Herbal medicine is a method of natural healing, based on the exploitation of active substances of plants collected from nature and used to cure certain ailments. This study focuses on traditional herbal medicine used to fight against skin ailments in Talassemtane National Park. A stratified sampling (8 forestry sectors), and using 930 question cards, we conducted a series of ethnobotanical field investigations during 2014, to collect all the information concerning the one hand on the informant profile (gender, age) and the other on local herbal (medicinal plants, treated ailments, method of preparation, form of employment and the part used).
The results allowed us to identify 32 species belonging to 22 botanical families. Among these families, the Lamiaceae (6 species), Cistaceae (6 species), Asteraceae (3 species) and Fabaceae (3 species) are the most represented in the flora, they comprise at it alone almost 50% of overall workforce. Curative groping of medicinal plants is always prepared by women, representing 59% compared to 41% men. Therapeutic revenue is used in the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema, abscesses, burns care, skin irritation, itching (58.56%); mange and hair care (23.76%); treatment of acne (8.42%) and diseases of the mouth (4.14%). While most exploited species Ajuga iva (6.76%) and Lavandula dentata (5.41%) of the family Lamiaceae (21.62%); Cistus albidus (5.41%) and Cistus crispus (4.05%) of the family Cistaceae (14.86%); Matricaria chamomilla (6.76%) of the Asteraceae (10.81%); and Genista quadriflora (4.05%) of the family Fabaceae (6.75%).
The results obtained showed that the sheets also constitute the most used part, with 74% and the majority of the preparations are in the form of powder (29%) and maceration mode (25%).