Abstract:
Zizyphus lotus is a medicinal plant with medicinal properties that can be used in the
treatment of certain diseases. Some parts of this are little or not used in the world and in
Algeria. The objective of this work is to carry out an ethnobotanical study on this plant
(Zizyphus lotus) in the main municipalities of the region of Ghardaia and evaluate the
physicochemical characteristics of this plant's seed oil after extraction.
Our Survey, conducted with 350 Survey sheets spread over most of the
municipalities, pending three months (Novembre, Décembre, January) of the year 2018-
2019, identified that most respondents are information geeks (41%) with ages ranging from
24 to 90. The majority of these respondents are men (66.57%), married (98%), with a
secondary level of education (52.57%), and whose accumulation of knowledge was by
experience (90%). Fruits (40%) and leaves (36.57%) are the most used parts, mostly in the
raw state (38%) in the form of herbal tea (37%) or powder (33%) for therapeutic purposes
(92%). These preparations are accepted by the local population mainly orally (59%) to
treat various diseases represented mainly by those of the digestive system (16.04%) or
other (30.71%) such as anemia.
Après extraction de l’huile de graines de Zizyphe lotus par Soxhlet, the results of
analyses physico-chimiques We have been able to deduce from the refractive index and the
iodine number that our oil is rich in saturated fatty acids. This oil is called a good drying
oil. This is what proves the saponification index was low which indicated the presence of
fatty acid with long carbon chains. A slight alteration of our oil was noted by the high
peroxide index and slight acidity but it seems to be an oil that could be intended for edible
use learned comparison with olive oil.
