Ehretia amoena Klotzsch (Ehretiaceae): Review of its medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties

Abstract

Ehretia amoena is a deciduous shrub or small tree widely used as herbal medicine in tropical Africa. Ehretia amoena occurs naturally in Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The current study critically reviewed the medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of E. amoena. Literature on medicinal uses, phytochemical and biological activities of E. amoena was collected from multiple internet sources such as Elsevier, Google Scholar, SciFinder, Web of Science, Pubmed, BMC, Science Direct and Scopus. Complementary information was collected from pre-electronic sources such as books, book chapters, theses, scientific reports and journal articles obtained from the university library. This study revealed that the bark, fruit, leaf, root, root bark, stem and stem bark decoction or infusion of E. amoena are mainly used as an anthelmintic or dewormer and herbal medicine for fever, typhoid, sleeping sickness, wounds, menstrual problems, abdominal pains, sexually transmitted infections, skin diseases, vomiting, pain, muscle pain and gastro-intestinal problems. Ethnopharmacological research identified chrysosplenetin, chrysosplenol D, emodins, polyose, polyuronoids, saponins, steroids, tannins, terpenoids and volatile oils from the leaves and roots of E. amoena. The crude extracts of E. amoena and the phytochemical compounds identified from the species exhibited antibacterial, antitrypanosomal and cytotoxicity activities. Ehretia amoena should be subjected to detailed phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological studies.