Abstract
Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkman (Rosaceae), commonly known as ‘African cherry’, is an evergreen tree, which grows up to 40m in height, has open branches and a mature stem diameter of up to 1m, and bears a blackish-brown stem-bark. Prunus africana is distributed in Central Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. The stem-bark is used traditionally to treat benign prostate hyperplasia, stomach complaints, chest pains, malaria and fever, hypertension, diabetes, gonorrhoea and kidney disease. Commercial harvesting and trade of P. africana bark was established in Cameroon many years ago, but has since expanded to other countries. Over 23 different pharmaceutical companies market products containing P. africana and formulated into tablets, capsules and liquid extracts as herbal medicine. Both in vitro and in vivo activities have been investigated for this important medicinal plant. The chemical profiles of P. africana were investigated using several analytical methods such as high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS). β-Sitosterol, friedelin, ferulic acid, atraric acid, N-butylbenzenesulphonamide, myristic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid and ursolic acid were identified in the extract of P. africana.
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