Brachystegia eurycoma is a leguminous plant that is is popular amongst the people of the Southern part of Nigeria for its ethnomedicinal and nutritional values.. However, this legume has been grossly underutilized despite the promise that it holds for food and drug development. Hence, this review sheds light on the past and present state of research as well as the way to go regarding future research on the nutritional and medicinal values of Brachystegia eurycoma (B. eurycoma) with a view to inciting research interests that may lead to food and drug development from the plant. This review which is based on a literature search of scientific journals and books from the library and electronic sources revealed that the seeds possess most of the nutritional and medicinal value of the plant. Extracts and pure isolated compounds from the plant have been reported to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, wound healing, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and blood glucose lowering activities as well as lipid profile, liver enzyme and gastrointestinal motility modulation activities. Toxicological evaluation of extracts from this plant did not show any significant acute and sub-acute toxicity in rodents. Evaluation of the gums from the seeds of the plant shows it has promise for application as food and pharmaceutical adjutants. Taken together, the findings from this review have unveiled the need for further scientific exploration of the constituents of B. eurycoma as potential sources of new food/nutritional adjuvant and medicines.
Key words: nutritional, chemical constituents, pharmacology, Brachystegia eurycoma
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