Ethno Botanical, Pharmacology and Phytochemistry of widely used medicinal plants in Niger: A Review

Abstract

The plants Cassia italica (Mill.) F.W. Anders, Limeum pterocarpum (L.), Strychnos innocua Del, Ipomoea asarifolia (DESR.) Roem. & Schult, Blepharis linariifolia Pers, Boscia senegalensis (Pers) Lam. Ex Poir, Neocarya macrophylla (Sabine) Prance, Phyllanthus pentandrus Schum & Tonn and Ximenia americanum L belong to different families and are used for the treatment of several pathologies. The aim of this review is to present the current state of research on the ethnopharmacological use of these medicinal plants and to give an overview of the significant results documented. Scientific information about these plants reported were used. Literature review was conducted using search engines and other scientific database websites for chemicals such as ChemSpider, PubChem. Phytochemical work on some of these plants has revealed the presence of several chemical groups and more than 100 compounds have been isolated from some of these plants. The isolated compounds belong to various chemicals classes such as stilbenes, flavonoids, terpenoids, Tannins. Some crude extracts showed a wide spectrum of biological activities, such as antiproliferative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiplasmodial activities. This review provides an overview of the use, pharmacology and phytochemistry of these plants.