Chemical properties, biological activities and ethnobotanical uses of Citrullus naudinianus (Sond.) Hook. f.: An indigenous melon species of South Africa

Abstract

Citrullus naudinianus (Sond.) Hook. f. is a perennial herb collected from the wild for its edible fruits and also used as traditional medicine. This study was aimed at evaluating the chemical properties, biological activities and ethnobotanical uses of C. naudinianus. The fruit, leaf, root, stem and tuber infusions and/or decoctions of C. naudinianus are mainly used as thirsty quencher and ethnoveterinary medicine, and traditional medicine for sores, wounds, cancer, gonorrhoea and inflammatory diseases. Phytochemical compounds identified from the species include cucurbitacins, alkaloids, anthraquinones, coumarins, flavonoids, saponins and triterpenoids. Ethnopharmacological research revealed that C. naudinianus extracts have antibacterial, antioxidant, antiprotease, immunomodulatory, HIV-1 RT inhibition and cytotoxicity activities. Future research on C. naudinianus should focus on the possible biochemical mechanisms of both the crude extracts and identified phytochemical compounds including toxicological, in vivo and clinical studies to corroborate the traditional medicinal applications of the species.