An ethnopharmacological survey about the Togolese plants used in the treatment of infectious diseases: a way to explore new substances

Infectious diseases remain a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. This study has been carried out to gather primary ethnopharmacological informations about endogenous recipes used to manage common infectious diseases from Maritime Region of Lome in Togo. For this purpose, 34 herbalists have been investigated. The methods used consist on Triplet purchase of Medicinal Recipes. The results showed that herbalists know 51 plants species belonging to 32 botanical families for the infectious diseases management. Annonaceae (12.5%), Apocynaceae (12.5%), Rubiaceae (12.5%) were the most represented families. Cocos nucifera Linn. (7.74 %) and Cymbopogon citratus Stapf (7.74 %) were most cited. Moreover, the number of plants species cited by herbalists varies from the first visits to the third. We recorded a larger number of 50 plants species firstly, a reduced number of 40 plants species at the second visit and a small number of 29 plants species for the third visits. It is thus obvious to confirm herbalists’ declaration through pharmacological tests in order to explore new substances for combatting drugs resistance.