Study of the Mandrillus sphinx (Cercopithecoidea) diet behaviour from the Lekedi Park (South-East, Gabon) as a valuable approach for drugs discovery

Abstract

The last decades, various research approaches have been undertaken worldwide for drug discoveries. Our study aimed to investigate medicinal plants of the Lékédi Park through a zoopharmacological and ethnopharmacological surveys on mandrills and on human population respectively from the Department of Lékoko.

Data on feeding behaviour were collected on 57 mandrills, from Lékédi Park, using a 5-min focal sampling method for 17 months. The ethnopharmacological uses were carried out on the human population using semi-structured questionnaires and scientific databases. Data were evaluated statistically by using the index of Use value (UV) and informant consensus factor (Fic).

The results showed that studied mandrills used about 147 plant species belonging to 48 botanical families. The Rubiaceae and Euphorbiaceae families were the most representative in the mandrill diet. Among plant organs eaten, some organs of plants such as bark or roots rich in non-nutritional compounds were occasionally used by mandrills, suggesting the involvement of a self-medication behavior in mandrill. Also, it appears that the plant selection would be mainly due to the availability, protein and sugar contents. Ethnopharmacological surveys show that among the 147 consumed by mandrills, 33% were used for medicinal purposes only, 41% as food and 11% were used as food and as medicine. The informant consensus factor values indicate that the medicinal plants are effective in treating certain diseases.

Thus, the study of mandrill diets behaviour would be a potential approach for the drugs discovery against bacterial and parasitic affections.