Warburgia Salutaris Metabolites of Medicinal Value – A Review

Abstract

Warburgia salutaris is a medicinal plant that occurs in central and southern Africa and has been investigated by many natural and social scientists in a somewhat fragmented and uncoordinated way. Many phytochemical studies on medicinal plants are motivated by traditional knowledge and medicinal use of the plant. Phytochemical investigations on W. salutaris were based on a targeted approach, focusing on individual compounds or subclasses of metabolites but not the entire metabolome. However, in this era of omics and ready access to databases, there is a need for comprehensive information on the metabolic profiles of individual medicinal plants. This paper defines the term metabolome as it applies to plants with bioactive compounds and attempts to define a metabolomic approach for such investigations. The paper proceeds to review how the metabolites of W. salutaris were isolated, including the plant parts used, extraction methods and solvents used, and analytical instrumentations employed for identification and quantification. It further explores whether it is possible to construct a "compendium of metabolites" or subclass ofWarburgia spp. metabolome based on published phytochemical studies and concludes by making recommendations for an online researcher-updated resource that lists all reported metabolites for individual medicinal plants.