NATURAL PRODUCTS FROM PLANT BIODIVERSITY
AND MALARIA
Dr. Joseph M Nguta,
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
MALARIA
 Malaria is the most difficult problem afflicting people in
the tropics
 In Africa, more than 100 million people are infected
annually, with a mortality of 1-1.5m a year
 Currently the drug of choice is artemesinin and its
derivatives
 High rate of resistance development to drugs by the
parasite makes the necessity for research in new
antimalarial drugs
 One possible solution is to carry out research on to the
traditionally used herbal remedies
STUDY AREA
Msambweni district
Conducting an interview
Herbal Clinic
Objectives of the study
• To establish an inventory of plants and
formulations used to manage Malaria in
Msambweni community
• To determine the efficacy and toxicity of the
priority plants and formulation to the
community.
• To isolate and characterize the bioactive
compounds in the efficacious plants extracts
• Develop appropriate formulations based on
identified bioactive compounds and indigenous
knowledge
• To explore feasibility for commercialization
The study
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How do they identify malaria?
Which plants do they use to manage malaria?
Which is the most preferred plant?
Which part of plant do they use?
How is it formulated
Which is the route of administration?
Are the plants readily available?
Are the plants used safe?
How the Study was done
 Semistructured questionnaires and interviews
 Focused group discussion
 Botanical identification of the collected plants by a
taxonomist
 Information gathered included
•
•
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plant species
parts used
plant habit
method of preparation
dosage
vernacular names
Ethnodiagnosis
• The most frequently mentioned symptoms
• fever
• joint pains
• vomiting
• tiredness
• Loss of appetite
• headache
Commonly used plants
 27 species in 24 genera distributed in 20 families were
documented.
 13 species were reported for the first time
 The most commonly used species were
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Azadirachta indica (L) Burm. (95%)
Zanthoxylum chalybeum (Eng) Engl. (25%)
Aloe deserti Berger. (25%)
Harrisonia abyssinica Oliv. (15%)
Ricinus communis L.(10%)
Habit of the species used in treatment of malaria
Shrub
4%
22%
41%
33%
Herb
Tree
Liana
Part of the species used in treatment of malaria.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Column2
Column1
Percentage frequency
Percentage
frequency
Discussion and conclusion
 The commonly used plants were Azadirachta indica (L)
Burm, Zanthoxylum chalybeum (Eng) Engl and Aloe
deserti Berger.
 13 plant species are documented for the first time for
the treatment of malaria
 Some species documented in this study have been
widely used as antimalarials in other continents e.g
Ricinus communis, Lantana camara
 The leaves were the most commonly used part
 Roots were the second most commonly used plant partand this calls for conservation and good harvesting
practices
Way forward
• Evaluate safety and efficacy of these
plants
• Carry out phytochemical tests
• Report back to the community on the
findings
Acknowledgements
 The Carnegie Corporation of New York for
financially supporting this work through
Regional Initiative in Science and Education
(RISE-AFNNET)
 The community of Msambweni district, for
sharing their knowledge
 The RISE-AFNNET Nairobi node for their
positive criticism and constant encouragement
THANK YOU