EXPLORING THE ANTIMALARIAL POTENTIAL OF MEDICINAL PLANTS: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF IN-VIVO AND IN-VITRO STUDIES

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a fatal disease caused by Plasmodium parasites infects millions of people each year Worldwide specifically in tropical and subtropical regions. Despite global control efforts limited access to healthcare persist. Objectives: The main aim was to summarize and evaluate antimalarial potential of various plant extracts and their therapeutic potential against Malaria. Methods: Databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of science core collection, Scopus and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) were thoroughly searched for studies on antimalarial herbs. Keywords such as "medicinal plants," "antimalarial activity," and "ethnomedicine" were used to retrieve specific information. Relevant information like Plant species, parts used, extraction method, solvents used, efficacy, and toxicity were extracted from peer-reviewed papers. Results: This study summarizes the antiplasmodial potential of 50 plant families and 124 individual plants through both in-vivo and in-vitro evaluations. Prominent families like Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Rubiaceae demonstrated the highest antiplasmodial activity. In-vivo, Bidens pilosa achieved 100% suppression, while Euphorbia abyssinica and Strychnos mitis showed significant suppression rates of 93.69% and 95.5%, respectively. Leaves showed the highest recovery, with plants like N sativa and S mitis emphasizing their importance in in-vivo studies. In vitro, Asteraceae, Annonaceae, and Euphorbiaceae stood out, with Annona muricata and Artemisia roxburghiana also exhibited notable IC50 values of 12.2 µg/mL and 0.42 µg/mL respectively, reinforcing their potential for further investigation. The dominance of leaves as the primary plant part used for extraction further highlighted their high recovery rates and broad activity spectrum across both study types. Conclusion: This review study emphasizes the potential of medicinal plants as a vital source of antimalarial drugs, citing promising efficacy and safety findings in both traditional and scientific studies. These findings highlight the need for additional research to identify bioactive chemicals and development of low-cost, plant-based treatments for malaria Treatment around the world.