Africa Medicinal Plants

A review of antimalarial plants used in traditional medicine in communities in Portuguese-Speaking countries: Brazil, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola

The isolation of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants, based on traditional use or ethnomedical data, is a highly promising potential approach for identifying new and effective antimalarial drug candidates. The purpose of this review was to create a compilation of the phytochemical studies on medicinal plants used to treat malaria in traditional medicine from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPSC): Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. In addition, this review aimed to show that there are several medicinal plants popularly used in these countries for which few scientific studies are available. The primary approach compared the antimalarial activity of native species used in each country with its extracts, fractions and isolated substances. In this context, data shown here could be a tool to help researchers from these regions establish a scientific and technical network on the subject for the CPSC where malaria is a public health problem.

http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/issues/future-issue/item/1180-a-review-of-antimalarial-plants-used-in-traditional-medicine-in-communities-in-portuguese-speaking-countries-brazil-mozambique-cape-verde-guinea-bissau-s%C3%A3o-tom%C3%A9-and-pr%C3%ADncipe-and-angola

74% of Angola population uses medicinal plants

Luanda - The chairman of the Angola's Traditional Medicine Forum, Avo Kitoko, said Monday in Luanda that 74% of the Angolan population uses medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases.

Speaking at the first National Conference on Traditional Medicine, Avo Kitoko recalled that the Angolan Constitution establishes the promotion of policies that make primary healthcare free as one of the tasks of the State.He also said, the Angolan Executive has drafted a national policy on traditional medicine and complementary practices, by organising the sector, allowing the recovery of the therapist and rescue of the traditions of the Angolan people, as part of their cultural heritage.

The 1st National Conference on Traditional Medicine is the result of a process of public consultations at country’s level, through regional forums organised by the Executive, with the participation of the civil society. He also recalled that one of the main objectives of the forum is to integrate the practice of traditional medicine into the national health care system, in order to ensure effective health assistance and safety. The event takes place inhttp://www.portalangop.co.ao/angola/en_us/noticias/saude/2012/7/32/Angola-population-uses-medicinal-plants,c7cd3712-966a-4479-8d38-0dc1a49eeb11.html

 Luanda under the motto "Rescue and recovery of traditional medicine to the health service".

http://www.portalangop.co.ao/angola/en_us/noticias/saude/2012/7/32/Angola-population-uses-medicinal-plants,c7cd3712-966a-4479-8d38-0dc1a49eeb11.html

Ethnobotanical studies on some medicinal plants in

Tanzania

http://www.helsinki.fi/henvi/yvv/presentations10/fyrhquist.pdf

http://www.biota-africa.org/PDF_BIOTACongress_Abstract/8_1_Fruth_CongoProject.pdf

Antiepileptic Medicinal Plants Used in Traditional Medicine to Treat Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a disease that affects about 40 million people worldwide (Njamshi et al., 2010). In 1968, the prevalence of epilepsy in Africa was about 4.8 to 40 ‰. In 1996, Diop and collaborators reported in Senegal a prevalence of epilepsy of 21 ‰ (Diop et al., 1996). In 2006, Ngoungou and collaborators estimated the prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa to be two or three time highest than the rate in developed world (Ngoungou et al., 2007). In Cameroon, some epidemiological studies on epilepsy have shown that, the prevalence of epilepsy is estimated to vary from 5-136/1000. The highest ones are reported in some villages of the Cameroon Central Province located in the Sanaga and Mbam River Valley (Nchoji Nkwi & Tioko Ndonko, 1989; Dongmo et al., 2000; Preux et al., 2000; Boussinesq et al., 2002; Kamgno et al., 2003; Dongmo et al., 2004; Prischich et al., 2008). Cameroon is one of the countries most affected by epilepsy in Africa and in the world. Thus, epilepsy is among the major public health problems in Cameroon. In Africa and in Cameroon particularly, phytotherapy in traditional medicine still plays an important role in the management of diseases, mainly among populations with very low income (Geoffrey & Kirby, 1996).

http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/19739.pdf

An ethnobotanical survey of plants used to manage HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Katima Mulilo, Caprivi region, Namibia

Katima Mulilo has the highest burden of HIV/AIDS in Namibia. Due to several constraints of the antiretroviral therapy programme, HIV-infected persons still use ethnomedicines to manage AIDS-related opportunistic infections. Despite the reliance on plants to manage HIV/AIDS in Katima Mulilo, there have been no empirical studies to document the specific plant species used by traditional healers to treat AIDS-related opportunistic infections. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted to record the various plant families, species, and plant parts used to manage different HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections in Katima Mulilo, Caprivi region, Namibia. The results showed that a total of 71 plant species from 28 families, mostly the Combretaceae (14%), Anacardiaceae (8%), Mimosaceae (8%), and Ebanaceae (7%), were used to treat conditions such as herpes zoster, diarrhoea, coughing, malaria, meningitis, and tuberculosis. The most plant parts used were leaves (33%), bark (32%), and roots (28%) while the least used plant parts were fruits/seeds (4%). Further research is needed to isolate the plants' active chemical compounds and understand their modes of action.

http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/6/1/25

National policy on traditional medicine and regulation of herbal medicines Report of a WHO global survey Traditional medicine (TM) has always maintained its popularity worldwide. In addition, over the last decade, we have seen an increasing use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in many developed and developing countries. The safety and efficacy of traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicines, as

well as quality control, have become important concerns for both health authorities and the public. Various traditional medicine practices have been developed in different cultures in

different regions, but without a parallel development of international standards and appropriate methods for evaluating traditional medicine. Therefore, sharing national

experience and information is crucial.

http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/pdf/s7916e/s7916e.pdf

ETHNOBOTANY OF SOME SELECTED MEDICINAL  PLANTS

Access to healthcare facilities in Ghana is very poor as one medical doctor is to more than 6,000 people (Africapedia, 2007), with majority of them practicing in the two largest cities of Accra and Kumasi. According to Gbile (1988) about 80% of the population in Africa uses plant medicine partly due to poverty and insufficient number of medical professionals. Medicinal plants therefore play an important role in our healthcare delivery but over-reliance on wild collections results in dwindling of the resource. The current rate of forest degradation, intensive exploitation and utilization of the various medicinal plants across the West African sub region pose serious threats to the continued availability of these invaluable forest resources. Indigenous knowledge on the utilization and conservation of these species are being lost as the old custodians of the knowledge pass away. Also, parts

of the plants often harvested are those used for anchorage, nutrient uptake, photosynthesis and regeneration by the plants. These threaten the plants natural regeneration, vigorous stand development and continuous existence of the species in natural ecosystem. There is therefore the need for deliberate and concerted efforts to develop appropriate conservation and sustainable management strategies for threatened or endangered medicinal plant species. The selected species were identified through a major study that involved a comparative analysis on utilization and availability of medicinal plants in Ghana

(Ofori et al., 2010)

http://outputs.worldagroforestry.org/record/478/files/B17263.pdf

Antimicrobial natural products

The indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, fungi and viruses. Various populations in developing countries are using medicinal plants against infectious diseases by accidental

discovery, and trust in the benefit of their use. To overcome the increased resistance of pathogenic microbes, researchers are using traditional knowledge as source of development of new drugs with high antimicrobiotic potential.

The use of phytochemicals as natural antimicrobial agents, commonly called “biocides”, is gaining popularity. There is a growing interest among the medical proprieties of medicinal plants in terms of antibacterial activity. Several

compounds in the essential oil of plants have been recognized for many years as having antibacterial proprieties [2] and their preparations have found applications as naturally antimicrobial agents in several fields.

 In the ongoing search for better antibacterial compounds, plant-derived products are gaining ground [3,4]. Essential oils, plant extracts prepared by distillation, are composed by a huge diversity of small hydrophobic molecules, most of them accomplishing theoretical criteria of druglike prediction [5]. Such molecules easily diffuse across cell membranes, and consequently gain advantage in what concerns interactions with intracellular targets, this being a valuable research option in the search of anti-bacterial leads and drugs [6]. C. citratus (DC) Stapf, Family Poaceae, is a widely used herb in tropical countries viz. Southeast Asia, Africa and South America and is also known as a source of ethno medicines.

C. citratus is commonly used in folk medicine in Angola for the treatment of gastrointestinal disturbances, and as an antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, and diuretic treatment. Some studies have demonstrated its

antimicrobial activity, specifically antibacterial, antifungal, and antiprotozoal properties; On the other hand, many aromatic plants are today considered as the most important sources for extraction of compounds with strong antioxidant activity. Numerous studies have focused on the various biological activities of the secondary metabolites of several aromatic species, indicating that several aromatic plants have antioxidant activity. In addition, aromatic plants are gaining the interest of pharmaceutical companies for their high potential as antioxidant, these being Rosemary, the first spice commercially available for the use as an antioxidant in Europe and USA, marked in an oil soluble form, in dry powder and also in water soluble formulations [7].

http://www.formatex.info/microbiology4/vol2/946-950.pdf

Angola

http://www.sanbi.org/sites/default/files/documents/documents/sabonet-report-no-8-index-herbariorum-part.pdf

The use of some Indigenous Plants for Medicinal and other Purposes by Local Communities in Namibia with Emphasis on Oshikoto Region: A Review

Local communities in Namibia possess an in-depth knowledge of the use of medicinal plants and their environment. Medicinal plants contribute significantly to the intellectual property rights of poor local households in theses local communities. This review gives an overview of the use of indigenous knowledge held by traditional healers, the uses of indigenous plants for medicinal and other purposes, medicinal preparation methods and treated diseases in different parts of Namibia, in particular the Oshikoto region. Factors threatening the existence of the medicinal plants are discussed and the gaps in the indigenous knowledge on the uses of the medicinal plants are also presented. This review strongly recommends the importance of proper and comprehensive documentation of the traditional healing methods in Namibia, which will have a high potential for sustainable development for themedicinal plants in Namibia.

http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=rjmp.2011.406.419

India: Conserving medicinal plants, sustaining livelihoods

At 52, Janaki Devi, a traditional healer in the state of Uttarakhand, India, may not have received a formal education, yet the proficiency with which she prescribes herbal medicines has people travel from far and wide to consult her.

Up until a few years ago, traditional healers like Janaki inherited their skills from their families or through word-of-mouth. With fewer people from the younger generation interested in the profession, and no record or inventory of India’s numerous medicinal plants, their uses and appropriate harvesting techniques, this unique oral knowledge was at risk.

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/successstories/india--conserving-medicinal-plants--sustaining-livelihoods.html

Nutritional and Medicinal value of the edible stinkbug, Encosternum delegorguei Spinola consumed in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and its host plant Dodonaea viscosa Jacq. var. Angustifolia

http://www.dspace.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/26961/Complete.pdf?sequence=9

ABSTRACT.—The African diaspora to the Americas was one of plants as well as people. European slavers provisioned their human cargoes with African and other Old World useful plants, which enabled their enslaved work force and free maroons to establish them in their gardens. Africans were additionally familiar with many Asian plants from earlier crop exchanges with the Indian subcontinent. Their efforts established these plants in the contemporary Caribbean plant corpus. The recognition of pantropical genera of value for food, medicine, and in the practice of syncretic religions also appears to have played an important role in survival, as they share similar uses among black populations in the Caribbean as well as tropical Africa. This paper, which focuses on the plants of the Old World tropics that became established with slavery in the Caribbean, seeks to illuminate

the botanical legacy of Africans in the circum-Caribbean region

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/geog/downloads/594/426.pdf

New Insights in Staging and Chemotherapy of African Trypanosomiasis and Possible Contribution of Medicinal Plants

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness is a severe fly-borne disease caused by protozoan of the species Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.). This disease was first described by European explorers by the late 1800s and

early 1900s even if this disease has probably existed in Africa for many centuries [1]. The disease occurs in foci in the tsetse fly (Glossina spp) “belt”, a vast geographical region ranging from the Sahara to the Kalahari Desert equivalent to “the combined size of the United States, India and Western Europe” where these flies have their habitat [2–5]. Three major epidemics of HAT occurred in Africa during the last century, of which the most devastating (which killed millions of persons) occurred from the 1930s to the 1960s [6]. The colonial administrations established mobile teams which systematically screened people in the endemic areas,

curing those found with the disease

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/343652.pdf