Traditional Use of Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus in Basra

This study aimed to document traditional use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Basra city, south-eastern of Iraq and to compare this information with current knowledge of plant medicine in Iraq and other Mediterranean countries, to preserve valuable information about the traditional plants used for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and also to discover new treatment for diabetes. This study was conducted during the period from February to April, 2015. 199 diabetic patients aged between 20 and 80 years were included in this study, 117 patients were females and 82 were males. In addition, the relative importance of each medicinal plant species reported as use value (UV). This study reported the medicinal uses of 16 plants, species belonging to 16 families. The most commonly used plant species are Boswellia Carterii, Commiphora myrrha, Citrullus Colocynthis, Olea europaea and Trigonella foenum-graecum. Some plants are used for medicinal purposes both in Basra and in other parts of Mediterranean countries, either for the same or for different purposes. This paper helps to preserve valuable information about the traditional plants used for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and also to discover new treatment for diabetes.