Abstract
Helichrysum foetidum is a medicinal plant species with various medicinal applications among different ethnic groups in Africa, Asia, and Europe. This review was aimed at providing a critical appraisal of the existing medicinal uses, biological activities, and phytochemical components of H. foetidum. Literature search for information on medicinal uses, biological activities, and phytochemical components of H. foetidum was conducted using various online search engines such as Scopus, Google Scholar, Mendeley, and Web of Science. Additional information on these aspects was sourced from the university library. Literature studies revealed that H. foetidum is mainly used to induce trances and as herbal medicine against wounds, sores, dysmenorrhea, eye infections, influenza, and as a sedative. Phytochemical compounds identified from the species include chalcones, diterpenoids, flavanols, flavonoids, phenolics, phenols, and proanthocyanidins. Pharmacological studies revealed that H. foetidum extracts and compounds have antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, protease-inhibiting, and cytotoxicity activities. There is a need for advanced phytochemical and pharmacological evaluations and clinical trials aimed at evaluating the therapeutic potential of H. foetidum in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Highlights
In African traditional medicine, species of the genus Helichrysum Mill. are highly valued as sources of herbal medicines [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
The leaves, stems, and twigs of these two species are sold as herbal medicines in the informal herbal medicine markets in South Africa [14,16,17,18]
The species is native to Burundi [28], Cameroon [29], Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [28,30], Equatorial Guinea [31], Eritrea [25], Ethiopia [25,28,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39], Kenya [3,28], Malawi [5,26,28], Nigeria [28,40], Rwanda [41], São Tomé and Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea) [42], Somalia [27], South Africa [20,21,24,43,44], South Sudan [28,45], Sudan [28,45], Tanzania [28,46,47], Uganda [28,48], and Yemen [28,49]
Summary
In African traditional medicine, species of the genus Helichrysum Mill. (family Asteraceae or Compositae) are highly valued as sources of herbal medicines [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. H. foetidum has been introduced in several countries throughout the world as an ornamental or medicinal plant species [50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62]. In Spain, the species was introduced as an ornamental plant in Galicia and it was first recorded as naturalized in 1870 [59]. H. foetidum is naturalized as a casual or invasive weed in Brazil, Hawaii, Portugal, and Spain [52,53,57,58,59,60,61,62]
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