MEDICINAL USES, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WILD GRAPE (LANNEA EDULIS): AN INDIGENOUS FRUIT PLANT OF TROPICAL AFRICA

Lannea edulis is a fruit plant widely used as herbal medicine throughout its distributional range in tropical Africa. This study was aimed at providing a critical review of the biological activities, phytochemistry, and medicinal uses of L. edulis. Documented information on the botany, biological activities, medicinal uses, and phytochemistry of L. edulis was collected from several online sources which included BMC, Scopus, SciFinder, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, PubMed, and Web of Science. Additional information on the botany, biological activities, phytochemistry, and medicinal uses of L. edulis was gathered from pre-electronic sources such as book chapters, books, journal articles, and scientific publications sourced from the University library. This study showed that the bark, leaves, rootbark, and roots of L. edulis are used as antiabortifacient and herbal medicine to dilate birth canal, dizziness, sore eyes, sexually transmitted diseases, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea, malaria, bilharzia, and gastrointestinal problems. Ethnopharmacological research revealed that L. edulis extracts and compounds have anthelmintic, anti-human immunodeficiency virus, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antimalarial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxicity activities. Future studies should focus on conducting detailed phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological evaluations of L. edulis crude extracts as well as compounds isolated from the species.