Ethnobotanical Study of Latex Plants in the Maritime Region of Togo.

Background: In Togo, a little is known about latex plants of the flora used for medicinal purposes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the latex plant species and their medicinal uses in the Maritime Region of Togo.

Materials And Methods: The methodology was based on ethnobotanical semi-structural individual interviews of 220 informants. Quantitative ethnobotanical index was used to analyze the data.

Results: A total of 33 latex plants species were recorded, from 12 botanical families and 24 genera. The most represented families were Euphorbiaceae and Moraceae with eight species each. The relative importance (RI) value of each species and the informant consensus factor (ICF) of the ailments categories showed that Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Chiov. (RI = 2.00) and Euphorbia hirta L. (RI = 1.91) were the most versatile in relation to their uses, and infectious diseases (ICF = 0.922) were the category with the greatest consensus among 17 categories.

Conclusion: These latex plants of Togolese flora are variously used in traditional medicine and it would be important to undertake further investigations in phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology to validate their uses. Abbreviations Used: UV: use value ICF: informant consensus factor RI: relative importance PP: pharmacological properties attributed to a species for a specific ailments AC: ailment categories treated by a given species.