Survey of Plant Species of Medical Importance to Treat Digestive Tract Diseases in Tabuk Region, Saudi Arabia

Several plant species are known for their medical and traditional use. These plantsdistributed widely in Saudi Arabia and considered as an important natural resources for pharmaceuticalproducts. In this study, a survey on medical plants was conducted in Tabuk region in the north-western partof Arabian Peninsula. Tabuk region is well known for its uniqueness in diversity of habitats such asmountains, sand dune, valleys and coastal line, thus result in high diversity of plant species. A total of 81plant species belong to 30 families is described here for their traditional and medical use to treat the digestivetract diseases and parasites. The families of Febaceae (9 species), Asteraceae (8 species), Plantagiaceae (8species) and Zygophyllaceae (6 species) are reported for their high diversity in the species. Furthermore, thelife forms, Traditional and Medical Use and Parts used were descripted for each species. This study isconsidered as the first effort to document the traditional and medical use of plant species in the Northern partof Saudi Arabia especially Tabuk region. Unfortunately, the floral diversity in this region is threatened byseveral human activities (e.g. woodcutting, grazing, urbanization and industrialization). It is recommendedthat a conservation program should be launched in this region to protect these natural resources with properexploitation to develop the pharmaceutical industry in Saudi Arabia.