Review of the Ethno-medical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Toxicological Studies on Dissotis rotundifolia (Sm.) Triana
Oduro Kofi Yeboah
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Newman Osafo *
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Dissotis rotundifolia (Sm.) Triana, commonly called ‘pink lady’, is employed in West and Eastern African folkloric medicine for managing a number of infections including dysentery, cough and sexually transmitted infections. The review aims at highlighting the traditional benefits, ethno-medical, phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological importance of the plant.
Materials and Methods: Excerpta Medica database, Google Scholar, Springer and PubMed Central, were the electronic databases used to search for and filter primary studies on Dissotis rotundifolia.
Results: This summary of relevant pharmacological, phytochemical and toxicological data from primary studies on D. rotundifolia gives a telling indication of its potential therapeutic benefits as a chemotherapeutic agent and possibly as a source of compounds with contraceptive potential.
Conclusion: This concise review on D. rotundifolia will be relevant in identification of areas of further research with the focus of identifying biologically active compounds which hold prospect in therapy.
Keywords: Dissotis rotundifolia, ethno-medicine, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology