Traditional use of medicinal plants in the town of Mbanga (Littoral- Cameroon)

The present ethnobotanical study is being carried out in the town of Mbanga on the use of plants in the traditional pharmacopoeia. Its major concern is to document medicinal plants and therapeutic recipes which will serve as a database for the population. To do this, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted in September and October 2011 and completed in August 2020. It collected a certain amount of information relating to the use of medicinal plants as an alternative to primary health care. This study, conducted with two hundred and fifty-five (255) respondents, identified eighty (80) cases of health problems, some of which are only symptoms of illnesses. Three hundred and thirty-nine (339) therapeutic recipes involving one hundred and eighteen (118) medicinal plants belonging to fifty-five (55) botanical families have been indicated as entering into their treatment. The therapeutic recipes are made up of either a single plant or a combination of several plants. Only species that have been mentioned at least twice have been taken into account. Cymbopogon citratrus has the highest used specialization index, 0.35; it is the species mostly used in therapeutic recipes. Acute illnesses are the most common groups. The plants are well used by the people of Mbanga in the treatment of various diseases because the exploitation index is 4.23. The plant species used in the treatment of diseases in Mbanga are mostly reported in other parts of Cameroon and the world in the treatment of the same diseases.