Studies on Morphological Features and Biological Activities of the Genus Annona of Ethiopia, N. E. Africa with a Special Emphasis on Graviola: A Review

The Mother Nature provided us with a huge number of flora and fauna. These flora and fauna show so many characteristic features such as their medicinal value. Medicinal plants are the oldest known healthcare agents. Their importance is still growing although it varies depending on the phyletic, medical and historical background of each place. Medicinal plants are important for pharmacological research and drug development too, not only when plant constituents are used directly as remedial agents, but also when used as basic materials for the synthesis of drugs or as a models for pharmacologically active compounds. Some of the natural medicinal plants are very common, that we use in our daily life without knowing their medicinal importance. Worldwide, Annonaceae family is one of the large families showing many characteristic features such as antitumor, antioxidant, antimicrobial and many other bio-activities. The current review paper mainly focused on various biological activities of different species of the genus Annona of Ethiopia, North East Africa with a special emphasis on graviola.