

**Figure 2.** *Distribution of survey points at the study area level.*

### *2.2.2 Plant species collection and identification*

Medicinal species being mentioned by the informants were registered with local names and photographed. For each reported plant species, the plant species were accumulated, classified, and voucher specimens were archived. The identification and nomenclature of the collected material vegetal were done first in the field and completed at the *Plant, Animal Productions and Agro-industry Laboratory* by one of the authors using some floristic works of literature as well as: The medicinal plants of Morocco [14], Practical flora of Morocco, tomes I, II and III [14–16] and Catalogs of vascular plants of northern Morocco, including identification keys, tomes I, II [17, 18]. Taxonomy and denominations of species were validated using "The Plant List 2020" database (http://www.theplantlist.org). Voucher specimens have been kept at our University, for future reference.

### *2.2.3 Data analysis*

Data were classified and interpreted by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and Microsoft Excel 2010. A representative and quantitative statistical method was adopted to examine the socio-demographic information of the interviewees. All statistical analyses were carried out with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and Microsoft Excel 2010.

## **3. Results**

### **3.1 Demographics of participants**

A total of 520 study informants, including 178 herbal sellers, 213 herbalists, 45 pharmacists, 30 midwives, and 54 other traditional healers (bonesetters, fouqaha, cautery installer, farmers, elder people, and nobles), were interrogated using semistructured surveys and group interviews. In the study area, both sexes are interested in herbal medicine. However, the numbers of females participants were more important (267 informants) than those of male (253 informants). In this study, results showed that the utilization of medicinal species is widespread in all age groups with various percentages. The bulk of informants surveyed were between 40 and 60 years old (232), and over 50 years old (170), while 3 of the informants were the age less than thirty years old. Concerning the educational level, our results revealed that the majority of the informants (77.1%) were uneducated, (19.8%) have primary education, 2.3% have secondary education, and only 0.8% of the informants had high education (**Table 1**).

### **3.2 Diversity of botanical families**

In this study, 42 plant species belonging to 37 genera and 23 families were recorded to be used by indigenous people from the Rif to treat neurological disorders. The scientific names of reported species, their families, vernacular names, plant parts used; method of preparation of each plant species was illustrated in **Table 2**. The family Lamiaceae was designed by the largest number of plant species (6 species), followed by Solanaceae with 4 species, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, and Fabaceae (3 species each), whereas, the rest of botanical families were represented by one or two species in each.

### **3.3 Species diversity**

The collected information analysis indicates that among the 42 plant species found in the Rif region, 5 medicinal plants are the most used. The specie *Marrubium* 

**127**

**Table 1.**

*Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco*

**Variables Categories Number of** 

**informants**

Male 253 49.7

20–40 112 21.5 40–60 232 44.6 > 60 years 170 32.7

Divorced 32 6.2 Widower 23 4.4 Single 15 2.9

Primary 103 19.8 Secondary 12 2.3 University 5 0.8

Gender Female 267 51.3 0.857

Age groups < 20 years 6 1.2 0.000

Family situation Married 450 86.5 0.000

Educational level Illiterate 400 77.1 0.000

Income/month Unemployed 209 42.2 0.000

1500–5000 MAD 80 13.4 > 5000 MAD 39 7.5

(Dirham) 250–1500 MAD 192 36.9

**Percentages (%)**

**P-values**

*vulgare* L. was used by 153 informants, followed by *Allium cepa* L. (120), *Matricaria chamomilla* L. (110), *Linum usitatissimum* L. (107), and *Rosmarinus officinalis* L. (103). While the other plants are less used by the local population (**Table 2**).

Local people of Rif used 42 medicinal plants to treat various neurological disease categories (**Table 3**). The 2 691 use reports were classified into 4 health diseases categories following the International Classification of Primary Care classification system (ICPC) [19]. Most use records were in the category epilepsy (1 142 use reports) and the highest number of plant species used to treat it (21 plant species) followed by headache (950 use reports; 20 plant species) and sciatica (389 use reports; 9 plant species). The last category was associated with meningitis (210 use reports; 6 plant species).

In phytotherapy, various plant parts reported particularly leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, fruits, or even whole plant are exploited by the indigenous communities. In this study, the leaf was reported as the dominant plant part used for remedial preparation in their study area (44.3%), followed by bark (11.5%), aerial parts (10.3%), seed (10.2%), bulb (8.8%), fruit (6.6%), root (3.7%), and flower (1%) respectively.

The preparation of herbal remedies needs liquids. The major solvent with the plant was water, but milk, butter, tea and honey, cereal oils were also widely used

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

**3.4 Neurological disease categories**

*Socio-demographic profile of the informants.*

**3.6 Methods of preparation**

**3.5 Plant parts used to treat neurological disorders**


### *Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

### **Table 1.**

*Therapy Approaches in Neurological Disorders*

*2.2.2 Plant species collection and identification*

kept at our University, for future reference.

**3.1 Demographics of participants**

**3.2 Diversity of botanical families**

Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and Microsoft Excel 2010.

*2.2.3 Data analysis*

**3. Results**

Medicinal species being mentioned by the informants were registered with local names and photographed. For each reported plant species, the plant species were accumulated, classified, and voucher specimens were archived. The identification and nomenclature of the collected material vegetal were done first in the field and completed at the *Plant, Animal Productions and Agro-industry Laboratory* by one of the authors using some floristic works of literature as well as: The medicinal plants of Morocco [14], Practical flora of Morocco, tomes I, II and III [14–16] and Catalogs of vascular plants of northern Morocco, including identification keys, tomes I, II [17, 18]. Taxonomy and denominations of species were validated using "The Plant List 2020" database (http://www.theplantlist.org). Voucher specimens have been

Data were classified and interpreted by Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 and Microsoft Excel 2010. A representative and quantitative statistical method was adopted to examine the socio-demographic information of the interviewees. All statistical analyses were carried out with Statistical Package for

A total of 520 study informants, including 178 herbal sellers, 213 herbalists, 45 pharmacists, 30 midwives, and 54 other traditional healers (bonesetters, fouqaha, cautery installer, farmers, elder people, and nobles), were interrogated using semistructured surveys and group interviews. In the study area, both sexes are interested in herbal medicine. However, the numbers of females participants were more important (267 informants) than those of male (253 informants). In this study, results showed that the utilization of medicinal species is widespread in all age groups with various percentages. The bulk of informants surveyed were between 40 and 60 years old (232), and over 50 years old (170), while 3 of the informants were the age less than thirty years old. Concerning the educational level, our results revealed that the majority of the informants (77.1%) were uneducated, (19.8%) have primary education, 2.3% have secondary education, and only 0.8% of the informants had high education (**Table 1**).

In this study, 42 plant species belonging to 37 genera and 23 families were recorded to be used by indigenous people from the Rif to treat neurological disorders. The scientific names of reported species, their families, vernacular names, plant parts used; method of preparation of each plant species was illustrated in **Table 2**. The family Lamiaceae was designed by the largest number of plant species (6 species), followed by Solanaceae with 4 species, Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, and Fabaceae (3 species each), whereas, the rest of botanical families were represented by one or two species in each.

The collected information analysis indicates that among the 42 plant species found in the Rif region, 5 medicinal plants are the most used. The specie *Marrubium* 

**126**

**3.3 Species diversity**

*Socio-demographic profile of the informants.*

*vulgare* L. was used by 153 informants, followed by *Allium cepa* L. (120), *Matricaria chamomilla* L. (110), *Linum usitatissimum* L. (107), and *Rosmarinus officinalis* L. (103). While the other plants are less used by the local population (**Table 2**).

### **3.4 Neurological disease categories**

Local people of Rif used 42 medicinal plants to treat various neurological disease categories (**Table 3**). The 2 691 use reports were classified into 4 health diseases categories following the International Classification of Primary Care classification system (ICPC) [19]. Most use records were in the category epilepsy (1 142 use reports) and the highest number of plant species used to treat it (21 plant species) followed by headache (950 use reports; 20 plant species) and sciatica (389 use reports; 9 plant species). The last category was associated with meningitis (210 use reports; 6 plant species).

### **3.5 Plant parts used to treat neurological disorders**

In phytotherapy, various plant parts reported particularly leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, fruits, or even whole plant are exploited by the indigenous communities. In this study, the leaf was reported as the dominant plant part used for remedial preparation in their study area (44.3%), followed by bark (11.5%), aerial parts (10.3%), seed (10.2%), bulb (8.8%), fruit (6.6%), root (3.7%), and flower (1%) respectively.

## **3.6 Methods of preparation**

The preparation of herbal remedies needs liquids. The major solvent with the plant was water, but milk, butter, tea and honey, cereal oils were also widely used


**129**

**Table 2.**

ingredients. No traditional healers reported toxicity associated with their therapies, but in most cases, patients were told to water, milk, butter, tea, and honey, cereal oils were also widely used ingredients. The informants in the present survey were

*Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco*

**Vernacular name**

**Part used**

*Laurus nobilis* L*.* Rend Laef Infusion HC 75

*Linum usitatissimum* L. Zriat elKtan Seed Decoction EL 107

*Myrtus communis* L. Rayhan Leaf Decoction HC 24

*Piper nigrum* L. Ibzar Seed Decoction HC, SC 12

*Avena sativa* L. Choufan Seed Decoction HC 20

*Portulaca oleracea* L. Rejla Root Infusion EL 69

*Coffea arbica* L. Qahwa Seed Decoction EL 26

*Citrus limon* (L.) Osbeck Limon Leaf Infusion HC 18

*Salix alba* L. Sefsaf Leaf Cataplasm EL 36

*Viscum album* L. Dbeq Bark Decoction EL 24

*Capsicum frutescens* L. Lharra Fruit Decoction HC 30 *Datura stramonium* L. Chdeq jmel Leaf Decoction HC 77 *Solanum lycopersicum* L. Maticha Fruit Infusion EL 95

parts

*Aloysia citriodora* Palau Louiza Leaf Infusion MG 76

*Curcuma longa* L. Lkharqom Bark Decoction EL 70 *Zingiber officinale* Roscoe Skinjbir Bark Decoction SC 63

*Solanum tuberosum* L. Bettata Aerial

**EL:** *Epilepsy,* **HC:** *Headache,* **SC:** *Sciatica,* **MG:** *Meningitis.*

*List of medicinal plants used to treat neurological disorders in the Rif, Morocco.*

**Preparation mode**

Lqronfel Flower Decoction HC, SC 13

Louz Fruit Infusion EL, MG 16

Infusion EL 90

**Medicinal uses**

**UR**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

**Family and Scientific** 

*Syzygium aromaticum* (L.) Merr. & L.M.Perry

**name**

**Linaceae**

**Myrtaceae**

**Piperaceae**

**Poaceae**

**Rosaceae**

**Rubiaceae**

**Rutaceae**

**Salicaceae**

**Santalaceae**

**Solanaceae**

**Verbenaceae**

**Zingiberaceae**

**Portulacaceae**

*Prunus dulcis* (Mill.) D.A.Webb

### *Neurological Phytotherapy by Indigenous People of Rif, Morocco DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97175*

*Therapy Approaches in Neurological Disorders*

**Vernacular name**

*Brassica nigra* (L.) K.Koch Lkhardel Aerial

*Brassica oleracea* L. Lmelfof Aerial

*Lens culinaris* Medik. Laades Aerial

*Mentha pulegium* L. Naa Naa Aerial

*Salvia officinalis* L. Salmia Aerial

*Thymus saturejoides* Coss. Zaatar Aerial

**Part used**

*Spinacia oleracea* L. Sabanikh Leaf Infusion SC 20

*Allium cepa* L. Bassla Bulb Cataplasm EL, HC 120 *Allium sativum* L. Thoma Bulb Cataplasm EL, HC 70

*Artemisia herba-alba* Asso Chih Leaf Infusion HC, EL 53

*Matricaria chamomilla* L. Lbabonj Leaf Infusion HC 110

parts

parts

parts

parts

*Pisum sativum* L. Jelbana Flower Infusion EL, HC 08

*Quercus canariensis* Willd. Qerrich Leaf Cataplasm HC 60 *Quercus suber* L. Bellout Leaf Cataplasm MG 33

*Juglans regia* L. Ljawz Seed Infusion El, SC 56

*Lavandula dentata* L*.* Lkhzama Leaf Infusion EL 98 *Marrubium vulgare* L. Mrouiate Leaf Cataplasm EL, HC 153

parts

parts

parts

Lquerfa Bark Infusion SC 89

*Rosmarinus officinalis* L. Azir Leaf Infusion SC 103

Lkrneb Aerial

**Preparation mode**

Lgahouan Leaf Infusion HC 28

Sarw Leaf Infusion EL, MG 58

Telh Root Decoction SC 10

**Medicinal uses**

Cataplasm SC 23

Infusion EL 17

Infusion EL, HC 14

Infusion EL, SC, MG 11

Infusion HC 22

Infusion HC, MG 16

Cataplasm EL, HC 27

**UR**

**Family and Scientific** 

**Amaranthaceae**

**Amaryllidaceae**

**Asteraceae**

*Chrysanthemum coronarium* L.

**Brassicaceae**

*Brassica oleracea var. botrytis* L.

**Cupressaceae** *Cupressus macrocarpa*

Hartw.

**Fabaceae** *Acacia longifolia* (Andrews) Willd.

**Fagaceae**

**Juglandaceae**

**Lamiaceae**

**Lauraceae**

Blume

*Cinnamomum zeylanicum*

**name**

**128**


### **Table 2.**

*List of medicinal plants used to treat neurological disorders in the Rif, Morocco.*

ingredients. No traditional healers reported toxicity associated with their therapies, but in most cases, patients were told to water, milk, butter, tea, and honey, cereal oils were also widely used ingredients. The informants in the present survey were


**Table 3.**

*Medicinal plants are used to treat different disease categories.*

practicing 3 different types of preparation methods. The results showed that the majority of remedies (53.4%) were prepared from infusion (42.12%), followed by cataplasm (24.4%), and decoction (22.2%).

### **3.7 Source of medicinal plants**

Most of the medicinal plant species recorded in this study grow wild in that region. These species are generally collected at high-mountainous elevation in the highlands surrounding the Rif. Thirteen species (31%) were collected in the wild, 10 plants were cultivated (23.8%), 5 taxa were introduced (11.9%) and 14 (33.3%) were collected as both wild and cultivated.
