African Traditional Antimalarials: A Review

Abstract

Traditional herbal medicines have been used to treat malaria for thousands of years in various parts of the world especially Africa. This review addresses medicinal plants used to treat malaria in traditional medicine from many Africa countries and compare popularly used native species, antimalarial activity of extracts and isolated substances. New drugs have to be developed to replace those compromised by parasite resistance. The identification of novel anti-malaria pharmacophores requires the scientific evaluation of relevant medicinal plants used in traditional health care.