Background: Local natural medicinal resource knowledge is important to define and elaborate usage of herbs, in systematic and organized manner. Until recently, there has been little scientifically written document regarding the traditional uses of medicinal plants in Al Bahah region.
Objective: This pilot study aims to collect the ethnobotanical information from native populations regarding the benefits of medicinal plants of Al Bahah region, and determine if the traditional usage is scientifically established (proved) from literature.
Materials and methods: The survey collected data for 39 plant species recorded by informants for their medicinal benefits. The recorded species were distributed among 28 plant families. Leguminosae and Euphorbiaceae were represented each by 3 species, followed by Asteraceae (2 species), Lamiaceae (2 species), Apocynaceae (2 species), and Solanaceae (2 species). All the medicinal plants were reported in their local names. Analysis of ethnopharmacological data was done to obtain percentage of plant families, species, parts of plants used, mode of administration, and preparation types.
Results: Total 43 informants were interviewed, maximum number of species were used to cure skin diseases including burns (3), wounds (7), warts (1), Leishmania (7), topical hemostatic (2), followed by gastrointestinal system, rheumatism, respiratory tract problems, diabetes mellitus, anti-snake venom, malaria, and eye inflammation.
Conclusions: The study covered Al Bahah city and its outskirts. Ten new ethnobotanical uses were recorded such as antirheumatic and anti-vitiligo uses for Clematis hirsute, leishmaniasis use of Commiphora gileadensis, antigout of Juniperus procera, removing warts for Ficus palmata.
Summary: 39 plant species from 28 plant families are used for treating more than 20 types of diseases.Maximum number of species (23 species) was used for treating skin diseases (42.6%) including leishmaniasis, wound healing, dermatitis, psoriasis, vitiligo and warts.Ten ethnobotanical uses of 8 studied plants have not been previously reported.The most used medicinal plants, according to their Use Index (UI) were Juniperus procera, Rumex nervosus, and Ziziphus spina-christi. Abbreviations Used: UI : Use Index, GI: Gastrointestinal tract, RD: Rheumatic disease, CVS: Cardiovascular diseases, UTI: Urinary tract infection, DM: Diabetes mellitus, RT: Respiratory infection, KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Keywords: Al Bahah; Saudi Arabia; ethnopharmacology; folk medicine; medicinal plants; survey.