Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts from Plants Used Traditionally in South Africa to Treat Tuberculosis and Related Symptoms

Table 1

Medicinal plants used traditionally in South Africa to treat TB and related symptoms.


Family, species	Voucher specimen number	Traditional use	Parts used	Previously screened activity	References

Amaryllidaceae Brunsvigia grandiflora Lindl.	BALUNGI 31	Coughs and colds	Bulbs	Mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of bulbs	[15, 16]
Asparagaceae Asparagus africanus Lam.	BALUNGI 36	Tuberculosis	Shoots	Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of roots. Two antiprotozoal compounds were isolated	[15, 17–19]
Asparagaceae Asparagus falcatus (L.) Oberm.	BALUNGI 44	Tuberculosis	Leaves, roots	Caryophyllene-type sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the leaves was found to have remarkable effect on the proliferation (IC₅₀ 1.82 uM). Antibacterial activity of the roots	[20–22]
Fabaceae Abrus precatorius subsp. africanus Verdc.	BALUNGI 43	Tuberculosis, bronchitis, whooping cough, chest complaints, and asthma	Leaves, roots	Sedative effects of roots. Antibacterial and cytotoxicity activity of seeds. Five compounds were isolated and identified as isoflavan, quinones, and hydroquinones	[15, 23–26]
Combretaceae Terminalia phanerophlebia Engl. & Diels	BALUNGI 37	Tuberculosis	Roots	Antibacterial and antifungal activities of the leaves	[20, 27]
Leguminosae Indigofera arrecta Benth. ex Harv. & Sond.	BALUNGI 41	Tuberculosis	Root	Antibacterial activity of the leaves	[20, 28]
Moraceae Ficus sur Forssk.	BALUNGI 39	Tuberculosis/ulceration of the lung	Bark, root	Antimalarial and antibacterial activities of the leaves.	[15, 29–31]
Polygalaceae Polygala fruticosa P. J. Bergius	BALUNGI 35	Tuberculosis, blood purification, intestinal sores,sinusitis, and gonorrhoea	Whole plant	Antibacterial activity against Gardnerella vaginalis and toxicity	[11, 29, 32, 33]
Rubiaceae Pentanisia prunelloides Schinz	BALUNGI 40 and 42	Tuberculosis, chest pain, fever, and toothache	Root	Antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus, E. coli,and K. pneumonia. Antiviral activity of leaves and roots	[15, 29, 34]
Lamiaceae Leonotis intermedia Lindl.	BALUNGI 38	Colds, coughs, bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, high blood pressure, and jaundice	Leaves, stem	Anti-inflammatory activity	[11, 35]