Ethno-medicinal, phytochemistry, and pharmacological importance of Hunteria umbellate (K. Schum.) Hallier f. (Apocynaceae): a useful medicinal plant of sub-Saharan Africa

Clinical Phytoscience

Ayodeji Zabdiel Abijo¹  Olumide Samuel Fadahunsi²  David Oluwasegun Adepoju²  Peter Ifeoluwa Adegbola²  Olubukola Sinbad Olorunnisola²  Temitayo Idris Subair³ 

[1]Department of Anatomy, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, P.M.B 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria

[2]Department of Biochemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, P.M.B 4000, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria

[3]Molecular Bio-computation and Drug Design Laboratory, School College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville campus, 4001, Durban, South Africa

关键词: Hunteria umbellate;    Phytochemistry;    Ethno-medicinal;    Pharmacological;    Sub-Saharan Africa;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40816-021-00287-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHunteria umbellate (K. Schum.) Hallier f. (Apocynaceae) is a tropical rainforest tree commonly found in sub-Saharan region of Africa. It is a useful and very popular plant among the locals due to the outstanding anti-diabetic activity of the seeds.MethodsA comprehensive literature search on articles published on phytochemical analysis and various pharmacological activities of Hunteria umbellate was carried out using search engines such as Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct.ResultsIn this review, it was deduced that H. umbellate is employed in folk medicine as an elixir for obesity, fever, leprosy sores, menstrual pain, infertility, yaws, intestinal worms, abdominal discomfort and stomach ache. Due to their durability and immunity against termites, the stems are coveted and desired as timbers in the construction of houses, while the bark has been reportedly exported to Europe for medicinal uses. Pharmacological activities such as fertility enhancing, aphrodisiac, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, has been ascribed to the different morphological organs of H. umbellate. Moreover, compounds belonging to important classes of secondary metabolites with biological activities such as triterpenoids, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, quinic acids have been identified and characterized from the plant.ConclusionFrom this review, it can be inferred that, numerous and bioactive principles with known biological usefulness are present in the extracts of H. umbellate and might be responsible for the observed biological and pharmacological activities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY