"Big" plant genera, those of 500 or more species, have not only occasioned interest among systematic botanists, but for geographical, ecological or horticultural reasons, have also become well-established popular concepts. Their size has rendered them difficult, if not impossible, to study in their entirety; there have been few full revisions since the nineteenth century.
Information is presented about 177 plants formerly used in healing by the Ua people of southern Zambia. The material is largely drawn from manuscripts held in Kasenga, together with information from various more recent authorities.
Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the latex of Euphorbia poisonii Pax. (Euphorbiaceae) led to the isolation and characterization of a new tigliane diterpene, 12-deoxyphorbol 13-(9,10-methylene)undecanoate (3), together with five known diterpenes (1, 2, 4−6).
This ethnobotanical study on plants used for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections was undertaken to document the knowledge by lay people in a rural community in northern Maputaland, South Africa. The focus was on the medicinal plants which are growing in and around the immediate vicinity of the homesteads.
The increasing prevalence and distribution of malaria has been attributed to a number of factors, one of them being the emergence and spread of drug resistant parasites. Efforts are now being directed towards the discovery and development of new chemically diverse antimalarial agents.
This paper uses the case of the Batswana people to demonstrate the use of indigenous knowledge (IK) on plant species for medicine and food. The study showed that traditionally the Batswana have a rich indigenous knowledge about the plant species diversity of their environment including community uses of the plant species.
The ethanolic extract of a Malagasy species Euphorbia stenoclada (ES) (Euphorbiaceae), traditionally used as a herbal remedy against asthma and acute bronchitis, was tested to evaluate possible anti-proliferative activity on human airway smooth muscle cells (HASMC). The ES ethanolic extract totally abolished the interleukin-1 (IL-1) induced proliferation of HASMC (IC50 = 0.73 ± 0.08g/mL).
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Through this study, relevantinformation was gathered on the knowledge about medicinal remedies in some rural communities of Muda (central Mozambique). The use of 198 different medicinal plants has been recorded and a significant number of medicinal species and uses new for Africa and particularly for Mozambique has been detected.
Indigenous health system and the use of herbal plants have been recognized as pivotal in primary health care and a system to reckon with in achieving one of the targets of the millennial goals on health. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to identify indigenous herbal remedies for diarrhoea and associated stomach ailments in rural areas of the O.R.
In view of the prevalence of dysentery in developing countries such as South Africa and the erosion of indigenous knowledge of phytomedicine due to lack of interest by the young generation, a survey of five local municipalities of Amathole district, Eastern Cape Province was carried out in 2012.