Current perspectives on the medicinal potentials of Vernonia amygdalina Del.

Vernonia amygdalina Del, commonly called bitter leaf, is a perennial shrub that belongs to the family Asteraceae and grows throughout tropical Africa. It is probably the most used medicinal plant in the genus Vernonia. Traditional medicine practitioners use the plant as an anti-helminth, anti-malarial, laxative, digestive tonic, appetizer, febrifuge and for the topical treatment of wounds. Scientific research in the last few decades has scrutinized these claims and found that extracts from the plant have numerous phytotherapeutic properties. Extracts from V. amygdalina Del have been shown to have antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal, antiplasmodial etc), anti-cancer/tumor, antioxidant, hypoglycemic/anti-diabetic, oxytocic, hepato- and nephro- protective, serum lipid modulation, and other properties. These properties are believed to be mediated by different phytochemicals found in the plant, acting singly or in concert. This paper critically reviews the present state of scientific knowledge on the medicinal and nutritional potentials of V. amygdalina Del. It concludes that future research must aim at characterizing the active principle(s) responsible for each effect, and determining if they act singly or synergistically with other principles present in the plant.   Key words: Vernonia amygdalina, medicinal uses, nutrient composition.