Introduction - African Medicinal Plants - page 1

ChaPtEr 1
Introduction
BaCKGrOUND
Africa is a huge continent that straddles the equator, extending from 37° N and 35° S and endowed
with an enormous wealth of plant resources. Over 50,000 distinct species are known to occur in
sub-Saharan Africa alone, and the continent is home to more than a quarter of recorded angiosperm
taxa in the world. Of the known species, more than 25% have been used for several centuries in
traditional medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases. With over 1000 languages spoken
in about 3000 dialects and with individuals living in more than 50 independent countries, Africa
presents a veritable treasure of cultural and genetic resources, including medicinal plants. Its unique
and diverse indigenous cultures have produced a rich heritage of traditional knowledge on the uses
of plants for healing, for communications with the gods, and for food. The enormous biodiversity
in its tropical forests, savannas, veldts, and unique environments of sub-Saharan Africa is due to
its peculiar geography. It has no marginal oceanic trenches and subduction zones, so it lacks the
extensive mountain ranges found in the Americas, but much of the southern half of the continent
rests on a high plateau close to 1000 meters above sea level, broken only by the southern extension
of the Great Rift Valley and the slightly lower basin of the Congo River. It has been suggested that
it is the great latitudinal range that gives it an enormous variety of climates, and that this variability
is responsible for the continent's extreme diversity of ecosystems and biodiversity. 1
hIStOrICaL PErSPECtIVE
The African continent is believed to have the oldest known human habitation and is generally
considered the cradle of human civilization. The ancient kingdoms and empires of Africa, such as
Kmt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Songhai, Bini, Oyo, Zimbabwe, Dogon, and Mende, as well as Nupe, Borno,
Mandingo, Jukun, Nri, and Somali, had extensively codified healing recipes. The history of healing
arts in Africa can be traced back to about 3200 BC, during the reign of Menes, the first pharaoh of
ancient Egypt. Athothis, the son of Menes, was credited with knowledge of many therapeutic prepa-
rations. 2 The honor of being the first African physician, in a scientific sense, actually belongs to the
great Imhotep, who lived in about 2980 BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Zosar of the Third Dynasty.
Imhotep was an accomplished architect, and the step pyramid at Saqqarah is among his numerous
works. He was also a scribe and a high-ranking administrator in the pharaoh's court, a high priest,
and a renowned healer, who by 525 BC had become deified as the god of medicine. Another ancient
African physician is the scholar and scribe Hesy-Re, who lived about 2600 BC. According to the
writer Paul Ghalioungui, Hesy-Re was the chief of dentists and physicians during the Third Dynasty
(iii), a period in African history usually associated with the building of the pyramids.