Medicinal plants used by ‘root doctors’, local traditional healers in Bié province, Angola

Abstract

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Strychnos Spinosa Lam: Comprehensive Review on Its Medicinal and Nutritional Uses

“…In different countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa, the roots are generally utilized to treat infections and parasitic diseases, diseases of the digestive tract and as a dewormer as reported in some works (Waterman et al, 2010; Table 1). Hence, when reviewing the different studies performed at national levels on the ethnobotanical uses of S. spinosa, numerous studies have reported medicinal activities related to the aforementioned medicinal properties in Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Kenya where it is also used to treat tuberculosis (Table 1; Asase et al, 2005;Bizimana et al, 2006;Bero et al, 2009;Ibrahim et al, 2014;Molander et al, 2014;Avakoudjo et al, 2019;Novotna et al, 2020). Besides, tuberculosis is most of the time associated with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).…”

“…Another example is S. cocculoides Baker (another African species) whose roots and fruits are up taken to treat STDs in Zambia; its roots are reduced to ashes to treat lymphogranuloma inguinale and its unripe fruit mixed with tea to treat erectile dysfunction in the same country. Besides, its roots alone are utilized to treat dysmenorrhea, new-born colic, cerebral ischemia, boils on legs, haemorrhage due to injury, and postpartum bleeding in Angola (Chinsembu et al, 2019;Novotna et al, 2020). A third example is S. panganiensis Gilg.…”

“…The inhibition of nitric oxide is of interest in case of inflammation because this enzyme gives an anti-inflammatory response under physiological conditions which, under abnormal situation, could be unusually high (Sharma et al, 2007;Lawal et al, 2019; Table 2). Those results justify the use of roots to treat swelling of the foot, aches, hypertension and related disease (Avakoudjo et al, 2019;Novotna et al, 2020). As anti-inflammatory activities are closely related to anti-oxidant ones, the preceding research has also investigated the anti-oxidant activity of the same extract through the determination of the free radical and nitric oxide scavenging capacity by using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide inhibition assays.…”

“…The reviewed antimicrobial activities are due to the capacity of the plant extracts and their compounds to disrupt membranes of bacteria and fungi, modifying the flux happening through their membranes in and out their cells and leading to their immobility and or death(Tittikpina et al, 2019a).When anti-infectious diseases activities seem to be the most important part of the medicinal activities of S. spinosa, other medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, inhibition of α-glucosidase enzyme and inhibition of hyaluronidase and phospholipase activities have also been investigated pharmacologically. Those properties are in relation with the ethnomedicinal uses of the plant in case of painful periods, swelling of foot, foot crevice, diabetes and snake bite(Karou et al, 2011;Molander et al, 2014;Avakoudjo et al, 2019;Novotna et al, 2020).…”

Traditional Medicinal Uses, Phytoconstituents, Bioactivities, and Toxicities of Erythrina abyssinica Lam. ex DC. (Fabaceae): A Systematic Review

“…ex DC. (Fabaceae) is an important medicinal plant as evidenced by the existence of its names in various local languages and high frequency of citation in ethnobotanical surveys [1][2][3][4]. e genus Erythrina derives from the Greek word "erythros," translated to mean red (a reflection of the showy red flowers of its various species).…”