Botanical identification and ethno-medicinal uses of some underground part of medicinal plants collected and traded in Marrakech region

To establish a standardized and reliable data basis on the medicinal species used for their underground organs, many specimens were collected in the Marrakech region in collaboration with collectors and herbalists. The local ethno-medicinal uses of these medicinal underground organs were also recorded. The result showed that forty one medicinal species are exploited for their underground organs to treat a variety of human diseases. All species are wild collected and the root represents the most underground organ used. The families Asteraceae, Apiaceae and Caryophyllaceae are the more represented with respectively 10, 8 and 3 species. Comparing our data with the scientific literature showed that for each species identified, we have a complex of species and in some cases we have completely different species. On the human disease, we have identified 30 different types that have been cured using these underground organs. Rheumatism, cough and common cold, weight gain and stomach problems are the major problems treated.


INTRODUCTION
During the last decade, medicinal plants and its products has attracted the world-wide interest due to the growing recognition of the drugs on natural products (Hamilton, 2004).Many populations rely on these products because of their no side effects and their easy availability at affordable price, which constitute the only source of health care available to the poor.Morocco, with its diverse ecological conditions which leads to high biodiversity, rich ethnic diversity and a strong traditional knowledge, has a very important herbal medicine activity.Regarding the flora of this country, it has been estimated around 7000 species and sub species that grown wild, of which 950 are endemic (Benabid, 2000;Fennane, 2004).Among these, many species are recognized as aromatic and medicinal plants and are used locally for the primary health care.It was estimated that about 231 species present the phytotherapeutic proprieties and are used by the local population to treat a variety of diseases (Bellakhdar et al., 1991;Hmamouchi, 1999).
Below ground organs of medicinal plants' are called locally as "laaroug" which means "roots", play a central role in the Moroccan pharmacopoeia.One third of plant materials used in Moroccan traditional medicine are as underground organs (bulb, root, tubercle and rhizome) and constitutes the most herbal medicinal drugs required by the local population.However, most of these plant materials are sold in stalls in the dry products state which makes their identification very difficult.The same situation arises if we want to know exactly the medicinal species that have been exploited for these organs.Infact, it was reported that many herbalists and collectors may have limited skill in the identification of plant species *Corresponding author.E-mail: abbad.abdelaziz@gmail.com.( Barthelson et al., 2006).In addition, many medicinal drugs have a multiple trivial names to describe them.Inversely, in some cases, the same trivial name was attributed to many species (Bellakhdar et al., 1991).This situation leads to general confusion regarding the botanical identity of medicinal products used and also medicinal species collected for their underground part.It was reported that the mistakes and the unwitting use of related herbs that have different properties are the major cause of accidental poisoning (Barthelson et al., 2006;Ize-Ludlow et al., 2004).On ecological aspect, it is evident that the exploitation of underground parts is a serious threats to some species essentially those that are at high risk of extinction (Hamilton, 2004).For all these reasons and also for research purposes, it appears necessary to establish standardized and reliable databases on medicinal species that are essentially exploited for their underground organs.The present study investigated the botanical identity and ethno-medicinal uses of below ground part of medicinal plants that are essentially collected and commercialized in the Marrakech region.

Study area
The study area is located in the south-west of Morocco between 31st and 32 nd degree of north latitude and covers about 31000 km² (Troin et al., 2002) (Figure 1).It is characterized by a rich endemic flora due essentially to its geographical contrast offering a variety of bio-climate and a high heterogeneity of ecological habitat.Besides this natural context, the population has an ancestral knowledge on medicinal plants, which has been preserved over the centuries: the medication by plants, their use for flavoring and preserving food, as well as for extraction principles for the aromatic fragrance family or market.The seasonal harvest of wild plants provided an important source of income for families in rural areas especially through the sale of wild-harvested material.Men and women in rural areas play an important role in the conservation and management of these resources.
Field surveys were undertaken during 2007-2008 to gather data on the medicinal species collected for their underground organs and their traditional uses across various localities.80 herbalists and 46 collectors were interviewed.To have an overview on the identity of each considered species collected for their underground organs, more than five specimens were collected in different localities in collaboration by many collectors.Identification of plants was done by Prof Mohamed Ben Tatou and Prof Mohamed Fennane from the National Center of Scientific Research and by comparing specimens collected from the field with those in the National herbarium in Rabat.The voucher specimens were deposited in the Natural History Museum of Marrakech.The botanical identity of the species were compared with what has been reported in the literature.Information on the traditional uses, local name of these below ground part of medicinal plant was obtained through informed consent semi-structured interviews in collaboration by herbalists and collectors.The current relative abundance of the species collected for their underground organs was also estimated according to the collectors interviewed.According to the information reported, the species were grouped into three main groups namely, rare, common and abundant.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The result indicated that forty one medicinal species are exploited for their underground part organs to treat a variety of human diseases (Table 1).It appears that all these species were collected from the wild and the root represent the most underground organ used by the local population (87.8%).Collecting medicinal plant from the wild was a common feature reported by several authors in many regions (Hamilton, 2004;Ibe and Nwufo, 2005;Aguilar-Støen and Moe, 2007) and have raised many questions about their sustainable use (Hamilton, 2004).This situation is more dramatic for these wild medicinal plants collected for their underground organs.
In fact, many collectors recognized that several of these medicinal plants became very scarce in the Marrakech region and that affected greatly their financial income.It is the case essentially of some species such as Atractylis gummifera, Bunium bulbucastanum, Ammoides pusilla, Anacyclus pyrethrum subsp pyrethrum, Spergularia marginata and Armeria alliacea which became according to collectors rare in the region.The highest number of medicinal plants collected for their underground organs belong to the family Asteraceae (10 species) followed by Apiaceae (8 species), and Caryophyllaceae (3 species) (Table 1).Indeed these families with the family Lamiaceae, which is not represented in this category of plants, are the most diverse in Morocco in terms solely of medicinal flora (Bellakhadr, 1991;Hmamouchi, 1999).
The result showed that for each species identified, we have found a complex of species cited in scientific literature (Table 1).In some cases, we have completely different species between our result and what has been cited in the literature, for example, B. bulbocatanum which was confused with Colchicum autumnalis who was known as a highly toxic species (Bellakhadar et al., 1991;Charnot, 1945).The same situation was observed between Pulicaria odora and Ranunculus sp., Kundmania sicula and Thapsia sp., A. pusilla and Polygonum sp.The result indicated also that many species collected and used by the local population were not mentioned in the literature such as Carlina brachylepis, Tamus communis,Catannanche caerulea, Valeriana tuberose and Carthamus pinnatus (Table 1).
On human disease, we have identified about 30 different types that have been cured using the underground organs of medicinal plants.Most of these below ground organs inventories are used against cough and common cold (11 species), rheumatism (10 species), for gain weight (8 species) and against stomach problems (5 species) (Table 1).The medicinal uses of underground organ were also reported by many authors in many regions in Morocco (Bellakhdar et al., 1991;Sijelmassi, 1993;Merzouki et al., 2000).

Conclusion
In this study, it appears that there is a lack of information on medicinal plants used for their underground organ and available in the trade, so many of them were not reported in the scientific literature.The study confirms that most of these medicinal plants have ambiguous identification and there arises an urgent and ultimate need for standardization, starting from correct identification of plant material.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Location of study area.

Table 1 .
List of medicinal plants exploited for their underground organs and their ethno-medicinal uses in Marrakech region.