Antioxidant potential of African medicinal plants

Abstract

In Africa, the use of medicinal plants to combat diseases forms an integral component of the culture and is thus practised widely. To this extent, several important plant species have been subjected to different pharmacological screening techniques to give scientific credence to the claimed uses. Among those that have been screened are those used to combat oxidative stress. We present here a review of the important plants used in African traditional medicine with antioxidant potential. The plants listed here are habitats of North Africa, covering the vast Sahara, West Africa, East Africa and the Palaeotropical kingdom of Central Africa as well as Southern Africa including the Capensis kingdom of the Western Cape province of South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Mascarenes. Oxidative stress has been implicated as one of the key factors in accelerated pathogenesis of a number of human diseases including cardiovascular, inflammatory, cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. Plants listed here have been utilised directly or indirectly in managements of some of these conditions.