Review of the Ethno-medical, Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Toxicological Studies on Dissotis rotundifolia (Sm.) Triana

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Dissotis rotundifolia (Sm.) Triana, commonly called ‘pink lady’, is employed in West and Eastern African folkloric medicine for managing a number of infections including dysentery, cough and sexually transmitted infections. The review aims at highlighting the traditional benefits, ethno-medical, phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological importance of the plant.

Materials and Methods: Excerpta Medica database, Google Scholar, Springer and PubMed Central, were the electronic databases used to search for and filter primary studies on Dissotis rotundifolia.

Results: This summary of relevant pharmacological, phytochemical and toxicological data from primary studies on D. rotundifolia gives a telling indication of its potential therapeutic benefits as a chemotherapeutic agent and possibly as a source of compounds with contraceptive potential.

Conclusion: This concise review on D. rotundifolia will be relevant in identification of areas of further research with the focus of identifying biologically active compounds which hold prospect in therapy.