title: Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. (Sausage tree): Phytochemistry and pharmacological review of a quintessential African traditional medicinal plant.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Kigelia africana is a quintessential African herbal medicinal plant with a pan-African distribution and immense indigenous medicinal and non-medicinal applications. The plant is use traditionally as a remedy for numerous disease such as use wounds healing, rheumatism, psoriasis, diarrhea and stomach ailments. It is also use as an aphrodisiac and for skin care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present review aims to compile an up-to-date review of the progress made in the continuous pharmacological and phytochemistry investigation of K. africana and the corresponding commercial and pharmaceutical application of these findings with the ultimate objective of providing a guide for future research on this plant.
  
  
  METHODS
  The scholarly information needed for this paper were predominantly sourced from the electronic search engines such as Google, Google scholar; publishing sites such as Elsevier, scienceDirect, BMC, PubMed; other scientific database sites for chemicals such as ChemSpider, PubChem, and also from online books.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pharmacological investigations conducted confirm the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant and anticancer activity of the extract of different parts of the plant. Bioactive constituents are found to be present in all parts of the plant. So far, approximately 150 compounds have been characterized from different part of the plant. Iridoids, naphthoquinones, flavonoids, terpenes and phenylethanoglycosides are the major class of compounds isolated. Novel compounds with potent antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer effect such as verbascoside, verminoside and pinnatal among others, have been identified. Commercial trade of K. africana has boosted in the las few decades. Its effect in the maintenance of skin has been recognized resulting in a handful of skin formulations in the market.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pharmaceutical potentials of K. africana has been recognized and have witness a surge in research interest. However, till date, many of its traditional medicinal uses has not been investigated scientifically. Further probing of the existential researches on its pharmacological activity is recommended with the end-goal of unravelling the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, clinical relevance and possible toxicity and side effects of both the extract and the active ingredients isolated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Electronic address: idrisbello1@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Idris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Islamic University, Uganda.
authors.forename: Mustapha W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Shehu
authors.affiliation: Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Mustapha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zaini Asmawi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Roziahanim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahmud
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D029402:Bignoniaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D019448:Ethnobotany; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D006801:Humans; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D064209:Phytochemicals; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Herbal; Kigelia africana; Pharmacology; Phytochemistry; Traditional