The document provides detailed information on various Nigerian medicinal plants, including their botanical names, family classifications, common names, and local uses. It describes the ethnomedical uses, biological activities, chemical constituents, and dosage forms for plants such as Carica papaya, Moringa oleifera, Jatropha curcas, Ricinus communis, and Zingiber officinale. Each plant is highlighted for its specific medicinal properties and applications in traditional medicine.

1. Common Nigerian Medicinal Plants
 Botanical name: Carica papaya L
 Family: Caricaceae
 Synonyms: Carica hermaphrodita Blanco; Carica mamaya Vellon
 Common names: Pawpaw; melon tree, mummy apple, Papaya
 Local names: Gwanda, gwadda (Hausa) ; Igi-Ibepè (Yoruba); Ogede ojo(Ibo).
 Description of the drug: Pawpaw consists of leaf or fruit or root of Carica
papaya L. (Caricaceae).
 Description of the plant: A soft-wooed plant with a palm-like appearance often
planted but sometimes grow wild on farmlands. The stem is usually unbranched
and hollow. The plant has plenty of latex. The leaves are dark-green, very large
and deeply lobed
 Flowers: flowers are normally dioecious. The plant carries its inflorences in the
axils of the upper leaves. The female flowers are much larger than the male and
are more or less without stalk (sessile)

2. Fruits: have various shapes and sizes, oblong, globular or round, often five-angled. They are
smooth, bright orange in color when ripe. The pulp is thick and yellow-orange in colour. The
center of the berry is a hollow cavity, with numerous small dark green or brown seeds enclosed
in a mucilaginous mass
The fruit is edible and rich in vitamin A and C. the sap of the plant contains a ferment which
has the property of coagulating milk and of softening or digesting the fibrous tissues of fresh,
hence used as a meat tenderizer, either by adding a piece of unripe fruit to the water when
cooking or by wrapping the meat in leaves to roast or bake , or a preliminary for some hour to
any method of cooking
Ethnomedical uses
 The infusion of fresh or dried leaves is used to treat against febrile illness. The leaf
decoction is used to treat hernia, malaria, urogenital pain, gonorrhoea and cancer.
 The root paste is dissolved in warm water and used as an enema to treat abdominal pain. It
is also mixed with palm oil and used as a poultice to treat whitlow
 The decoction of the unripe fruit is a remedy for jaundice, sickle cell anaemia and hepatitis.

3.  Biological and pharmacological activities
 Many scientific studies have been undertaken to validate some of the plant’s much-
acclaimed pharmacological actions including antimicrobial (amoebicide, bacteriostatic);
stomachic, vermifuge; galactogogue; oxytoxic; digestive; styptic; wound-healing and
carminative
 Chemical constituents: Phenyl-propanoids (caffeic acid), Alkaloids (carpaine 9
dihydrocarpaine I and II, pseudo-carpaïne, cotinine, myosmine, nicotine, choline, pyridine,
carpasamine) Carotenoids (β-carotene, ε-carotene, cryptoxanthin), Sterols (β-sitosterol;
dehydroavenosterol, compesterol, cholesterol, stigmasterol)
 Dosage
 Decoction: 30 g of dried leaves in 900 ml of water, boil until reduced to 600 ml, 1 teaspoon
three times a day. Infusion: 30 g of dried leaves in 600 ml of water, 1 teaspoon three times a
day 1:5 tincture in alcohol 50% 5 ml times a day; latex: 10-20 g mixed with honey and
warm water after every meal

4.  Botanical name: Moringa oleifera Lam.
 Family: Moringaceae
 Synonyms: Moringa pterygosperma Gaern. (I), Moringa
aptera
 Common names: Horse radish Tree; Drumstick Tree;
Ben Oil Tree; Miracle Tree; Clarifier Tree; Kelor Tree;
Mother’s Best Friend, French; Mourongue; Moringa
 Local names: Zogale-gandi, zogale, (Hausa) ; Ewe
Igbale (Yuroba); Odudu oyibo, Okwe oyibo (I) (Ibo).
 Description of the drug: Moringa consists of the fresh or
dried leaf of Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae).
 Description of the plant: Small to medium sized
perennial tropical tree, up to 12 m high at maturity, with
drooping branches; stem brittle with a corky bark;
commonly grown in some African countries as living

5.  Morphological part used as crude drug: leaf
 Other parts used: Seed, Flower, Fruit and Root
 Ethnomedical uses: One most notable use of Moringa leaf powder is for the treatment and
prevention of malnutrition, especially in children
 Leaves: The leaves as poultice, is applied to sores or rubbed on the temples as a treatment for
headaches. The poultice of leaves is also used in reducing glandular swellings. The leaves are
used as a purgative, to promote digestion and in traditional medicine as a hypocholesterolemic
agent in obese individuals
 Biological and pharmacological activities
 Pterygospermin isolated from the flowers and seeds is bacteriocidal and fungicidal, Moringine
and moringinine are similar to ephedrine pharmacologically but moringinine is more active than
moringine.
 The plant is also reported to be useful as antifertility, anticonvulsant, hypoglycaemic,
 anti inflammatory and antiviral activities

6. Chemical constituents: Estrogenic substances (including β-sitosterol);
pectinesterase; pterygospermin; alkaloids (moringine and moringinine);
acetylated glycosides (e.g. niaziminin A, niaziminin B niazirin, niazirinin) β-
carotene, reducing sugars; tannins, flavonoids and cardiac glycosides.
Precautions for use
Caution should be taken in the administration of the aqueous extract in patients
with compromised renal and liver functions.
Adverse effects
Possible increase in serum creatinine at high doses with elevated ALP and GGT.
Contraindications
Renal and liver diseases
Dosage forms
Powder, decoction, tincture

7.  Jathropa curcas family Euphobiaceae
 Synonyms: Castiglionia lobata Ruiz & Pav; Curcas
adansonii Endl; Curcas curcas (L.); Curcas indica A
 Common names: Physic nut, Barbados nut or purging nut
 Nigerian names: Bini-dazugu or Chini-dazugu (Hausa);
Iyalode (Yoruba)
Brief description of the plant: is an ornamental, medicinal and
a multipurpose shrub. Each fruit contains 2-3 oblong seeds
those are matured when the capsule changes from green to
yellow.
DEFINITION OF THE CRUDE DRUG
 The drug consist of dried, ripe seed of Jatropha curcas Linn
family Euphorbiaceae

8. ETHNOMEDICAL USES
Root decoction is used in treatment of dysentery. The leaf decoction is
used for gonorrhoea. A leaf decoction with natron is used by women in Nigeria as a
wash for a month before childbirth.
They are also used as enema for jaundice. The oil from the seed has a strong purgative
effect when taken.
Its an ingredient in a popular oily extract in Hausa medicament called Kurfi; used for
rheumatism, itching and parasitic skin diseases. The chief poison in the plant is
curcin. The seed in a mixture with euphobia latex are used in the hausa medicament
called gunguma, for poisoning corn as a bait for guinea fowl

9. RICINUS CUMMINIS Euphorbiaceae
 Synonyms: Ricinus speciosus Burm, Ricinus viridis Willd
 Common names: Castor oil seed, Palma Christi, Ricin
 Nigerian names: Zurman, Zurman kulakula, Dan
kwasape (Hausa), Ogili-ugba, Ogilisi (Ibo), Lara,
Lapalapa adete (Yoruba)
 Brief description of the plant: Ever-green shrub or small
tree, erect, hollow, growing to about 10 m in its natural
habitats, but much smaller, about 2-3 m, when cultivated
in selected fields. The stem turns green or brownish-red
when old. Leaves are petiolated, green or red.
 DEFINITION OF THE CRUDE DRUG
 Castor oil is the dried, ripe seed of Ricinus communis Linn
family Euphorbiaceae

10.  MORPHOLOGICAL PART(S) USED AS CRUDE DRUG
Seed
 ETHNOMEDICAL USES
 The fixed oil (castor oil) is laxative, purgative, lubricant and as emollient.
 The whole seed is contraceptive, Antidote in food poisoning
Chemical Constituents
 50% fixed oils, 26% protein
 0.2% ricinine (an alkaloid)
 Ricin (a toxin)
 An enzyme, lipase
 BIOLOGICALACTIVITY PROFILE
 Castor oil is well known for its strong laxative (and in higher doses cathartic or purgative) action,
prompting a bowel movement about 3-8 hours after oral administration. The oil is used as such in cases of
food poisoning
 DOSAGE
 At 15-60 ml adult dose, best taken before breakfast. As a topical application in bedsores

11.  Botanical name: Zingiber officinale Roscoe
 Family: Zingiberaceae
 Synonyms: Amomum zingiber L. Zingiber blancoi
Massk., Zingiber majus Rumph
 Common names: Ginger, Nigerian ginger
 Local names: Citta mai yatsu, citta (Hausa) ; Igi-Ibepè,
atale funfun (Yoruba); Ogede ojo, jinja, ose ala (Ibo).
 Definition of the drug: Ginger consists of the rhizome of
Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae).
Description of the plant: Description of the plant
Ginger is rhizomatous, perennial plant of two kinds: erect
stems of 1-1.5 m in height with linear lanceolate, alternate,
smooth, sheathing leaves, which die off each year, greenish
pale colour (sterile stems) and the other, of about 20 cm or

12. less in height (fertile stems, carrying sheathing bracts) with short, stable, yellowish-green flowers, terminating
in a long curve spike; each flower shows a superior tubular calyx, orange-yellow corolla with three lobes and
inferior 3-celled ovary with tufted stigma; fruit is a capsule with small argillite seeds; tuberous, branched
rhizome, spreads and proliferates underground .
Ethnomedical uses: used in the treatment of rectal prolapse, toothache, voice hoarseness, cough,colds, flu,
neusea and vomiting, asthma, flatulence, fever, colic, dysmenorrhea, diarrhoe, inflammation
Chemical constituents
 Volatile oil (oleo-resin): monoterpenes [8-phellandrene, (+)-camphene, cineole, citral, borneol];
sesquiterpenes (zingiberene, bisabolene); gingerols; vitamin B group (niacin, ribloflavin, thiamin); vitamin C

13. Biological and pharmacological activities
 Ginger has diverse phytopharmacological properties. It has circulatory, digestive, central nervous
system and gastrointestinal stimulating actions; it increases peristalsis and promotes bile secretion. In
vitro studies have shown that many constituents of ginger have antiinflammatory properties
Adverse effects
 Excessive dosage may cause gastrointestinal disorders.
Contraindications
 Patients with gastric ulcer and those on anticoagulant therapy
Dosage forms
 Powder; tincture; ginger syrup (Syrupus Zingiberis)
 For most purposes a typical dose of ginger is 1-4 g daily, taken in divided doses
 Infusion: fresh root, infused for 5 minutes: 1 teaspoon
 Decoction: put 1-1.5 teaspoonfuls of the powder in a cup of water.
 Tincture: 1:2 in 75% alcohol; 0.25-5 ml three times a day