Plants used in traditional medicine and cosmetics in Mayotte Island (France): An ethnobotanical study

Mayotte is a small island located in the Mozambique canal and due to this location it has long been an important cultural and botanical crossroad. Species from Madagascar, China, India and the African continent as well as some endemic species are found on this small island. Semi structured interviews were carried out throughout the island with 29 informants wkown for their knowledge of the traditional uses of plants. We based our work on the hypothesis that the more a plant was mentioned by the interviewees, the higher the chances would be to find an effective biological activity. In the en 69 species of interest were identified through the interviews. Flowers of Jacminum nummularifolium Baker, wood of Carizza spinarum L., roots of Curcuma longa L., leaves of Lawsonia inermis L., and wood of Santalum album L. tend to be the most known and the most used in Mayotte for traditional medicine and cosmetics. In the end, those plants are used for medicine or for cosmetics, however, when it comes to medicinal uses, the traditional doctors are not looking for the cause of the disease and will orient their treatment towards the curing of the symptoms. On another hand, it is clear that the locals have a strong cultural bond with the use of traditional cosmectics in addition to traditional medicine