Antimalarial activity of medicinal plants from West Africa: A review

Until now, malaria remains a major public health problem in the intertropical zone. There is an urgent need to identify new anti-malarial drug targets, due to the increasing problem of drug resistance to malaria parasites. Historically, the majority of antimalarial drugs have been derived from medicinal plants or from structures modelled on plant lead compounds. In various West African countries, several plants have been reported to be having antimalarial effects and are being applied traditionally as antimalarial agents. This review focuses on medicinal plants which are used to treat malaria in West Africa during the period of 2003 to 2015. It also attempts to describe some tests which can be used to evaluate plant extracts for antimalarial activity. One hundred and forty-six herbal plants have been captured in this article due to their local usage as antimalarial agents. Some like Acanthosermum hispidum D.C., Icacina senegalensis, Pavetta crassipes, Croton labatus, show intense activity against malaria parasites in vitro and in experimentally infected mice. The array of medicinal plants employed as antimalarial agents in West Africa, unveils a promising source for the development of new and better antimalarial drugs. It is vital that the efficacy and safety of traditional medicines be validated and their active constituents be identified in order to establish reliable quality control measures.