Traditional plant use in Burkina Faso (West Africa): a national-scale analysis with focus on traditional medicine

Abstract

Background: The West African country of Burkina Faso (BFA) is an example for the enduring importance of traditional plant use today. A large proportion of its 17 million inhabitants lives in rural communities and strongly depends on local plant products for their livelihood. However, literature on traditional plant use is still scarce and a comprehensive analysis for the country is still missing.

Methods: In this study we combine the information of a recently published plant checklist with information from ethnobotanical literature for a comprehensive, national scale analysis of plant use in Burkina Faso. We quantify the application of plant species in 10 different use categories, evaluate plant use on a plant family level and use the relative importance index to rank all species in the country according to their usefulness. We focus on traditional medicine and quantify the use of plants as remedy against 22 classes of health disorders, evaluate plant use in traditional medicine on the level of plant families and rank all species used in traditional medicine according to their respective usefulness.

Results: A total of 1033 species (50%) in Burkina Faso had a documented use. Traditional medicine, human nutrition and animal fodder were the most important use categories. The 12 most common plant families in BFA differed considerably in their usefulness and application. Fabaceae, Poaceae and Malvaceae were the plant families with the most used species. In this study Khaya senegalensis, Adansonia digitata and Diospyros mespiliformis were ranked the top useful plants in BFA. Infections/Infestations, digestive system disorders and genitourinary disorders are the health problems most commonly addressed with medicinal plants. Fabaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Apocynaceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae were the most important plant families in traditional medicine. Tamarindus indica, Vitellaria paradoxa and Adansonia digitata were ranked the most important medicinal plants.

Conclusions: The national-scale analysis revealed systematic patterns of traditional plant use throughout BFA. These results are of interest for applied research, as a detailed knowledge of traditional plant use can a) help to communicate conservation needs and b) facilitate future research on drug screening.

Figure 1

The importance of different plant use categories in traditional plant use in Burkina Faso. The bars represent the percentage of species of the total known flora (2067 species) used in ten different categories. The most species are used for traditional medicine, human nutrition and animal fodder.

Figure 2

The use spectrum of the twelve most species-rich plant families in Burkina Faso. The bars represent the percentage of species in the respective family used in four different use categories. The three most important use categories (traditional medicine, human nutrition and animal fodder) as well as other uses are shown. Other uses include the use for construction, tools and crafts, firewood, ornament, veterinary as well as religion and art. The use patterns differ considerably. Large proportions of the Apocynaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Lamiaceae are used for medicine. Cyperaceae and Convulvulaceae are generally scarcely used.

Figure 3

Twenty-two different health disorders addressed with medicinal plants. The bars represent the number of species applied as remedy for the respective disorder as percentage of all species used in traditional medicine (753 species). Often plants are used in multiple categories. “Infections/Infestations”, digestive system disorders and genitourinary disorders are the most commonly addressed health disorders. The categories are modified after [65].

Figure 4

The importance of different plant organs in traditional medicine. The bars represent the number of species where the respective organ is used in TM as percentage of all species with a known use in TM (753 species). Often multiple plant parts are used per species. Leaves, roots and branches are the plant organs most commonly used in TM.

Figure 5

The relative importance of plant families in traditional medicine in Burkina Faso. The figure shows the difference between a family’s rank regarding total species number and its rank regarding number of species used in traditional medicine. N = total number of species, Fraction TM [%] = percentage of these species used in Traditional medicine, Rank N species = Rank of the family regarding total species number in the country, Rank Fraction TM = rank of the family regarding species used in traditional medicine. The listed families comprise the 12 most species rich families in the country and the 12 plant families most commonly used in TM. Anacardiaceae, Amaranthaceae and Combretaceae are relatively over-used, Convolvulaceae, Cyperaceae, Acanthaceae and Vitaceae are relatively under-used.