Aim: The aim of this study was to identify different plants used in folk medicine for treating pain, inflammatory diseases, diabetes and kidney stones by the population of Zagora province, in southern east of Morocco. This investigation was undertaken during more than 2 years started in 2013 and ended in 2015. Methods: A total of 1400 person with different ages between 20 and 80 years, in twelve areas, was included in this survey; 348 were diabetes, 292 were suffering from kidney stones and 760 are healthy. Data collected was separated in two parts. The first part concerned interviewee informations (age, sex and level of education) and a second part was designed for plants uses (vernacular names, uses, parts used and mode of preparation).Use value (UV), fidelity level (FL) and family use value (FUV) were calculated. Results: We inventoried 83 plants species belonging to 40 families that were used, Ranunculaceae family family showed the highest significance (FUV= 0.36). Six species with the highest UV were Zygophyllum gaetulum L. (0.44), Nigella sativa (0.36), Rosmarinus officinalis L (0.36), Trigonella foenum-graecum L (0.35) and Thymus satureioides L (0.35). We identified 50 species used for treating or managing pain, 45 for diabetes, 19 for kidney stone, 7 for treating inflammatory diseases and only 3 species that were recognized with hallucinogenic effects. Conclusions: This study shows that folk medicine in Zagora still occupies a high level in primary health care. Data collected may help to preserve knowledge about different plants used and their mode of preparation.
Key words: Morocco, Ethnopharmacological, Medicinal plants, Hallucinogenic plants, Zagora province, Phytotherapy.
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