Open access peer-reviewed chapter
Abstract
Plants that possess therapeutic characteristics have been used in medicine from the beginning of time. Indigenous medicine has been practiced as a preventative approach in tropical areas to combat general infections, including viral infections. The family of Annonaceae species of plants, broadly distributed in these areas, is dedicated to one such plant-based medication. Annona muricata realistically is among the most well-known of these. A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was typically identified as the reliable source of a viral pneumonia outbreak in January 2020 in Wuhan, China. Traditional medicine is reasonably believed to represent a possible opportunity in the successful fight against COVID-19. The Cameroonian response strategy has been properly implemented in outstanding community services without much practical efficiency on transmission rates. The reason for this is that people did not follow the government’s prescriptions. As a direct result, local people would knowingly employ self-prescribed herbal medications to aggressively combat the COVID-19 spread. Local health officials should take action and recognize the value of species diversity mostly in the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic, making it available to the concerned public with the support of scientific and ethno pharmacological local institutions. The potential therapeutic usage of Annona muricata as an antiviral agent to powerfully aid in the possible fight against COVID 19 has been carefully investigated in this paper.
Keywords
- Annona muricata
- soursop fruit
- health benefits
- traditional uses
- COVID 19
1. Introduction
The products of African traditional medicine have been used as the main sources of healthcare for the majority of the population despite the integration of conventional medicine in our healthcare system according to the West Africa Health Organization.
Traditional medicine is crucial for primary health care and in this chapter, we will focus on a particular plant specimen which has a therapeutic potential in the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic due to its phytochemicals constituents.
One such plant with an extensive use in herbal medicine is
It belongs to the annonaceae family and also known as guanabana, soursop and graviola.
The management of various health conditions in west Africa such as food borne disease, malaria worm infections, bacterial infections, has been supported by herbal medicine for ages since people have limited access to modern medicine in developing countries. These plants are widely distributed worldwide especially in west Africa and have helped people into the preservation of health for decades.
In Cameroon, central African region, there is a rich biodiversity with almost 9000 plant species, some of which are commonly used to treat microbial infections and some other diseases as malaria, diabetes, and parasitic infections.
In this chapter, we are going to describe the botany, local distribution, the phytochemicals, and finally the potential uses of
2. Origin and geographical distribution of African medicinal plants namely A. muricata
Annonaceae plant species are native to south tropical America and south Mexico [1].
Its center of geographic diversity is in the north of South America and it is distributed in different tropical regions of the world (Love and Paull, 2011).
Soursop is used in food, beverages, and other preparations [2].
The most of African annonaceae are observed mostly in lowland or mountainous rain forests in Africa and Madagascar. However, a limited diversity of plants has adjusted to slightly more arid conditions and can be found in thickets or savanna vegetation [3].
Africa is a botanical continent which corresponds to its geographic distribution.
Although its origin is unknown,
The morphological characteristics of these plant species are depicted in Figures 1–3.
Figure 1.
Soursop tree and leaves (own image).
Figure 2.
Soursop fruit skin (own image).
Figure 3.
Soursop fruit white pulp and seeds (own image).
Its geographic distribution is well documented on the agroforestry species database.
There are some places where tree species have not been not planted but yet introduced as exotic Fruit species like Benin, Cambodia, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Laos, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Reunion, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, US, Vietnam.
Below is a map showing countries where these plant species have been planted. (Figure 4).
Figure 4.
Geographical distribution of
2.1 Botanical description
Coria-Téllez et al., have reported 212 bioactive compounds in
The genus name “annona” is from the Latin word “anon”, meaning “yearly produce”, referring to the fruit production habits of the various species in this genus [9].
2.2 Chemical constituents
There are 212 bioactive chemicals found in
More than 200 bioactive compounds have been isolated from
There are six prominent phytochemicals which have been isolated from
Annonaceous acetogenins are one class of phytochemicals exclusive to the annonacae plant species [10].
2.3 Medicinal uses
A number of medicinal uses have been reported across the globe ranging from the use of leaves, bark, roots, fruits to seeds of
The most widely used preparation in traditional medicine is the decoction of bark, root, seed or leaf but applications are varied. In a number of tropical sub-Saharan countries such as Uganda, all parts are used to treat malaria, stomachache, parasitic infections, diabetes [12], and cancer [13].
The use of graviola leaves extract can cure malaria in tropical countries like Cameroon, Togo, and Vietnam [14, 15, 16]. In Ghana,
In west Africa,
Lately, the medicinal uses of
According to Linn Churchill et al., (1980)
Coria-Téllez et al., (2018) explained that in fruits and roots of
Acetogenins have been reported to show significant antiviral activities against herpes simplex virus-I (HSV-I) (Padma et al., 1998), herpes simplex virus-II (HSV-II) (Betancur-Galvis et al., 1999), human papillomavirus (HPV) (Donne et al., 2017), hepatitis C virus (HCV) (Apriyanto et al., 2018), dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2), human immunodeficiency virus-I (HIV-I) (van de Venter et al., 2014; [12]).
3. Plant based drug for the management of COVID 19: reality or hope?
At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. It rapidly spread, resulting in a global pandemic. The disease is designated COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019 [20].
Corona disease caused by the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a major threat to global health.
Disinfection is one of the trending public health measure implemented in community settings to help in reducing the transmission of the disease by the elimination of the viral agent.
The long term use of these disinfectants can cause skin damage or hypersensitivity [21].
According to A. Taghizadehghalehjoughi et al., graviola has a strong protective effect on PH changes damage induction. Therefore, we recommend the use of graviola after hand disinfections.
In Cameroon, the first case was reported on the 06th March 2020, a traveler who arrived there on the 24th February 2020 from France [22].
The socio-economic and health situations of indigenous people allow them with no alternative to the less expensive readily available traditional concoctions [23].
Cameroon is located in central Africa with a population of over 25 million of young people with a median age of 18.7 years and 41.25% of the population being between zero and 14 years old [24].
In Cameroon, access to health care services is challenging. One out of every 1000 patients is able to see a specialist and 3 out of 20 patients are able to buy prescribed drugs in hospitals [25].
According to E. Fongnzossie Fedoung et al., since the first case was reported in our country, several herbal recipes have been popularized in social media, as alleged solutions to manage COVID 19. According to a recent release from the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation, the Archbishop of Douala, His grace Samuel Kleda, has made public an attempt at treating symptoms of COVID-19 with an herbal remedy, free of charge and the Ministry of Public Health is showing commitment to support the process of development and homologation of this treatment (CRTV, 2020).
Nowadays, the COVID 19 care in Cameroon relies mostly on vaccination and trending public health interventions like wearing a mask in public spaces, the use of hand sanitizers and/or social distancing.
During the pandemic, people were afraid to attend health facilities to get tested for COVID 19 and isolated in specialized treatment centers, also personnel was not well prepared to handle this type of public health emergency.
Confirmed cases were admitted to various hospitals for treatment regimens that included oral chloroquine, azithromycin, immune system support vitamins such as vit C and zinc, and other treatment options for moderate to severe conditions.
Most people experienced mild form of COVID 19 and were admitted in a treatment center in Yaoundé according to Fouda Mbarga et al., [22].
The Ministry of Health encourages people to get the full COVID 19 vaccine, but people prefer to get herbal medicine from the informal sector.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) coronavirus dashboard, from January 3, 2020 to February 21, 2022, in Cameroon, there have been 118,933 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1918 deaths, reported to the organization. As of February 15, 2022, a total of 1,024,333 vaccine doses have been administered [26]. Since the start of the global pandemic, the number of confirmed cases and deaths has increased, according to this situation report.
4. Annona muricata as an antiviral agent for the management of SARS-CoV-2?
According to WHO, the current management of COVID 19 at home of patients or confirmed cases consists mainly of antipyretics for fever and headache, as well as good diet and hydration [27].
Cameroon is among the highest species diversity in Africa, yet herbal medicines is not yet completely acknowledged by the country’s healthcare system, and herbal drug development is limited despite numerous ethnopharmacological surveys on various African plant species.
According to Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa, interest in African traditional medicine is growing as a potential treatment for COVID 19 [28].
Malagasy is the only African country to already have succeeded in producing a potential cure for COVID 19.
Madagascar is the only African country to have previously succeeded in developing a COVID 19 treatment.
Researchers from Madagascar’s Malagasy Institute for Applied Research recently developed COVID Organics, a novel coronavirus antidote (IMRA). According to the country’s president, Rajoelina, it has anti-coronavirus potential [29].
There was no specific antiviral agent or vaccine ready for healthy people at the beginning of the epidemic.
Nowadays, there are many antiviral agents for the treatment of COVID 19 including such hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), chloroquine (CQ), and ivermectine (IVM) that are not yet approved by the FDA and are not recommended for use in the treatment of COVID 19 [30].
Graviola’s bioactive compounds give it a potential antiviral agent, however it’s not optimal.
5. Conclusions
Graviola is not only a medicinal plant but also a food supplement that has been used for decades by indigenous people to face health challenges.
Cameroon is a country with a large biodiversity but has not integrate herbal medicine in the public health system.
The Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Study of Cameroon should investigate
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Dr. Dongmo Michel for providing resources and his precious contribution to the development of this chapter.
Conflict of interest
Lysiane Marese Atcham Amougou declares no conflict of interest regarding the submission and the publication of this book chapter.
| A. muricata | Annona muricata. |
| WAHO | West African Health Organization |
| CRTV | Cameroon Radio Television |
| SARS CoV 2 | severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| IMRA | Malagasy Institute of Applied Research |
| HCQ | hydroxychloroquine |
| CQ | chloroquine |
| IVM | ivermectine |
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