Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal herbs in Jordan, the Northern Badia region

Aim of the study: This study sought to gather information from aboriginal Bedouins in North Badia region of Jordan about used medicinal herbs besides their folk uses. Materials and methods: The data were collected from 40 practitioners who utilized medicinal plants and who were regarded as professional. Subsequently, the uses were compared with the reported ones in the literature. The informant consensus factor (Fic) and use value (UV) have been calculated to those herbs and the managed illnesses. Results: The data of 73 species were collected; the vast majority of them are safe such as Achillea falcata, Tamarix aphylla and Teucrium polium. Treatment of inflammation and pain presented the major targeted use of these herbs. While, the herbs used for delivery and female problems were limited. This might be due to the culture conservations about the talk of feminine issues. Diseases of kidney, gastrointestinal and respiratory systems as well as diabetes depicted the largest Fic values. Artemisia herba-alba possessed the highest UV value among the studied herbs. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.