TY - JOUR
T1 - Diversity and biological activities of medicinal plants of Santiago island (Cabo Verde)
AU - Romeiras, Maria M.
AU - Essoh, Anyse P.
AU - Catarino, Sílvia
AU - Silva, Joceline
AU - Lima, Katelene
AU - Varela, Eromise
AU - Moura, Mónica
AU - Gomes, Isildo
AU - Duarte, Maria Cristina
AU - Duarte, Maria Paula
N1 - info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDP%2F04077%2F2020/PT#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04077%2F2020/PT#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F00329%2F2020/PT#
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/OE/SFRH%2FBD%2F135354%2F2017/PT#
Funding Information:
We would like to thank to the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia ( FCT ) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) through the project CVAgrobiodiversity, which sponsored this study. We thank the Editor and the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. We are also grateful to Philip Havik (IHMT/UNL) for very helpful discussions and assistance with English editing.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia ( FCT ) and Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) through the project CVAgrobiodiversity/333111699. AE was supported by funding attributed to research units: UID/AGR/04129/2020 (LEAF/ ISA ) and UID/50027/2020 (InBIO/CIBIO).
Funding Information:
This work was developed under a collaboration protocol between Cabo Verdean institutions (Universidade de Cabo Verde (Uni-CV), Escola Superior de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais (ECAA), Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (INIDA) and Direção Nacional do Ambiente (DNA)) and Portuguese ( Instituto Superior de Agronomia ( ISA ) and Faculdade de Ciências ( FC ) of the Universidade de Lisboa and Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia of the Universidade dos Açores) under the project "Climatic changes and plant genetic resources: the overlooked potential of Cabo Verde's endemic flora" CVAgrobiodiversity/333111699, funded by the "Aga Khan Development Network" (AKDN) and the "Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia" ( FCT ). The team includes senior researchers and post-graduate students from Cabo Verde (APE, EV, IG JS, KL) and Portuguese researchers (MCD, MM, MMR, MPD, SC). The study is strictly of a scientific nature, not including any development component, and the necessary licences were obtained under the collaboration protocol above mentioned.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Plants continue to constitute key elements of medical practice in West African countries. The Cabo Verde archipelago hosts a great diversity of medicinal plants and local markets are considered important sites for trading plants harvested by rural communities. This study has two main goals: (i) to assess the medicinal uses of native species in Santiago, the biggest island of the archipelago, and (ii) to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidiabetic/antihyperglycemic activities of two native trees (Tamarix senegalensis and Sideroxylon marginatum) used in traditional medicine and traded in local markets. Our results revealed that on Santiago Island, 24 native plants are used in traditional medicine. The main uses of these species (e.g., forage, timber, food and fibres), their medicinal applications, the plant parts used, their mode of administration and conservation status are presented here for the first time. Moreover, the pharmacological characterization of two native tree species revealed that hydroethanolic extracts were richer in phenolic compounds and more active than their aqueous counterparts. All the studied extracts revealed significant antioxidant properties (DPPH and FRAP assays) and were generally moderately active against Gram-positive bacteria. All the extracts inhibited the activities of the carbohydrate digestive enzymes α-glucosidase and α-amylase in a dose-dependent manner. For α-glucosidase, the detected inhibitory activity (IC50 values from 2.0 ± 0.2 μg/mL to 9.9 ± 1.2 μg/mL) was significantly higher than that of acarbose, suggesting that extracts of both species can delay glucose absorption, thereby assisting in slowing down the progression of diabetes. Our findings highlight the crucial importance that medicinal plants have for the Cabo Verdean population, while also raising awareness on the need for sustainable use and conservation of native flora, and of tree species traded in local markets in particular.
AB - Plants continue to constitute key elements of medical practice in West African countries. The Cabo Verde archipelago hosts a great diversity of medicinal plants and local markets are considered important sites for trading plants harvested by rural communities. This study has two main goals: (i) to assess the medicinal uses of native species in Santiago, the biggest island of the archipelago, and (ii) to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidiabetic/antihyperglycemic activities of two native trees (Tamarix senegalensis and Sideroxylon marginatum) used in traditional medicine and traded in local markets. Our results revealed that on Santiago Island, 24 native plants are used in traditional medicine. The main uses of these species (e.g., forage, timber, food and fibres), their medicinal applications, the plant parts used, their mode of administration and conservation status are presented here for the first time. Moreover, the pharmacological characterization of two native tree species revealed that hydroethanolic extracts were richer in phenolic compounds and more active than their aqueous counterparts. All the studied extracts revealed significant antioxidant properties (DPPH and FRAP assays) and were generally moderately active against Gram-positive bacteria. All the extracts inhibited the activities of the carbohydrate digestive enzymes α-glucosidase and α-amylase in a dose-dependent manner. For α-glucosidase, the detected inhibitory activity (IC50 values from 2.0 ± 0.2 μg/mL to 9.9 ± 1.2 μg/mL) was significantly higher than that of acarbose, suggesting that extracts of both species can delay glucose absorption, thereby assisting in slowing down the progression of diabetes. Our findings highlight the crucial importance that medicinal plants have for the Cabo Verdean population, while also raising awareness on the need for sustainable use and conservation of native flora, and of tree species traded in local markets in particular.
KW - Ethnobotany
KW - Local markets
KW - Native flora
KW - Natural compounds
KW - Sideroxylon marginatum
KW - Tamarix senegalensis
KW - West Africa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150530457&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14651
DO - 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14651
M3 - Article
C2 - 37009246
AN - SCOPUS:85150530457
SN - 2405-8440
VL - 9
JO - Heliyon
JF - Heliyon
IS - 4
M1 - e14651
ER -