THERE is a long and esteemed history of the use ofProsopis Africana as a chewing stick to improvedental health and promote oral hygiene in south western part of Nigeria. But almost all parts of Prosopis Africana have their medicinal uses ranging from dysentery, malaria, sore throat to the relieve of bronchitis.Prosopis Africana, commonly referred to as kirya in Hausa, ayan in Yoruba), ubwo in Igbo and sanchi in Nupe, is a shrub used for menstrual and general body pain in Nupe land in North central Nigeria. For instance, in Mali, the leaves, bark, twigs and roots are used to treat and relieve bronchitis, dermatitis, tooth decay, dysentery, malaria and stomach cramp.Although many people might be skeptical about the efficacy of Prosopis Africana in the treatment of pains, including menstrual pain, but this age long claim in Nupe is true considering the findings of a study.This was a 2010 study entitled Analgesic and Anti-inflammatory effects of the methanol stem bark extract of Prosopis Africana.The study published in the... was carried out by Lydia O. Ayanwuyi and Olajumoke M. Abodunde, Department of Pharmacology and Clinical pharmacy, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in collaboration with Abdullahi H. Yaro from the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Bayero University, Kano.In this study, the methanol extract of the stem bark of Prosopis Africana at different doses was evaluated for pain relieve and anti-inflammatory activities in rats.The researchers found that the pain relieving effect of the methanol extract of the stem bark of Prosopis Africana was comparable to piroxicam, a standard drug used for treatment of pain, thus supporting the folkloric claim of the use of Prosopis africana in the management of pain.It has been reported that the root decoction of P. africana is used to treat toothache in Ghana and the bark and root used to treat and relieve tooth decay in Mali. The findings from a 2009 study that gave a scientific basis for such traditional medicine practices indicated both the stem and root of the P. Africana as a potential candidate plant parts in dentrifice production.The researchers assessed the effectiveness of the aqueous and ethanol extract of root and stem of Prosopis africana against disease-causing germs such as Candida albicans, Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. They reported in the World Journal of Agricultural Sciences that these extracts exhibited inhibitory effect on the growth of these tested micro-organisms.In Nigeria, the juice expressed from the stem bark of P. Africana is applied on open wounds as an astringent and to cleanse the wound surface. The bark is also crushed to a pulp and placed on the wound surface as a dressing. Due to its use in wound treatment in traditional medicine, scientists evaluated the potentials of this plant as wound care agent by studying effects of its stem bark extract on different parameters of wound care.Adult Swiss albino rats and mice of either sex bred were used for the study while fresh stem bark of P. Africana were cut into small pieces, dried under the sun and reduced to coarse powder using a mechanical blender before it was extracted with methanol.The study involved A. C. Ezike, P. A. Akah, C. O. Okoli, S. Udegbunam, N. Okwume, C. Okeke, and O. Iloani from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. It was part of the 2010 publication of the Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Science.The effects of the methanol extract of the P. Africana on parameters of wound care revealed its constituents has the ability to arrest bleeding from fresh wounds, inhibit the growth of bacterial wound contaminants and accelerate wound healing by enhancing the natural tissue growth and repair processes for wound to heal in a dose-related fashion.However, the researchers suggested that the achieved reduction in coagulation time by the extract suggested that it was able to stop bleeding from a wound by accelerating the coagulation process.Quite surprising was the finding that the methanol extract stimulate mechanisms associated with tissue regeneration far better than neomycin-bacitracin, a conventional medicine used for wound dressing.Microbial contamination poses a great threat to timely and successful healing of wounds. Unfortunately, wounds provide environment conducive for the growth of several germs such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens.Their evaluation of the antimicrobial activity showed that the methanol extract of P. africana inhibited the growth of cultures of these disease-casuing germs to varying extents, so suggesting that it can be used to protect wounds from contamination or infections related to these germs.Invariably, this would enhance wound healing by allowing the natural tissue growth and repair processes already activated at the time of wound creation to proceed unhindered.They wrote, The P. African methanol extract may also provide the additional benefit of accelerating the healing of contaminated wounds by eradicating already established infection by susceptible microorganisms.
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