Review of Ethnomedicinal Uses, Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Properties of Euclea natalensis A.DC.

Abstract

Euclea natalensis is traditionally used as herbal medicine for several human diseases and ailments in tropical Africa. This study reviews information on ethnomedicinal uses, botany, phytochemical constituents, pharmacology and toxicity of E. natalensis. Results of this study are based on literature search from several sources including electronic databases, books, book chapters, websites, theses and conference proceedings. This study showed that E. natalensis is used as traditional medicine in 57.1% of the countries where it is indigenous. Euclea natalensis has a high degree of consensus on abdominal pains, antidote for snake bites, diabetes, diarrhoea, malaria, roundworms, stomach problems, toothache, venereal diseases and wounds. Several ethnopharmacological studies have shown that crude extracts and chemical compounds from E. natalensis demonstrated many biological activities both in vitro and in vivo, which included antibacterial, antidiabetic, antifungal, antimycobacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, antiplasmodial, larvicidal, antischistosomal, molluscicidal, dentin permeability and hepatoprotective activities. Future studies should focus on the mechanism of biological activities of both crude extracts and chemical compounds from the species, as well as structure–function relationships of bioactive constituents of the species.

The Evaluation Of Cytotoxicity And Anti-Inflammatory Effects Of Selected South African Medicinal Plants Against C2c12 Cells And Raw 264.7 Cells

“…Dzoyem and Eloff, (2014) reported on the inhibition of NO production was of L. javanica which was reported at 97% for 25 µg/ml with IC 50 value of 18 µg/ml. The results validate the use of L. javanica in traditional medicine uses such as herbal tea and ethnomedicinal applications for (in descending order of importance) colds, cough, fever or malaria, wounds, repelling mosquitos, diarrhea, chest pains, bronchitis, and asthma (Maroyi, 2017).…”

“…These study results validate E.natalensis for conventional medicinal applications. This plant has been used for snakebite cure, hypertension, vomiting, measles, roundworms, stomach problems, toothache, venereal diseases, and injuries (Maroyi, 2017).…”

In Silico Analysis of 716 Natural Bioactive Molecules Form Atlantic Ocean Reveals Candidate Molecule to Inhibit Spike Protein 

“…It was widely used for curing bronchitis, pleurisy, chronic asthma, and urinary tract infections as traditional medicine, by the Zulus, in South Africa. Also, octahydroeuclein was found to be signi cantly effective against Phytophthora (Lall et al 2006), antifungal activity against A. niger, and Cladosporium cladosporioides respectively (Kothari et al 2010;Aqil et al 2010;Karthikeyan et al 2020), and Antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Maroyi 2017). Docking against Spike revealed the best a nity with -8.3 Kcal/Mol and best physicochemical proprieties which lead to recommending it as a possible drug for Coronavirus.…”

Quorum sensing modulation and inhibition in biofilm forming foot ulcer pathogens by selected medicinal plants

“…Elaeodendron transvaalense in Southern Africa is in high demand as herbal medicine often used to treat diarrhoea, stomach aches, menorrhagia, inflammations, skin infections, and rashes [ 11 ]. Many other plants are traditionally used as herbal medicine for several human diseases and ailments [ 12 , 13 , 14 ] thus appear as promising alternatives to traditional antibiotics [ 15 , 16 ].…”