An Ethnobotanical Study of Plants with Curative and Wound-Healing Properties in the Northern Zone of Cameroon ()
1. Introduction
The effectiveness of herbal medicine has proven its undeniable health benefits and has allowed natural medicine to enter our daily routines Today, the use of herbal medicine is experiencing a resurgence of interest in Western countries, particularly to treat imbalances brought on by modern life, whether it be stress or weight problems [1] . In Africa, traditional healers with only natural resources as their only therapeutic arsenal, treat in some cases more than 90% of the population. In Africa, medicinal plants are valuable resources for the majority of rural populations, where more than half of the population uses them for their health care [2] . In fact, out of the 300,000 plant species identified on the planet, more than 200,000 species live in tropical African countries and have medicinal virtues [3] . Cameroon is an important global biodiversity reserve and is home to hundreds of endemic species. Cameroon has some of the highest biological diversity in Africa in terms of variety, quantity, ecosystem and genetic resources. With a high rate of endemism, Cameroon ranks 4th in the world in terms of richness of flora. The country is home to 92% of Africa’s ecosystems and the rich biodiversity contains 8300 identified plant species, of which only about 40 species are exploited. Plants play an essential role in the lives of Cameroonian populations. Consumed or sold, they represent an important part of their income [4] . Indeed, Cameroon is ranked among the world’s top five log exporters [5] . In addition, its economy is divided into two major economic sectors: agriculture and logging, which represented (42%) of GDP in 1950 or (60%) of the active population [6] . Similarly, popular knowledge is currently held by very few people, especially the aging population, among whom there is a high rate of illiteracy [7] . It is in this perspective that an ethnobotanical study was undertaken in the northern part of Cameroon, more precisely in some departments of the country, in order to identify the plants used in traditional pharmacopoeia for wound healing.
The objective of the study is to identify the main medicinal plants used by traditional practitioners, healers and herbalists in the treatment of wounds in the northern part of Cameroon. (Figure 1)
2. Methodology
This study was conducted between June 2021 and February 2022 and consisted of a survey in the northern parts of Cameroon, including the regions of Adamawa,
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Figure 1. (a) Wound of a patient without any treatment; (b) Wound of a patient under traditional treatment.
the north and the extreme north, where we had to target three departments in each of the three regions. The choice of these departments was due to the lack of health infrastructures adapted to this type of pathology and also due to the rich biodiversity according to the information obtained beforehand, as well as to the difficult access to health centers in some of these areas, thus presenting a significant rate of frequentation by these wound patients. These surveys took place in the Adamawa region in the departments of Vina, Faro and Deo and Mbere, in the northern region we had to work in the departments of Benue, Faro and Mayo-Rey, and finally in the far north region, more precisely in the departments of Mayo-Kani, Diamare and Mayo-Danay.
2.1. Ethnobotanical Surveys
The semi-structured open-ended interview technique was used in all areas. Casual conversations and observations were included. These participatory tools allow knowledge to be estimated and responses to be solicited [8] . The purpose of this technique is to have as complete a floristic inventory as possible and to conduct ethnobotanical surveys that vary from one area to another in the study region [9] . In order to have a certain amount of information and to obtain flexibility on their part, we had to bring some of the people present, which allowed us to have much more relaxed and twice as fruitful exchanges. The topics discussed were essentially related to the socio-demographic status, the acquisition of knowledge and the established diagnoses, generalities on the plants used, generalities on the effective plants to the treatment and ethnopharmacological (mode of preparation, mode of administration, felt effect, prescriptions…). During our investigations, we always asked for the help of a guide-interpreter who understands the local language and of the phytotherapists themselves who knew the species well, during the field trips in order to identify the species mentioned and to collect some plant samples in order to build up herbariums. The field trips were most often carried out in the company of the informant (tradithérapeute) who directly identified the species indicated for the wounds. In the case where the informant is too old or busy after the interview, the guide is the one who helps to collect specimens, then a second passage is carried out at the informant’s place for verification of the collections. Botanical identifications made in the field were validated at the University of Maroua, the University of Ngaoundéré, as well as at the national herbarium in comparison with herbarium samples [10] . Unknown plants are deposited in samples for further study. The information given by the persons concerned taken were duly filled in on our forms. The plant samples were collected during our different field trips. The data collection consisted of the identification and collection in the forest of the plants given by the respondents and sometimes the purchase of certain plants for those who were not available. The species cited were identified and named for the most part. Information on difficulties encountered in the field was also noted. The field data were recorded on a spreadsheet and then analyzed.
2.2. Data Analysis
The results were processed using two software programs: Sphinx plus “2” to create the survey forms and Excel version 2013 process the data.
The Citation Frequency is given by the formula
where: FC: Citation Frequency of each plant cited by herbalists; NC: Number of citations of each plant cited by herbalist and NH: Frequency of citation
3. Results
3.1. Socio-Demographic Status of the People Surveyed
In the field, information was collected during the various surveys. The respondents revealed a predominance of males over females in the different regions surveyed: more precisely, the Adamawa region with 88% of men against 12% of women, in the northern region the frequency is 80% of men against 20% of women and finally in the Far North region where we have 89% of men against 11% of women (1). It is also important to note that the people most involved in this activity are mature people whose age varies from (]40; 60]) years (2), during these different approaches we also note that a good number of those who master the medicinal plants are of Muslim religion (3). We also note that many of these therapists are not educated, especially in the northern region (4). In order to ensure the continuity of traditions, as well as the conservation of knowledge, the means of learning to ensure this is the fact that some parents already initiated their offspring to these different forms of traditional treatments that they then kept in the form of inheritance in order to ensure a better conservation of ancestral knowledge in terms of plants beneficial to man (5). It should be noted that as methods of diagnosis to know what are the distant or close causes of the wounds encountered in different patients, many of them still use archaic methods. From these different interviews, it appears that the vision mode is the cowrie shell the most used method by the doctors, followed by the requested examinations, which is a diagnostic method requested by those who sometimes work with scientists (Table 1).
3.2. Typologies of Plants Identified in the Regions
From the various surveys conducted in the field, it appears that the most effective plants are mostly shrubs, which are the type of plants with a greater variety of healing plants. This is the case in the three northern regions surveyed with the following statistics: Adamawa (39), North (44), Far North (47) compared to the other types of plants. As represented in Figure 2.
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Table 1. Different kind of methods.
3.3. Different Kinds of Methods
In order to know what are the distant or close causes of the different patients of the wounds that come to them, the traditional therapists use different methods of diagnosis, in order to adapt the adequate treatment. And to do this, many of them are still using ancestral methods, while others use medical analysis to better diagnose.
3.4. Different Parts of Plants Used in the Treatment
The parts of plants used in treatments for different diseases in the different regions surveyed are the most used and in 9 departments surveyed are, in order of importance, the bark of the trunk with (47%) in the Adamawa region,(47%) in the Northern region and (43%) in the Far-North region. (Figure 3) Followed by the leaves which are (20%) in the Adamawa region, (18%) in the Northern region and (24%) in the Far-North region to name a few. The analysis of variance shows a highly significant difference (0.000 < 0.001) between the plant parts used. The great solicitation of barks and leaves in traditional medicine would find its reason in their richness in active substances. The parts used also vary according to the species and the wounds to be treated.
3.5. Drugs Preparation
Overall, the information provided shows that there are three modes of preparation: maceration, decoction and infusion. The analysis of variance shows a very significant difference between the three methods of preparation of medicines. The analysis of variance shows a very significant difference between the three methods of preparation of medicines, which are: maceration, decoction and infusion. At the level of ethnic groups, this difference is not noticeable, because cultural exchanges between the different ethnic groups may be one of the factors that have favored the popularization of different methods of preparing treatments. (Table 2)
The ethnobotanical surveys undertaken in the northern zone have been of great importance to us and also to the populations, because this work has made it possible on the one hand to know which plants are effective in the treatment and healing of wounds, but also to know which parts of these plants are needed, how they are prepared and administered, and above all to know which types of wounds they treat. (Table 3)
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Table 2. Method of preparation of drugs.
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Table 3. Inventory and use of some medicinal plants used in Northern Cameroon.
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Figure 3. Different plant parts used in the treatments.
4. Discussion
Our work has allowed us to identify a number of medicinal plants with healing properties in the Northern zone of Cameroon. In order to arrive at these results, ethnobotanical studies were conducted in the Northern zone, following the example of Gormo in 2013 [11] who worked on the use of plants among the peoples of Northern Cameroon. With regard to wound healing, this is the first study of its kind conducted in these regions. However, the healing properties of these plants are not very descriptive. In-depth studies would be necessary to provide elements of understanding of the mechanisms involved in the main effects observed. The results of the ethnobotanical survey showed that bark and roots (35%) are the parts of the plant most used by traditional practitioners, herbalists and others. Of the three modes of preparation, maceration is the most used. The major limitations of these methods of preparation are the failure to respect the rules of asepsis, the lack of dosage control and the lack of conservation. The effectiveness of the plants cited in this study requires the monitoring of the transformations in the body (absorption, metabolization and elimination). Their bioavailability may be decreased at absorption by enzymes, during their metabolization by hepatic passage effects. It would then be necessary to study their behavior in the body in order to consider adequate pharmaceutical forms. Concerning the survey was conducted among 183 people in the three regions of the septentrion, it was found that: Concerning the socio-demographic status of these people, men were the most represented in the majority compared to women, which could be explained by the fact that women are less involved in this type of activity, which is consequently more popular with men, However, ethnobotanical surveys conducted in the department of Lom and Djerem by [12] showed that it was women who were more involved in the use of medicinal plants since they use them in other areas than herbalism. It was also found that it is the more mature people who are interested in this activity; this profile of traditional practitioners in the Maritime region of Togo is the one observed in most gender studies, confirming that the practice of traditional medicine is the prerogative of middle-aged men [13] . It has been found that knowledge of a traditional medicine recipe is primarily a family secret that is passed on from generation to generation through customs and oral traditions. It is therefore necessary to be of mature age and have a certain degree of confidence to access the knowledge of this medicine. This is the main reason why this profession is practiced by older people. The present study showed a good diversity of plants used for wound healing in the northern zone of Cameroon, a total of 41 species of medicinal plants were recorded, divided into 20 families, of which the most represented families are Fabaceae with 9 species, followed by two dominant families which are equally Annonaceae (3) and Tiliaceae (3). Other ethnobotanical studies in Algeria revealed the same diversity of 21 plant species belonging to 16 botanical families and used in the local application according to 27 traditional recipes [14] .
5. Conclusion
In order to contribute to the valorization of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine in the northern part of Cameroon, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted among 184 respondents chosen because they had a better knowledge of wound treatment in the 9 departments visited. We listed 41 species of medicinal plants divided into 20 families. The quantitative analysis of the frequency indices was calculated, and the citation frequencies were also revealed for a good knowledge of alternative and curative medicinal plants. This study provides useful documentation for the preservation of traditional medicine knowledge, especially the most effective plants for healing in the Cameroon area. It provides a research base for further advanced studies and therapeutic perspectives for better wound management.