Ethnobotanical and ethno-pharmacological approach to ichthyotoxic plants of Gabon

Abstract

This ethnobotanical and ethno-pharmacological study was conducted to know the plants used in fishing practices and to show their importance in traditional medicine in Gabon. For this study, 100 questionnaires were administered to individuals in the fishing and traditional medical domains. 701 plants belonging to 16 different floristic families, including Fabaceae (41%), Rubiaceae (13%), and Rutaceae (15%) were commonly used. Most of the plants were used for fishing and in traditional medicine. Shrubs and trees such as Tephrosia vogelii , Brenania brieyi , highly recognized by the respondents, were used to treat certain diseases such as the ‘night gunshot’ of witchcraft origin, which modern medicine sometimes comes up against. Diseases such as hemorrhoids, malaria, sinusitis and chicken pox were common. On the one hand, the results obtained constitute a source of essential information that could be used to assess the risks of intoxication in populations that consume fish caught from ichthyotoxic plants. On the other hand, this study would permit the understanding of the Gabonese medicinal flora, and could act as a database for subsequent research in pharmacology.