Traditional medicinal plants used for gastrointestinal disorders in the Aurès Mountains (Algeria): An ethnobotanical survey and quantitative analysis

Abstract

Background: Gastrointestinal disorders remain a leading cause of morbidity in rural Algerian communities, where allopathic healthcare access is limited and traditional phytotherapy persists as a primary therapeutic strategy. The Aurès Mountains, inhabited by the Chaoui Berber people, harbour a rich but poorly documented medicinal flora shaped by Mediterranean ecology and centuries of pastoralist ethnopharmacological experimentation. However, biocultural erosion driven by rural exodus, climate change, and declining intergenerational knowledge transmission threatens the sustainability of this traditional healthcare system.

Methods: Between March and November 2025, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 210 informants across 18 villages in the northern, central, and southern sectors of the Aurès Mountains. Quantitative indices including Use Value, Relative Frequency of Citation, Fidelity Level, and Informant Consensus Factor were computed to evaluate cultural significance and therapeutic consensus.

Results: Sixty medicinal plant species from thirty-four families were documented. Lamiaceae dominated the floristic spectrum, with Thymus vulgaris exhibiting the highest Use Value and Fidelity Level. Informant Consensus Factor values ranged from moderate to high across all gastrointestinal ailment categories, indicating robust cultural consensus. However, sixty-seven percent of informants reported that younger generations were not learning traditional harvesting protocols, signaling acute biocultural erosion.

Conclusions: The Aurès gastrointestinal pharmacopoeia represents a coherent, empirically validated traditional medicine system requiring urgent conservation intervention. Community-based programmes targeting high-priority species, combined with phytochemical validation, are essential to preserve both cultural heritage and primary healthcare functionality in this rapidly changing montane landscape.

Keywords: Ethnobotany; gastrointestinal disorders; Aurès Mountains; Algeria; traditional medicine; quantitative analysis; biocultural conservation; Chaoui.