A systematic review on biological and medicinal properties of Ehretia rigida (Thunb.) Druce (Ehretiaceae) in Southern Africa

Wild plants are widely utilized as important sources of traditional medicines and food. Ehretia rigida (Thunb.) is one such plant species that occurs naturally in southern Africa and different parts of the plant have nutritional, cultural, and pharmaceutical importance. The current study is aimed at providing information on the medicinal and biological properties of E. rigida. The current review assessed the existing literature on the biological properties and medicinal uses of the plant. The study revealed that the leaves, twigs, stems, bark and roots of the plant are mainly used for ritual purposes, as traditional medicines for infertility, headache, abdominal pains, chest pains, pain, skin cuts, sprained joints, newborn baby infections, a good-luck charm, fire-making and rain-making ceremonies, warding-off enemies and dangerous animals and as ethnoveterinary medicine. The phytochemical evaluation of the species showed that it is characterized by allantoin, ?-amyrin, ?-amyrin, ?avonoids, phenolics, saponins, tannins, ?-sitosterol and 1-triacontanol. The pharmacological properties of different crude extracts demonstrated anticholinesterase inhibition, antifungal, antibacterial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. This review highlights the pharmaceutical and health benefits of E. rigida in different countries of southern Africa. Therefore, detailed ethnopharmacological evaluations of the species focusing on phytochemistry, pharmacological properties, toxicological evaluations, and in vivo and clinical research investigations are recommended.