Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 4;13(3):454.
doi: 10.3390/plants13030454.

Polyherbal Combinations Used by Traditional Health Practitioners against Mental Illnesses in Bamako, Mali, West Africa

Nastaran Moussavi  1 , Pierre Pakuy Mounkoro  2 , Seydou Mamadou Dembele  3 , Nfla Ngolo Ballo  3 , Adiaratou Togola  3   4 , Drissa Diallo  3   4 , Rokia Sanogo  3   4 , Helle Wangensteen  1 , Berit Smestad Paulsen  1
Affiliations

Polyherbal Combinations Used by Traditional Health Practitioners against Mental Illnesses in Bamako, Mali, West Africa

Nastaran Moussavi et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

This study explores the traditional knowledge of plants used by traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the treatment of symptoms or syndromes related to mental illnesses in the district of Bamako in Mali, along with the identification of affiliated traditional treating methods. An exploratory and cross-sectional ethnopharmacological survey was conducted in the district of Bamako. The Malian Federation of Associations of Therapists and Herbalists (FEMATH) assisted in the identification and inclusion of the THPs. Data sampling included semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were evaluated by analysing reports of the use of different medicinal plants and the number of participants. Fifteen THPs belonging to the district of Bamako participated. In total, 43 medicinal plants belonging to 22 plant families were used by the THPs. The most cited plant species was Securidaca longepedunculata (violet tree), followed by Khaya senegalensis (African mahogany) and Boscia integrifolia (rough-leaved shepherds tree). A great number of herbal combinations, preparation methods, and administration routes were used, often with honey as an adjuvant. To our knowledge, this is the first ethnobotanical survey on the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of all types of mental disorders in Bamako.

Keywords: Securidaca longepedunculata; central nervous system; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology; medicinal plants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 2
Figure 2
Total number of reports of plant species used for the treatment of mental illnesses in single or polyherbal formulations (black), and the total number of reports as the main plant for the treatment of mental illnesses (red) by the traditional health practitioners in Bamako, Mali.
Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of reported plant parts used per species in the treatment of mental disorders by the traditional health practitioners (THPs) in Bamako, Mali. All plant parts are included without any differentiation between the words “and” or “or” reported by the THPs, cf. Table 3. The total number of uses for each plant part is shown below the diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Aslam M.S., Ahmad M.S., Mamat A.S., Ahmad M.Z., Salam F. An update review on polyherbal formulation: A global perspective. Syst. Rev. Pharm. 2016;7:35–41. doi: 10.5530/srp.2016.7.5. - DOI
    1. Parasuraman S., Thing G.S., Dhanaraj S.A. Polyherbal formulation: Concept of ayurveda. Pharmacogn. Rev. 2014;8:73–80. doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.134229. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) Guideline on the Clinical Assessment of Fixed Combinations of Herbal Substances/Herbal Prepartions. EMEA/HMPC/166326/2005. 2006. [(accessed on 14 February 2023)]. Available online: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/scientific-guideline/guideline-cl....
    1. Berenbaum M.C. What is synergy? Pharmacol. Rev. 1989;41:93–141. - PubMed
    1. Wagner H. Synergy research: A new approach to evaluating the efficacy of herbal mono-drug extracts and their combinations. Nat. Prod. Commun. 2009;4:303–304. doi: 10.1177/1934578X0900400228. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

-