Underexplored Medicinal Plants from Sub-Saharan Africa

Underexplored Medicinal Plants from Sub-Saharan Africa: Plants with Therapeutic Potential for Human Health examines a comprehensive selection of rarely explored plants that have been underestimated for their therapeutic value. The book contains monographs of medicinal plants, outlining their botanical description, geographical distribution, ethnobotanical usage, chemical constituents, sample and standard preparations and methods, and pharmacological properties. With expert contributors from South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Cameroon and Nigeria, and the compilation of ethnobotanical, taxonomic and pharmacologic information for each species, this book is a valuable resource for researchers, academics in pharmacology, ethnopharmacology, medicinal plant sciences, and more.

"Overall, this book will be highly prized by readers from different backgrounds. Pharmacognosists and phytochemists will appreciate the description of compounds isolated and biological data provided in the book. Ethnobotanists will value the traditional uses detailed in each monograph. International and national agencies can use this book to guide their policy relative to quality control and identification of medicinal plants. Students from various fields, especially from pharmacognosy, will learn about standardized methods used to create monographs. Finally, amateur botanists and persons interested in understudied medicinal plants will be able to recognize them in the field using high-quality photographs found in this book. Overall, this book is a useful and accessible resource on selected plants from sub-Saharan Africa which contributes to their safe and effective use in traditional medicine. We recommend it to anyone who is interested in medicinal plants."—Frontiers in Pharmacology

"Reviewing a book of this magnitude is quite a humbling opportunity. Given the vastness of the human cultural spread and their interaction with plants of diverse habitats, the idea of picking up the cudgel to edit a book of this nature must have taken a lot of courage from the editor. This book of 360 pages has encompassed, in its precincts, a large amount of plants description (46 species) and their traditional medicinal use. The authors have mentioned the necessity of future exploration, authentication and standardization of plant products before the application by the practitioners or the patients. Thus, the book has worked as the starting line of the new world of exploration of underutilized plants in their therapeutic use. Under the present changing times, the climate is showing its vagaries every so often in one part of the world or the other, tremendously impacting the life of plants and animals on the face of the earth. Needless to say, the world is going to see new products and prototypes from plants in more modern areas, and the kaleidoscope of the worlds’ ethnopharmacological ecosystem is bound to change. Putting it simply, it was found worthwhile by the authors that, at the basic level, a solid knowledge of all the plants, explored and otherwise, must be brought together to make headway. It is thus a unique compilation of 46 chapters, each one dedicated to one underutilized plant from Africa. In its turn, a team of scientists carefully authored each plant. In terms of compaction of knowledge, this book reflects a DNA like coiling and super-coiling. The plants are alphabetically arranged, and the entire book follows a set accepted format including; references, abbreviations, diagrams and author citations. In addition, each Chapter in this book includes exhaustive details up to the molecular level. Furthermore, it covers the vivid description of the plant at the taxonomical, anatomical, and ethnobotanical levels. The latter is of great importance as there exists several herbalists who have created medical wonders by using simple and common plants with unconventional wisdom. This book will be one step further in integrating the MUTIES of Africa and the BUTIS of India in pursuance of human welfare."—South African Journal of Botany