Ethnobotanical survey on antihypertensive medicinal plants in municipality of Ouémé, Southern Benin

Background and aims: Hypertension is one of the most common causes of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications in human which take care requires permanent monitoring and lifelong treatment. Therefore, patients use herbal medicine to manage their disease. This study was conducted to list the medicinal plants used to manage hypertension in municipality of Oueme, Southern Benin. Methods: The survey was conducted by oral interviews using a structure questionnaire. These questionnaires were administered to randomly selected vendors, traditional medicine practitioners and person resource. The specimen of each species was deposited at the National Herbarium of the University of Abomey-Calavi and the Relative Frequency Citation was calculated. Results: 77 plants belonging to 46 families were recorded for the treatment of hypertension in department of Oueme. 37 antihypertensive recipes were identified. Caesalpiniaceae, Annonnaceae, and Rubiaceae were the most represented. Allium Sativum was the most used species against hypertension with relative frequency of citation of 0.155 following by Persea americana (RFC= 0.134). The most parts used was aerial part (23.08%) followed by the leaves (21.98%). The principal mode of used is decoction (72.35%) and the main mode of administration was the oral route. Conclusion: The survey enables to indicate plants species used to manage hypertension in department of Oueme. The document resulting from this study is an effective way to preserve knowledge in traditional medicine. However, pharmacological screening of these plant species is very important to check their effectiveness.