African plants heal the world

Seminars held by Prof. Kobus Eloff, University of Pretoria, on the use of knowledge of traditional African medicine in human and animal health

May 16, 2018

15.00-16.30: Success stories in delivering commercially useful plant products in animal and human health
16.30-18.00: Why is such a limited success in commercializing African plants

Academy of Sciences, Sala Ulisse
Via Zamboni 33 - Bologna

Official language: English

Although Africa is home to 10% of the world's higher plant species on just 2% of the Earth's surface area, only around 8% of these plant species are used for human and animal medicines. If African medicinal plants were used as intensively as plants from Europe, 22 times more plants would become commercially useful products.

Professor Kobus Eloff, Department of Paraclinical Sciences of the University of Pretoria - South Africa - is the leader of a multidisciplinary programme in phytomedicine at the same University. Since 1995, the programme has investigated the therapeutically useful ­compounds found in plants that grow in South Africa for the benefit of both people and animals.

The first seminar is mainly addressed to doctoral students but anyone is welcome to take part. The second one is instead of a more informative nature and is open to students of different disciplines and cycles.

15.00-16.30: Success stories in delivering commercially useful plant products in animal and human health

Brief Description: Nature has been a source of medicinal products for millennia. To select plants for further study traditional knowledge or random screening can be used. In some cases, random screening gave excellent results.

16.30-18.00: Why is such a limited success in commercializing African plants

Brief Description: African contains about 21.1% of the world's highest plant species yet only 7.6% of Africa's plant species are commercialized as herbal medicines. It will be discussed.