Antimalarial Activity of Lamiaceae Family Plants: Review

Abstract

Malaria is a major infectious disease caused by Plasmodium sp., and it can infect human’s trough females’ mosquitos Anopheles sp. bite. Plasmodium resistance to malarial drugs used today occurs mostly in endemic areas, so it is necessary to look for alternative medicines for malaria, especially medicines derived from plants Objective: The objective of writing this literature review is to see the ability of the Lamiaceae family plant as a source of new malaria medicines. Methods: Scientific evidence of traditional use, antiplasmodial activity, and active antimalarial compounds from plants belong to Lamiaceae family used to support this article are carried out by searching online for articles related to the title of this article. Results: Lamiaceae family plants used for malaria treatment traditionally in many countries, and many of them have been examined for their antimalarial activity in vitro against P. falciparum or in vivo against P. berghei in mice, and they have antimalarial effect with various potency. There are forty active antimalarial compounds isolated from plants of Lamiaceae family, and these could be candidates for new antimalarial medicines. Conclusion: Lamiaceae family is proven to be a source of plants that have antimalarial activity, this can be seen from their traditional use as malarial drugs in various countries, the number of plant extracts with antimalarial activity and many active antimalarial substances isolated from Lamiaceae family plants, but they still need to be further examined to become antimalarial drugs.