Bowiea volubilis (a highly traded southern African medicinal plant) – Potion, poison or placebo?

Bowiea volubilis Harv. Ex Hook. f., known as igibisila in isiZulu is a member of the family Hyacinthaceae, it is widely distributed in the eastern part of South Africa. B volubilis bulbs have been utilized in the treatment of various ailments and the plant is a popular medicinal plant and is amongst the top 14% of the most traded plants in South Africa.

The aims of the study were to carry out a comparative evaluation of the pharmacological properties of the extracts of B. volubilis bulbs grown in the garden against the ones obtained from the muthi market and produced in vitro. Pharmacological properties evaluated included using antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory bioassays. The bulb extracts were also evaluated for their possible mutagenic effect. The phytochemical profile of bulbs was also investigated. Results indicated that despite the popularity of the plant in the medicinal trade the supposed uses for the extracts did not necessarily correlate with their pharmacological properties. The antibacterial effect of a number of extracts indicated that the plant does not have significant anti-microbial activity. The plant shows good anti-inflammatory activity which is probably the reason it is regularly prescribed (Masondo, et al, 2013). Bowiea does contain a number of cardiac glycoside which acquaints to the plant “strength” as a prescribed medicine but may also account for the reported death of some patients due to incorrect dosages. Surprisingly the in vitro produced plants appear to have more secondary metabolites in their makeup than outdoor grown ones.

In this paper we will discuss the uses and abuse of this highly traded medicinal plant.

Reference:

[1] Masondo, N.A., Ndhlala A.R., Aremu, A.O., Van Staden, J and Finnie, J.F. (2013) A comparison of the pharmacological properties of garden cultivated and muthi market-sold Bowiea volubilis. South African Journal of Botany. 86: 135 – 138