A field study on some economically important plants with therapeutic uses in southwest Sinai, Egypt

Abstract

Traditional medicine which relies mainly on medicinal plants could be one of the solutions to overcome the shortage of food and medicines in the developing countries, so these plants should be preserved. Egypt is one of the countries that contain many of medically important plants. A field study was carried out to identify some plants of economic and medicinal importance in South Western Sinai, Egypt, with an explanation of the plant parts used and their various uses. A total of 119 medicinal and economic plant species were recorded in the study area. Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Poaceae and Zygophyllaceae, were the most common families represented in this study. The most used plant parts are the whole plant, followed by the flowering branches, leaves, seeds, roots, rhizomes and fruits. The most medicinal and economical uses of the recorded species include: grazing, antimicrobial activities, antioxidant, stomach and abdominal pain, fuel wood, diuretic and treatment of urinary diseases, wounds, skin diseases, rheumatic pains anticancer, respiratory and pulmonary diseases, antipyretic, aromatic source, edible food, liver diseases, diarrhea, sexual diseases, eye diseases and anemia treatment. Many of these species have multi medicinal and economic benefits, while few of them have limited benefits.