Therapeutic Potential of Medicinal Plants: Current Situation and Outlook

Abstract

Medicinal plants constitute the major therapeutic sources for the treatment and management of diseases among the large population of the African continent. The application of these plant resources for the management of ailments such as diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative disorder, malaria, hypertension among others is based on the historical evidence of effectiveness, acceptability, affordability, accessibility and cultural compatibility. Various parts of medicinal plants such as flowers, leaves, stems, bark, roots, seeds, fruits possess therapeutic potentials due to the presence of bioactive substances in them. The therapeutic potentials of these medicinal plants are due to the complex interactions of the bioactive substances with their molecular target structures, such as the transport systems, enzymes and receptors. Currently, many well-known active substances derived from plants are included in medicines through scientific processing procedures that ensure standardization resulting in an improvement over the traditional crude practices among the various African cultures.