Ethnomedicinal Information on Plants Used for the Treatment of Bone Fractures, Wounds, and Sprains in the Northern Region of the Republic of Benin

Nonvignon Murielle Codo Toafode; Emelia Oppong Bekoe; Zacharie Vissiennon; Virgile Ahyi; Cica Vissiennon; Karin Fester

doi:10.1155/2022/8619330

Ethnomedicinal Information on Plants Used for the Treatment of Bone Fractures, Wounds, and Sprains in the Northern Region of the Republic of Benin

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Dec 21:2022:8619330. doi: 10.1155/2022/8619330. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nonvignon Murielle Codo Toafode^{1

2}, Emelia Oppong Bekoe³, Zacharie Vissiennon¹, Virgile Ahyi¹, Cica Vissiennon^{2

4}, Karin Fester⁵

Affiliations

¹ IRGIB-Africa University, Inter-Regional University of Industrial Engineering Biotechnologies and Applied Sciences, Cotonou, 07 BP 231, Benin.
² Leipzig University, Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig 04107, Germany.
³ University of Ghana, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicine, Legon, LG 43, Ghana.
⁴ Repha GmbH Biologische Arzneimittel, Langenhagen 30855, Germany.
⁵ University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz, Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Zittau 02763, Germany.

Abstract

Medicinal plants are frequently used in African countries due to their importance in the treatment of various conditions. In the northern Republic of Benin, traditional healers are recognized as specialists in the treatment of fractures, wounds, and sprains. The present study was conducted to document the practices (diagnosis and materials) and traditional knowledge accumulated by healers in this region on their area of specialty. In addition, literature-based research was performed to support the usage of the most cited plants. Sixty traditional healers identified as "reference persons" from Atakora and Donga departments in the northern Republic of Benin, who specialized in the treatment of fractures, wounds, and sprains, were interviewed in their communities through a semi-structured questionnaire. Information about the practice, age of the healers, medicinal plants used in this treatment, methods of preparation, and administration were collected. Samples of the plant species were also collected, identified, and stored in the national herbarium at the University of Abomey-Calavi, the Republic of Benin. The study enabled the identification of thirty-four (34) species belonging to twenty-three (23) families. Ochna rhizomatosa and Ochna schweinfurthiana (21%) were the most quoted plants among the species, followed by Chasmanthera dependens (12.1%), Piliostigma thonningii (11.3%), and Combretum sericeum (8.1%). These plants were reported to strengthen bones, reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and promote healing in the northern part of the Republic of Benin. Besides their ability to treat fractures, wounds, and sprains, they are also used for multiple purposes in the West African subregions. According to the available literature, some of the plants will need to be investigated for their phytoconstituents and pharmacological activity to validate their ethnobotanical uses. These results confirm the need for documenting traditional knowledge since it represents an opportunity for exploring plant species with potentially good pharmacological effects, which have been barely investigated. Plants identified may constitute a significant source of bioactive compounds in the treatment of various ailments such as skin inflammation and musculoskeletal disorders. They can be further explored to justify their use in traditional Beninese medicine.