Ethnobotanical and Phytochemical Studies of Medicinal Plants Used in the Treatment of Viral Infections in the Golfe Prefecture in Southern Togo

Abstract

Viral infections remain a major public health burden in Togo and globally, where limited access to healthcare and high treatment costs drive widespread reliance on traditional medicinal plants for management and care. The objective of this study was first to identify the medicinal plants used by traditional practitioners in the treatment of viral infections in Togo and then to characterize their phytochemical composition. The                    survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 43 practitioners from December 2022 to February 2023 in the Golfe Prefecture in Southern Togo. The data were processed using Microsoft Excel 2013 software. At the end of the survey, 61 plant species belonging to 37 families were identified. The most represented families were Fabaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The most cited species were Abrus precatorius (FC = 14.78%), Momordica charantia (FC = 11.61%), Ocimum gratissimum (FC = 7.04%), Cajanus cajan (FC = 6.33%), and Dichrostachys cinerea (5.28%). Leaves (71.93%) were the most commonly used parts. The recipes were prepared in the form of decoctions (72.98%) and macerations (22.10%). Oral administration (89.12%) was the most commonly used method. The consensus factor for the use of the plants mentioned was high for the treatment of viral diseases such as chickenpox (ICF = 0.82), influenza (ICF = 0.68), colds (ICF = 0.65), and shingles (ICF = 0.57). Four (4) plants were selected for phytochemical compound research: Abrus precatorius, Momordica charantia, Cajanus cajan, and Dichrostachys cinerea. This analysis revealed the presence of compounds such as coumarins, tannins, reducing sugars, triterpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponosides with a significant antioxidant content in these plants. This study reveals the existence of knowledge about plants used in the treatment of viral infections in Togo. These results constitute a database that can be used later in biological screening to search for new plant-based antiviral molecules.