the magic of life and cure all medicines. Nigerian researchers have identified local plants for preventing and reversing disease processes.

NIGERIAN researchers have identified local plants for the management of psoriasis and schistosomiasis.  Specifically, that black tamarind (Dialium guineense, icheku in Ibo) has been fingered in the treatment of schistosomiasis; while Justicia flava (called igereje in Warri), alligator pepper (Aframomum danielli, oburo in Yoruba) are said to be useful in addressing psoriasis.
According to the researchers, there are plenty of foods and herbal products that supposedly offer miracle benefit that will prevent or cure any disease. They pinned the rationale for ‘cure all’ medicines in Nigeria to antioxidant mechanisms of medicinal plants.
Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).
The researchers identify salad plant (Artemisia annua used in making Artemisinin, an anti-malaria drug) and neem tree (Azadiratcha indica commonly called dogonyaro in Nigeria) as cure all plants. Others include; local spices like garlic, onions, turmeric, chili pepper; green leafy vegetables like fluted pumpkin; and food colourant like Sorghum bicolor (dawa in Hausa and popro oka-baba in Yoruba) and Hibiscus sabdariffa (zobo)
Nigeria researchers led by a consultant pharmacognocist at the University of Lagos, Prof. Olukemi Odukoya, have been able to verify the traditional claims of plants used as food within the Nigerian environment, which can serve as cheap sources for inclusion in the main stream of the primary health care delivery system with a view to providing readily available and culturally acceptable phytomedicines (medicines made from plants) to the people.
Odukoya made this disclosure last week at her inaugural lecture, which is the first on the specialty of pharmacognosy in University of Lagos. The inaugural lecture is titled, “Pharmacognosy: Traits, Tracks, Traces; Facts, Fascinations, Future – the Magic of Life.”
Pharmacognosy is a branch of pharmacy that deals with natural products of plants, animals and minerals origin.
Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever) is a parasitic disease caused by several species of tremotodes (“flukes”), a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Although it has a low mortality rate, schistosomiasis often is a chronic illness that can damage internal organs and, in children, impair growth and cognitive development. The urinary form of schistosomiasis is associated with increased risks for bladder cancer in adults. The disease affects many people in developing countries, particularly children who may acquire the disease by swimming or playing in infected water.
Psoriasis is a chronic, autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. The scaly patches commonly caused by psoriasis, called psoriatic plaques, are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production.
Commonly called black tamarind, velvet tamarind and locally as awin in the south-west of Nigeria, Dialium guineense belongs to the plant family Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae. The fruits and leaves are sold in markets as ingredients for a refreshing drink when mixed with water. According to “Useful Plants of Tropical West Africa” by H. M. Burkill, the plant is used in the coastal regions of West Africa for a variety of medicinal purposes, including dysmenorrhoea (painful mensuration), fever, labour pains, and palpitations.
Justicia flava, called Igereje in Warri, Nigeria, belongs to the plant family Acanthaceae. The seeds are used as spice (pepper soup ingredient) in Edo and Delta states of Nigeria. The petroleum extract (household kerosene) is rubbed on sprains and some inflamed eczematous conditions of the skin like psoriasis. The plant is also recorded in literature as used in feverish aches, pains and in the treatment of yaws.
Aframomum danielli (Oburo in Yoruba) belongs to the plant family Zingeberaceae. They closely resemble alligator pepper (Aframomum meleguetta). They are reportedly used as a traditional food spice among the Edo and Niger Delta people in Nigeria and also as an anti-inflammatory agent by rubbing of the alcohol and petrol extracts on allergic and eczematous swellings. The fruit capsule of A. danielli is red and smooth; the seeds are smooth, shiny, olive brown and may be almost flavourless or with a turpentine, like taste and a variable pungency.
Odukoya said: “Screening of a random collection of Nigerian local plants for molluscicidal activity showed that aqueous and methanolic extracts of the leaves and fruits of D. guineense had 100 per cent mortality at a concentration of 100ppm within 24 hours when tested against Biomphalaria glabrata. Biomphalaria glabrata is a species of air-breathing freshwater snail. It is an intermediate snail host for the trematode Schistosoma mansoni, which is one of the main schistosomes that infect humans.
“D. guineense complies with the criteria specified for an effective natural molluscicide; since it is a common plant, the activity is located in the regenerating parts, it is culturally acceptable, and the method of propagation is easy. It was therefore considered worthwhile to investigate the identity and activity of the compounds responsible for the observed molluscicidal (an agent that kills mollusks/shellfish)) activity as this would be necessary before the plant could be used in public health measures.
Odukoya said D. guineense has been shown to contain up to 15 per cent w/w total saponins in the leaves and fruits and could provide a useful local source as molluscicide. Its potential is augmented by the fact that the leaves are available throughout the year and also that the tree produces prolific amounts of fruit, which can be dried and stored without significant loss of saponin content.
Indeed, some Nigerian herbal concoctions are touted as ‘cure all medicines’. It is claimed they are able to cure diseases ranging from diarrhoea to fever, stomach upset, waist pain, arthritis, diabetes, pile (haemorrhoid) to mention but a few. The Yoruba of South-West Nigeria calls it gbogbonse, while Igbo of South-East Nigeria refers to it as ogwonnuoria.
Odukoya in her inaugural lecture gave examples of literature on cure all medicines. She explained: “Artemisinin is a drug used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. The compound (sesquiterpene lactone) is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua of plant family Asteraceae.
“Neem tree (Azadirachta indica of Meliaceae family) is also used for drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. The antimalarial activity of A. indica is due to the active constituent’s (Gedunin also a lactone) ability to induce oxidant stress in erythrocytes during malaria treatment; this redox perturbation leads to the death of the parasite in erythrocytes.”
The professor of pharmacognosy said there is no doubt that Artemisinin and Gedunin exhibit their activity as a result of oxidative stress on the parasite. She said Artemisia has been used by Chinese herbalists for more than a thousand years in the treatment of many illnesses, such as skin diseases, cancer and malaria. Likewise Azadirachta has been used for various skin diseases, malaria, cancer and viral infections, including Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by natives in Africa and Asia.
Odukoya further explained: “When the peroxide comes into contact with high iron concentrations (common in cancerous cells), the molecule becomes unstable and releases reactive oxygen species. Thus an indication of their cure all potential as with oxidation therapy. Artemisinin and Gedunin produce oxidative stress by an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen and the anaerobic parasite. It was proposed that Artemisinin and Gedunin are pro-oxidants and chemical molecules that generate peroxide free radicals, which could also be used as oxidative damage for malaria parasites.”
Odukoya said plants such as Sorghum bicolor (dawa in Hausa and popro oka-baba in Yoruba) and Hibiscus sabdariffa (zobo) have been found contain antioxidants such as flavonoids and anthocyanins, which prevent and as well as reverse disease processes.
Odukoya has verified 12 Nigerian spices with antioxidant activity. The plants include; garlic, alligator pepper, ginger, turmeric, scent leaf, onions, thyme, chili pepper, nutmeg, African black pepper, and others.
“The results indicated that spices containing high phenolics provide a source of dietary anti-oxidants in addition to imparting flavour to the food. They possess potential health benefits by inhibiting lipid peroxidation (free radical reaction), justifies their traditional use in pepper soup as a cure all medicine for the sick and potential use as a value-added ingredient for stabilising food matrixes against free radical reactions,” she said.
The pharmacist has also assessed potential of 21 Green Leafy Vegetables (GLV) in the cooked form as natural antioxidant supplement diets. The GLV include: fluted pumpkin; amaranthus; bitter leaf; waterleaf, among others. “Thus spices and herbs can protect from oxidative stress and play an important role in the chemoprevention of diseases that have their aetiology and patho-physiology in reactive oxygen species,” she said.
Odukoya said antioxidants rich plants or rather cure all plants have also been shown to boost immunity against diseases, libido and fertility; heal haemorrhoids and pile; treat skin diseases and wounds; and in oral health.  
The professor of pharmacognosy also revealed how she survived cancer. “…Cancer is a club no one wants to belong. I am a member of this club. To the Glory of God, I am a survivor, wonderfully and fearfully made! Though God assured us that affliction will not rise within us twice, I became a cat with so many lives. I was afflicted so many times and was on the surgeon’s table many times too. The last being January 2010. Cancer is indeed a very big name, yet there are things it cannot do!
“Despite all these odds, Women Against all Odds (WAO) came alive with the trio of today’s inaugural lecturer, Professor Fola-Tayo and Dr. Kemi Ailoje. We set out to educate, inform and support individuals with cancer and those who care for them. We believe that no one should face cancer alone. WAO supports women everywhere in hopes, education and research to cure. It provides services aimed at improving cancer survivorship and quality of life from the time of diagnosis, throughout treatment and in the years following completion of cancer care and the Magic of Life Celebration (yearly event for all cancer survivors).”
Odukotya concluded: “My research in Pharmacognosy has been based on the observation of facts rather than belief in fictions. This has allowed medicine to develop from a superstition to science. To know is one thing, merely to believe one knows is another. To know is science, but to merely believe one knows is ignorance. I have adhered to the principle that there is no authority except facts; that facts are obtained by accurate observations of traits, tracks and traces and fascinations are deduced from facts to predict the future with the experience in the magic of life.
“ I have also recognised the difficulties in discovering these. Life is short and the art of medicine in Pharmacognosy is long, the occasion is fleeting; experience is fallacious and judgement difficult! No doubt, being wonderfully and fearfully made, I have surveyed my field, demonstrated its relevance and explained my contributions.”