Medicinal uses and biological activities of knobbly bushwillow (Combretum mossambicense)

Combretum mossambicense (Klotzsch) Engl. is a deciduous climber, which sometimes grows into a shrub or a slender tree widely used in traditional medicine in tropical Africa. This study was aimed at reviewing the medicinal uses and ethnopharmacological activities of C. mossambicense. Results from the current investigation showed that C. mossambicense is used as a source of traditional medicines in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia, that is, 66.7% of the countries where the taxon is indigenous. Herbal medicines prepared from leaf sap, bark, roots, leaves, roots and whole plant parts of C. mossambicense are used as laxative, and traditional medicine against earache, constipation, diarrhoea, dysentery, eye problems, fever, gonorrhoea, pain, parasites, swellings and toothache. The crude extracts of C. mossambicense exhibited anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. It is recommended that advanced ethnopharmacological research focusing on chemical, pharmacology, safety, in vivo, pre-clinical and clinical studies involving C. mossambicense extracts should be prioritized.