Plants are crucial for human living and culture. They are utilised as alimentation, medication, and a vast array of building and craft materials, in customs determined by both culture and plant biology (Teixidor-Toneu et al., 2018). The ethnobotanical study is important to understand the constantly changing relationship between people and their environment (Thomas, 2003). Regional or global investigations which analyze and compile data from numerous literature sources can guide to a general understanding about plant usage (de Medeiros et al., 2013). Ethnomedicinal knowledge plays a vital role in the health care systems of developing countries. It is utilised as an alternative for treating disorders without side effects in developed countries (Unnikrishnan and Suneetha, 2012). However, the availability of sufficient adequate information on the plant is a limitation to big-scale survey (Albuquerque and Medeiros, 2012).

Diabetes is a complex, fast-growing, chronic, and non-communicable endocrine disease that has attracted global attention and is related to patients' high risk with metabolic-related complications clusters (Gouda et al., 2019). According to the International Diabetes Federation's latest statistics, it is an epidemic disease with high mortality risks. Approximately 463 million people worldwide suffer from this disease, and this number is expected to exceed 700 million by 2045. The recorded incidence of diabetes has increased sharply, and the increase rate average in the Maghreb is 96%, as is the case in the rest of the Arab world (IDF, 2019).

Therefore, development has been conducted to find potential therapeutic agents with higher efficacy to combat its complications. However, due to these therapeutic agents' side effects, their effectiveness is insufficient. Any single therapeutic agent only acts on part of the pathogenic process so that a considerable part of the cause remains untreated (Jugran et al., 2020). Herbal medicine has developed into an alternative method to the synthetic treatment of diabetes because these agents are frequently combined with several side effects (nausea, skin reactions, liver disease, heart failure diarrhoea…) (Amjad et al., 2019). In the Maghreb, there are numerous medicinal plants described for the treatment of diabetes, considering these facts. This paper compare the available data on traditional herbal remedies for diabetes management in Algeria and Morocco. The rationale for comparing Algeria and Morocco lies in their geographical proximity, shared historical and cultural heritage, and overlapping ethnomedical traditions rooted in Berber and Arab knowledge systems. Despite these commonalities, both countries encompass distinct ecological zones—from Mediterranean coastal plains to arid inland areas—that shape the availability, diversity, and selection of medicinal plants. This ecological and cultural heterogeneity offers an ideal context for cross-cultural ethnobotanical comparison, as highlighted by Teixidor-Toneu et al. (2018), who emphasised the value of comparative studies in identifying both convergences and divergences in plant use across socio-ecological systems. Such an approach allows researchers to explore how similar cultural frameworks adapt to different environments in their selection and application of medicinal species. Despite these challenges, a comparative study remains valuable for uncovering broader regional patterns in traditional antidiabetic plant use and for informing future pharmacological validation, conservation priorities, and integrative health policies. This underscores the importance of a cross-sectional and critically reflective ethnobotanical approach.