Ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal values of Loranthaceae used to treat human diseases by local ethnic Agni Sanwi from Aboisso and Maferé in Côte d'Ivoire

Loranthaceae are hemiparasitic vascular plants that develop on other woody species. They are used in traditional medicine to treat various pathologies. The present study is a contribution to the knowledge of the medicinal potential of Loranthaceae used in care by Agni Sanwi of Aboisso and Maferé, in the South-East of Côte d'Ivoire. Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted with 50 herbalists and 17 traditional healers using semi-structured interviews. Three (3) species (Globimetula braunii, Phragmanthera capitata and Tapinanthus bangwensis) divided into 3 genera used to treat 35 diseases were identified. They have been cited in the formulation of several remedies. Malaria, typhoid fever, diarrhea and fontanelle were the most commonly reported conditions. Leaves and leafy twigs are the main organs used. The decoction has been predominant in the acquisition of remedies. The drink was the most cited as a method of administering treatments. The Frequency of Citations (FC) of the Loranthaceae employed in the care and medicinal Informant Agreement Ratio (med.IARs) of the respondents were determined. T. bangwensis had the highest FC (95.52%) and med.IARs (0.73). The therapeutic potentials of Loranthaceae have been highlighted and deserve to be popularized through complementary phytochemical investigations.


Introduction
In many Sub-saharan countries and especially in West Africa, the weak sanitary system and the lack of childcare facilities are leading people still economically deprived to turn to nature for essential herbal remedies [1, 2, 3 and 4]. Indeed, in West Africa, nearly 80% of people depend on traditional medicine through medicinal plants for their primary health care [7]. Medicinal plants remain the sources of preferred remedies. Among the many medicinal plants known and used in the treatment of human diseases, those of the family Loranthaceae are in great demand in many civilizations in Africa [7, 8, 9, 10 and 11]. These epiphytoids, chlorophyllian hemiparasites vascular plants have been exploited for a long time and the knowledge of their therapeutic effects is transmitted from generation to generation by some insider handles [1]. According to Kerharo and Adam [12], they are particularly used in traditional medicine because of their growth on other woody plants. Ethnobotanical research work has been undertaken in Côte d'Ivoire to document and sustain the traditional medical knowledge of Loranthaceae [9, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17]. However, the therapeutic knowledge held by some insiders in Côte d'Ivoire, particularly in Aboisso and Maféré, in the South-East of Côte d'Ivoire is unknown and remains very fewest studied. The objective of this study is to document the endogenous knowledge of the local populations of Maferé and Aboisso on the Loranthaceae in traditional medicine for its valuation. Specifically, this will involve: (1) inventorying the Loranthaceae species used in the care of populations and (2) knowing the therapeutic potential of these plants through associated remedies.

Study area
The studies were conducted in Aboisso and Maferé, southeast of the Côte d'Ivoire ( Figure 1). Located 116 km from Abidjan and 21 km from Maféré, Aboisso with geographical coordinates 5o29'4.2'' north Latitude and 3o15'54.8'' west Longitude, is limited to the south by Adiaké, Tiapoum, and the Atlantic Ocean, to the north by Bettié, to the west by Alépé, to the east by Takoradi (Ghana). Its area is 7,189 km². As for Maféré ‫״24׳42‪(5o‬‬ north Latitude and 3o01'58'' west Longitude), it is located 109 km from Abidjan.

Material
For our ethnobotanical survey, two types of materials were used. Biological material consisting of Loranthaceae and technical equipment consisting of a survey questionnaire, a digital camera, a global position system (GPS) and a note pad.

Ethnobotanical surveys
Ethnobotanical surveys using semi-structured interviewing from a pre-elaborated survey were conducted jointly with Maferé and Aboisso, in the South-East of Côte d'Ivoire. The herbalists and traditional healers interviewed all had at least 25 years of experience in the use of traditional medicine plants. They knew all the Loranthaceae. Fifty (50) herbalists and 17 traditional healers were interviewed using a survey. The sections of this survey focused on the sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, educational level and ethnicity) of the respondents, the species of Loranthaceae that they use in the preparations of remedies to treat diseases, the organs of the species recipes, the therapeutic properties and the method of administration. The interviews were conducted in local languages agni sanwi and agni andor, sometimes in french with the help of interpreters. Samples of the Loranthaceae mentioned have been identified thanks to the Herbarium of the National Floristic Center (CNF) of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Data processing and analysis
The data collected on the survey cards were processed, entered using the Excel software and analyzed. The Frequency of Citations (FC) of Loranthaceae species used by herbalists and traditional healers to treat diseases in Aboisso and Maféré was calculated using the formula: The Frequency of Citations (FC) does not reflect the consensus of the respondents so much, the Medicinal Informant Agreement Ratio (Med.IARs) was calculated according to the formula used by Phillips [6]: where nr -total number of citations recorded for species s and ns -number of diseases treated with this species. The Med.IARs of a species varies from 0 to 1. The Med.IARs equals 0 when the number of treated diseases equals the number of citations and equals 1 when all respondents agree on the exclusive use of the species for a given disease. A low Med.IARs value indicates that respondents disagree about the use of the species in treating the disease.

Socio-demographic characteristics of interviewers
Fifty (50) herbalists and 17 traditional healers were interviewed about the medicinal potential of Loranthaceae in the care of populations in Aboisso and Maféré, two localities located in South-Eastern Côte d'Ivoire (Table 1). The respondents are made up of 25 men (37.31%) and 42 women (62.69%). Their ages ranged from 35 to 45 years with a majority at age 40 (50.5%). The majority ethnicities are those of Agni Sanwi (38.81%) and Agni Andor (23.88%). 88.06% admit having acquired their knowledge of medicinal plants their ascendants against 11.94% empirically. 67.16% are illiterate compared to 13.44% for the secondary level (Table 1).

Species of Loranthaceae, therapeutic indications and uses
In total, three species of Loranthaceae divided into three genera were identified in the two study areas and identified. They are: Globimetula braunii (Engl.) Van Tiegh. (Figure 2), Phragmanthera capitata (Spreng.) Ballé and Tapinanthus bangwensis (Engl. and K. Krause) Danser. The identified species are used in the preparation of several recipes. Various parts: leaves, stem bark, whole leafy twigs (  Table 2). The highest value recorded at T. bangwensis. It also appears that infectious diseases are mainly mentioned herbalists and traditional healers. The search for the degree of consensus reveals that the citations of these three species in the treatment of the aforementioned pathologies have reached high values (Table 2). They are grouped into 13 categories ( Figure 5). Among these 13 categories of diseases, that of infectious diseases is the majority (9 citations). It is followed by gyneco-obstetric and urological diseases (4 citations). of respondents) say that before any harvest of Loranthaceae and recipe preparation, they invoke the manes. To treat:  Curses: take a total bath, a decoction of the leafy branches of Loranthacaae collected on the mango (Mangifera indica) or baobab (Adansonia digitaria) or on the cola tree (Cola nitida).   Stimulation of the intelligence of the children: use in soup twice a day, young fresh leaves of Loranthaceae collected on cassava (Manihot esculenta).  Remove mystically (sorcery) the fish stop in the throat: use drink, three times a day, fresh leaves of Loranthaceae crushed with white clay, mixed with

Discussion
The study revealed three (3) species of Loranthaceae used by traditional healers and herbalists surveyed in Aboisso and Maféré, compared to 7 cited by Amon et al. [16] in the treatment of diseases throughout the Sud-Comoé region. This study is undertaken in the same region, but only in two different localities. Nevertheless, they share in common these three species of Loranthaceae cited and identified.
Thirty five (35) diseases cited by the respondents are treated with Loranthaceae in the study areas. Of all these diseases, malaria, typhoid fever, high blood pressure, diarrhea, tooth decay, fontanelle and asthma are the most cited pathologies by traditional healers and herbalists interviewed. These same diseases have been reported by several authors in Africa [10, 18, and 15]. The existence of this wide spectrum of diseases treated with Loranthaceae in this study is a proof of the medicinal potential that these plants possess. These results corroborate those of Kalis [7] who had already reported that the name of Loranthaceae was given by the Gauls to any plant that cured all diseases It is also clear from this survey that the parts of the Loranthaceae most used in the preparations of the remedies are leaves and leafy twigs. These results confirm the work of Jiofack et al. [10] and Amon et al. [16,17].
The study also revealed two types of uses of Loranthaceae (medicinal and medico-magical). Results confirmed by those of Adjanohoun and Aké-Assi [9], Kouyaté [19], Ladoh-Yemeda et al. [11], Ahamide et al. [18] and Amon et al. [16].  [19] and Amon et al. [16,17] explain this situation by the fact that these host plants would transmit potential medical potential to the species of Loranthaceae developing on them. This is the case of the Loranthaceae developing on Mangifera indica that would serve to combat the works of witchcraft, as well as Manihot esculenta and Citrus sinensis used against the miscarriage interruption of pregnancy in pregnant women [1].

Conclusion
The hemiparasitic, chlorophyllian vascular plants of the family Loranthaceae are used in traditional medicine to cure several diseases. Three (3) species have identified with the herbalists and traditional healers of Aboisso and Maféré identified as Globimetula braunii, Phragmanthera capitata and Tapinanthus bangwensis. They have many medicinal potential and are used to treat 35 diseases in traditional pharmacopoeia agni sanwi. Although these plants are used as remedies, additional pharmacological studies are still needed to isolate the active ingredients, and especially to evaluate their toxicity, thus opening the way to research prospects that may lead to the discovery of new molecules able to fight various diseases who assail humanity today.