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Background Ethnomedicine, a study of traditional medicine, is significant in drug discovery and development. African traditional medicine has been in existence for several thousands of years, and several drugs have been discovered and developed from it. Main text The deadly coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 has widely spread globally with high mortality and morbidity. Its prevention, treatment and management still pose a serious challenge. A drug for the cure of this disease is yet to be developed. The clinical management at present is based on symptomatic treatment as presented by individuals infected and this is by combination of more than two drugs such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-pyretic, and anti-microbials. Literature search was performed through electronic searches of PubMed, Google Scholar, and several research reports including WHO technical documents and monographs. Conclusion Drug discovery from herbs is essential and should be exploited for the discovery of drugs for the management of COVID-19. This review is aimed at identifying ethnomedicinal herbs available in Africa that could be used for the discovery and development of a drug for the prevention, treatment, and management of the novel coronavirus disease 2019.

Drug delivery to the proper site of action in the body is greatly influenced by the excipients used and some processing variables such as changes in compression force. The aim of this investigation was to study the influence of changes in compression forces during tablet manufacturing on the mechanical and release properties of Tramadol matrix tablet. Hardness and friability were used as assessment parameters for mechanical properties while release properties were analysed using dissolution test. Data were analysed using One-way ANOVA at p < 0.05. Tablet hardness and friability were typically compression pressure-dependent with a significant difference in tablet hardness and friability with increase in compression pressure (p < 0.001). Drug release was best expressed by Korsmeyer-Peppas equation as the plots showed high linearity (r2) of 0.998 and 0.988 for formulations containing Xanthan gum and Sodium carboxymethylcellulose, respectively. Drug release from formulations containing Xanthan gum was mainly by diffusion while a combination of diffusion and chain relaxation was the mechanism of drug release from formulation containing Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose. The release properties of tramadol matrix tablet were not significantly influenced by compression pressure but rather by the polymer and the material properties of the drug.

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