An Overview of Antiviral Activity of some Medicinal plants of Africa

Owing to numerous problems of controlling viral diseases many African medicinal plants have been screened for their antiviral activity. A review of studies on this shows that 58 plant species had in-vitro antiviral properties against viruses belonging to the families Herpesviridae (20), Flaviviridae (15), Retroviridae (11), Picornaviridae (8), Hepadnaviridae (2) and Paramyxoviridae (2). Some phytochemical compounds isolated from six of the 58 plants showed significant antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, coxsackie B type 1, poliovirus type 1, yellow fever virus, dengue virus and human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Further work on the compounds is required for drug development and more plants should be screened for activity not only against members of the Hepadnaviridae and Paramyxoviridae, but including the currently ravaging Ebola virus.