Double Nn Artemisia afra, a photography originating of the internet site http://sophy.u-3mrs.fr/. The accord of the autor, H. Brisse, is here.
Artemisia afra, commonly known as “Umhlonyane” in Xhosa, “Mhlonyane” in Zulu, “Lanyana” in Sotho, “Lengana” in Tswana, “Wilde als” in Afrikaans, and “African wormwood” in English, is a Southern to Eastern African daisy (Haile & Jiru, 2022; Liu et al., 2008). This perennial shrub blossoms with bright, yellow flowers from January to June. It has an aromatic smell that turns pungent and sweet when bruised.
Artemisia afra, named after the Greek goddess Artemis, is the one of the most employed herbs for medicine in Southern Africa. It is known for healing coughs, colds, headaches, chills, dyspepsia, loss of appetite, gastric derangements, colic, croup, whooping-cough, gout, asthma, malaria, diabetes, bladder and kidney disorders, influenza, convulsions, fever, heart inflammation, and rheumatism (Liu et al., 2008). For whooping cough and diphtheria, the leaves are boiled to inhale the steam and afterwards to drink the infusion (Cock & Van, 2020). A recipe for this infusion is to pour ¼ cup (59mL) of fresh leaves into 1 cup (237mL) of boiling water for 10 minutes. Other preparations include syrups for bronchial troubles and treating colds and headaches by sticking its tips into the nose.
Additionally, the phytochemicals in A. afra include tannins, saponins, triterpenes, α- and β-amyrin, friedelin, ceryl cerotinate, and n-nonacosane (Afolayan & Sunmonu, 2012). Most of the research on this herb is focused on its volatile secondary metabolites (Liu et al., 2008). A. afra’s dominant constituents in its essential oils are α- and β-thujone, 1, 8-cineole, and α- pinene. A. afra extracts are capable of obstructing mycobacterial growth because of the phytochemicals sequiterpene lactones artemin and arsubin (Martini et al., 2020). In consequence, A. afra extracts can fight against myocobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), though it is weaker than its counterpart A. annua.
In the end, Artemisia afra or African wormwood is a versatile herb that can heal a wide range of respiratory illnesses along with other ailments such as swelling, ear infections, neuralgia, toothaches, infantile colic, measles, intestinal parasites, diabetes, and heartburn (Haile & Jiru, 2022; Liu et al., 2008). As a result of its antimicrobial abilities through its phenolic chemicals, A. afra is a widespread medicinal plant in Southern and Eastern Africa and is even considered a flagship herb for establishing Traditional African Medicine.
References
Afolayan, A. J., & Sunmonu, T. O. (2012). Protective role of Artemisia afra aqueous extract on tissue antioxidant defense systems in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM, 10(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajtcam.v10i1.3
Cock, I. E., & Van Vuuren, S. F. (2020). The traditional use of southern African medicinal plants for the treatment of bacterial respiratory diseases: A review of the ethnobotany and scientific evaluations. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 263, 113204.
Haile, A. B., & Jiru, T. M. (2022). Antibacterial Effects of Artemisia afra Leaf Crude Extract Against Some Selected Multi-Antibiotic Resistant Clinical Pathogens. Ethiopian journal of health sciences, 32(3), 651–660. https://doi.org/10.4314/ejhs.v32i3.22
Liu, N. Q., Van der Kooy, F., & Verpoorte, R. (2008). Artemisia afra: A Potential Flagship for African Medicinal Plants? South African Journal of Botany, 75(2), 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2008.11.001
Martini, M. C., Zhang, T., Williams, J. T., Abramovitch, R. B., Weathers, P. J., & Shell, S. S. (2020). Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra Extracts Exhibit Strong Bactericidal Activity Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 262, 113191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113191
