A systematic review of antimalarial medicinal plants in Democratic Republic of the Congo

In Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria is one of the country's major public health issues and responsible for the death of tens of thousands of people every year in both rural and urban environments. Antimalarial drugs are commonly used but some recorded cases of drug resistance are a major obstacle to controlling the spread of malaria. It is therefore essential to identify new bioactive molecules as an alternative. Many medicinal plants with different properties have been used as treatments for a variety of diseases in the DRC, including malaria. This study provides a systematic review of antimalarial plant resources in the DRC. From 28 papers on ethnomedicine published between 2001 and 2019, a total of 232 plant species belonging to 67 different plant families and identified in 13 provinces was reported in the treatment of malaria. A large number of these plant species belong to the Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae, and Apocyanaceae families. Species cited in more than three provinces include Cymbopogon citratus, Vernonia amygdalina, Rauvolfia vomitoria and Catharanthus roseus. Most of the species identified as antimalarial plants were tree species, with phanerophytes predominating. In addition, leaves were identified as the main ingredients for preparing remedies, most commonly by decoction administered orally.