You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
The plant, Funtumia elastica (Preuss) Stapf (Apocynaceae), has been known to be of use ethnomedicinally and in orthodox medicine. The aim of this study was to comprehensively research on its ethnomedicinal uses, pharmacological activities, and to try and identify the phytochemicals responsible for the medicinal properties and also to explore its potential therapeutic benefits. An intensive literature search was done by the utilization of academic databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, European Journal of Medicinal plants to collate relevant information concerning the plant, F. elastica. The relevant information were selected from the various literatures and then analyzed and compared to identify patterns, trends and correlations between the ethnomedicinal use, pharmacological activities and phytochemical constituents of the plant. The plant, F. elastica, with preference to its bark was indeed seen to possess various ethnomedicinal benefits, pharmacological activities and these were linked to its phytochemical constituents. The bark was seen to possess constituents responsible for its anti-inflammatory property attributed to steroidal compounds such as cyclofuntumienol and cycloeucalenol and also phytosterols. F. elastica contains a good number of medicinal properties and beneficial plant compounds. It could serve as a valuable natural remedy in both traditional and modern healthcare settings, however there is need for more research to fully harness how it works and its untapped potential for treating different health issues.
