Traditional Medicines
in Africa: An Appraisal of Ten Potent African Medicinal Plants
The use of medicinal plants as a fundamental component of
the African traditional healthcare system is perhaps the oldest and the most
assorted of all therapeutic systems. In many parts of rural Africa, traditional
healers prescribing medicinal plants are the most easily accessible and
affordable health resource available to the local community and at times the
only therapy that subsists. Nonetheless, there is still a paucity of updated
comprehensive compilation of promising medicinal plants from the African
continent. The major focus of the present review is to provide an updated
overview of 10 promising medicinal plants from the African biodiversity which
have short- as well as long-term potential to be developed as future
phytopharmaceuticals to treat and/or manage panoply of infectious and chronic
conditions. In this endeavour, key scientific databases have been probed to
investigate trends in the rapidly increasing number of scientific publications
on African traditional medicinal plants. Within the framework of enhancing the
significance of traditional African medicinal plants, aspects such as
traditional use, phytochemical profile, in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies
and also future challenges pertaining to the use of these plants have been
explored.
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