Evaluation of Medicinal, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Properties of Portulacaria afra Jacq. (Family: Didiereaceae).Pak J Biol Sci. 2025 Apr; 28(5):274-282.PJ
Portulacaria afra Jacq. is an evergreen succulent shrub or small tree widely used in traditional medicine. The fleshy leaves of P. afra are eaten raw and the plant species is also a valuable stock feed and ornamental plant. The current study was aimed at documenting medicinal and traditional uses of P. afra and its phytochemical and pharmacological properties. Research articles on medicinal uses and ethnopharmacological properties of P. afra were searched from online databases such as SpringerLink[®], PubMed[®], Google Scholar, Web of Science, ScienceDirect[®], Scopus[®] and SciELO and also pre-electronic literature obtained from the university library. Portulacaria afra is used as traditional medicine for sores, wounds, skin infections, diabetes, diarrhea, fever, hypertension, kidney ailments, respiratory infections, mouth ulcers, earaches and pain. Chemical compounds identified from P. afra include aliphatic ketones, alkanes, alkenes, aromatic compounds, benzoic acid derivatives, esters, fatty acids, flavonoids, phenanthrenes, phenols, steroids and triterpenoids. Portulacaria afra crude extracts demonstrated analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, glucose utilization, anti-quorum sensing, antioxidant, antiplasmodial, tyrosinase inhibition and cytotoxicity activities. This review highlights the need for detailed ethnopharmacological studies of P. afra focusing on its phytochemical, biological and toxicological properties, in vivo and clinical studies.
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