Diversity and ethnobotanical characteristics of aromatic plants and spices consumed in Central Benin

Aromatic plants and spices are an important part of biodiversity. In the absence of exhaustive inventory of this diversity, valorization work is generally limited to a limited lot of ethnobotanical heritage species. Surveys were conducted with 370 people in the hills department of Benin and focused on the inventory of food plants used as aromatic plants and spices. A total of 27 plant species have been identified and distributed in 18 families, the richest of which are Lamiaceae (3) and Annonaceae (3). The ten most quoted plants found in all ethnic groups are Capsicum annuum, piper guineense, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum, crassocephalum rubens, Lippia multiflora, Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum gratissimum, Allium cepa et Pimpinella anisum. 59.26% of species are herbaceous and among the species inventoried, 18 (66.67%) are cultivated and 9 (33.33%) are grown in the wild. The most used parts are leaves with 32.67% of responses followed by seeds (14.66%), fruits (13.75%), tubers (12.89% of responses) and bulbs (12.39%). The use of different plant organs varies following ethnics groups but the leaves are most prized across ethnic groups. Three forms of use of the species identified: the plants used for their aroma (62.06% of the species), the plants consumed in the form of spices (20.69% of the species) and the plants used both as aromatic plants and spices (17.24% of the species). Sometimes used in fresh or dry form, these species are either crushed (48.87% of responses), crushed (25.16% of responses) or crushed (15.55% of responses) or sliced ​​ (10.42% of responses). Ten diseases were recorded, the most cited being infections (34.29%), digestive disorders (17.14%) and malaria (11.43%). Apart from the frequently used species that are already grown others like Crassocephalum crepidioides, Lippia multiflora, Mondia whitei are at the stage of domestication or wild and deserve special attention.