The best African plant-derived antibacterial products for clinical perspectives: The state-of-the-art

Abstract

Background: The global burden of bacterial infections remains a serious health concern. In the present review, we have summarized the best botanicals and phytochemicals from the flora of Africa that deserve clinical studies to develop novel antibacterial drugs to combat enterobacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Gram-positive bacteria, and mycobacteria.

Methods: Data were retrieved from scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Web of Science using the keywords “African country and plant and antibacterial” and plants or phytochemicals with outstanding antibacterial activities following established cutoff point standards were selected.

Results: The identified botanicals were from Acacia polyacantha, Alchornea floribunda, Artemisia abyssinica, Beilschmiedia acuta, Eriosema glomeratum, Harungana madagascariensis, Macaranga capensis, Macaranga conglomerata, Macaranga kilimandscharica, Mangifera indica, Piper nigrum, Piptadeniastrum africanum, and Uapaca togoensis. The phytochemicals identified included 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-ethyltriacontanoate (1), 1,3,5,6-tetrahydroxyxanthone (2), 1,3,5,7-tetrahydroxyxanthone (3), 8,8-bis-(dihydroconiferyl) diferulate (4), 2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-9,10-dioxo-9,10-dihydroanthracene-1-carbaldehyde (5), allanxanthone D (6), angusticornin B (7), bartericin A (8), diospyrone (9), dorsmanin C (10), gancaonin Q (11), isobavachalcone (12), isoliquiritigenin (13), laburnetin (14), O¹-demethyl-3',4'-deoxy-psorospermi-3',4' diol (15), plumbagin (16), and vismiaquinone (17).  

Conclusion: These plant-derived products deserve clinical investigations to develop novel antibacterial agents to combat bacterial infections.