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. 2023 Feb 2;12(3):654.
doi: 10.3390/plants12030654.

Medicinal Plants and Plant-Based Remedies in Grande-Terre: An Ethnopharmacological Approach

Elisa Courric  1 , David Brinvilier  1 , Petra Couderc  1 , Alejandro Ponce-Mora  2 , Vanessa Méril-Mamert  1 , Muriel Sylvestre  1 , Jeannie Hélène Pelage  3 , Jean Vaillant  4 , Alain Rousteau  5 , Eloy Bejarano  2 , Gerardo Cebrian-Torrejon  1
Affiliations

Medicinal Plants and Plant-Based Remedies in Grande-Terre: An Ethnopharmacological Approach

Elisa Courric et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The island of Grande-Terre is a French overseas region that belongs to the Guadeloupean archipelago, a biodiversity hotspot with unique flora. Herbal medicine is widely used in the island for therapeutical purposes; however, there is a significant knowledge gap in the records relating to medicinal plants and their associated uses. Ethnobotanical survey methodology using quantitative parameters (informant consensus factor, species use value, relative frequency of citation, frequency use of a treatment and plant for an ailment) provided insights into the traditional medicinal use of a given plant. Ninety-six different plant species distributed among 56 families were identified and 523 remedies were documented in the survey. After data filtering, 22 plants species were associated with 182 remedies. The most frequent plant families were Poaceae, Myrtaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Rubiaceae. Aerial parts of these plants were the most common parts of the plant used for the remedies and the most frequent mode of administration was oral ingestion. This study highlights a valuable traditional knowledge of folklore medicine and helps to document and preserve the association of a plant with-and its use frequency for-a given ailment. These findings might be the starting point for the identification of biologically active phytocompounds to fight common health debilities.

Keywords: biology of medicinal plants; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geographical position of Grande-Terre. Nine different municipalities of Grande-Terre Island where the survey was conducted are shown in the map.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Medicinal plants identified in the ethnopharmacological survey: (A) botanical families predominantly used in Grand-Terre and (B) number of citations for each plant.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Medicinal use value of plant species commonly used in traditional folk medicine in Grand-Terre.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Alignment of categories in the ethnopharmacological survey. Informant consensus factor (ICF) is shown for each alignment.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Plant-based remedies in the ethnopharmacological survey. Percentage of remedies using different plant parts for 523 initials remedies involving only the 22 plants selected.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mode of administration in Grande-Terre. Percentage of different mode of administration for 22 selected plants and all remedies included.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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