Journal of Ethnopharmacology 133 (2011) 378–395 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm Medicinal plants in Baskoure, Kourittenga Province, Burkina Faso: An ethnobotanical study Pascal Nadembega a , Joseph Issaka Boussim b , Jean Baptiste Nikiema c , Ferruccio Poli a , Fabiana Antognoni a,∗ a Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Sperimentale, Università di Bologna, Via Irnerio, 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy b University of Ouagadougou UFR/SVT, 03 BP, 848 Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso c University of Ouagadougou, UFR/SDS, 01 BP, 7021 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso article info Article history: Received 4 May 2010 Received in revised form 5 October 2010 Accepted 5 October 2010 Available online 13 October 2010 Keywords: Burkina Faso Ethnobotany African traditional medicine Medicinal plants abstract Aim of the study: The majority of people living in Kourittenga Province, Burkina Faso, are highly dependent on medicinal plants for their daily health care. Knowledge on the use of medicinal plants by traditional healers is being seriously threatened, due to the fact that it is commonly transferred from one generation to another only verbally. Moreover, recent environmental changes, deforestation, and unsustainable rates of exploitation, represent a serious risk for plant species diversity. Thus, there is a need to record and document indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants in this country. The aim of this study was to report on the use of medicinal plants by traditional healers to treat human diseases in a rural area located in the East-Centre Region of Burkina Faso (Baskoure Area), which has not yet been studied from an ethnobotanical point of view. Materials and methods: The research was carried out over a period of 8 months, by means of open-ended and semi-structured interviews. A total of 41 traditional healers were interviewed, and group meet- ings were organised with family members and other local inhabitants having knowledge of traditional medicine. Results: A total of 190 plant species were recorded. Most medicinal plants used to prepare concoctions were herbs, and leaves were the most frequently used parts. A high percentage of plants were used against gastrointestinal diseases and malaria, which are the prevalent diseases in the study area. The major source of remedies came from wild plants, indicating that cultivation of medicinal plants is not a common practice. Conclusions: Our study represents an inventory on medicinal plants used in a rural area of Burkina Faso, and confirms that wild plants are widely utilised as health remedies in this area. The collected data may help to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on the use of medicinal plants detained by traditional heal- ers, and represent the preliminary information required in view of a future phytochemical investigation on the most used plants. © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since ancient times, plants have formed the basis of traditional medical systems, such as the Ayurvedic, Chinese and African ones. In recent years, the interest in folk medicine from different cul- tures, also known as Traditional Medicine (TM), has increased significantly in industrialised countries, due to the fact that many prescription drugs worldwide have originated from the tropical flora (Nelson-Harrison et al., 2002). ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 051 2091291; fax: +39 051 242576. E-mail address: fabiana.antognoni@unibo.it (F. Antognoni). Burkina Faso is a landlocked country situated in the heart of West Africa, at the edge of the Sahel, the agricultural region between the Sahara Desert and the coastal rain forests. Most of central Burkina Faso lies on a savannah plateau, which is very rich in plants that provide household energy, food, and medicine. Of some 65 ethnic groups which compose its population, the most represented one is the Mosse, which account for almost half of the total population. The majority of the country’s population lives in rural areas, and, due to the inaccessibility and prohibitive cost of Western medicine, is almost totally dependent on TM for its health care needs (Lykke et al., 2004; Vasisht and Kumar, 2004). Much of the knowledge on medicinal plants, and on production of pharmaceuticals based on such plants, is detained by traditional healers, and is passed on from one generation to the next only 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2010.10.010