or years, people had associated camwood with the dye used to decorate the skin for beauty purposes. But this wood, from which this red dye is extracted, can proffer effective cure for many health problems ranging from diarrhoea, swollen joints, tooth problems to skin problems such as abscesses.
Researchers looking at the constituents of Baphia nitida, the hard-wooded African tree from which camwood is extracted, found its inclusion in ointments for wound care could ensure good wound healing and treatment of abscesses in animal studies.
Camwood is commonly referred to as osun in Yoruba. Baphia nitida, also referred to African sandalwood is known among the Igbo, Yoruba, and Effik as Aboshi, Irosun and Ubara, respectively.
African sandalwood provides a red gum, which is very much used in folk medicine for treating various health problems, including skin disorders, skin, wounds care and infected umbilical cords. Its leaves have been found useful in the treatment of sprain, nosebleed, arthritis, rheumatism and asthma.
The young leaves are used as vegetables in Akwa Ibom State and the Igbo-speaking areas of eastern Nigeria, as well as folder for goats. The twigs and small branches are popularly used as chewing-sticks. The pulp is sweet and silky.
Leaves of B. nitida had been used to arrest bleeding in fresh cut. Leaves of B. nitida are used in folk medicine for the treatment of inflamed and infected umbilical cords in Nigeria.
In the study, the researchers tested a formulated ointment made with Baphia nitida extract (BNE) in comparison with Phenylbutazone cream, a conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug commonly prescribed for the management of skin problems such as abscesses.
The topical application of the ointment made with Baphia nitida extract, the researchers in a 2011 edition of International Journal of Biosciences said could enhance wound healing, if applied especially in the first two days after the cut.
They found that BNE at 1 per cent achieved a comparable wound healing time with phenylbutazone. But the response at 2% was better.
The researcher’s reporting that this plant has significant anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties, said the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of various types of pains and inflammation, wounds cicatrisation and healing is justifiable.
In another study, researchers found the stem barks and leaves of Baphia nitida, a good raw material to prepare a larvicidal to control mosquitoes. It kills larvae of Aedes aegypti.
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This study entitled “Activities of Some Nigerian Medicinal Plants against Aedes aegypti” was published in 2012 September edition of the journal, Chinese Medicine. It involved Adeleke Clement Adebajo; Funmilayo Gladys Famuyiwa; Juliet Donatus John; Ekemini Sunday Idem; and Adebowale Olusoji Adeoye.
They found that extracts of its stem bark and leaves were a natural larvicidals such as Costus specious root and Xylopia aethiopica seed. Hence, they may be used as plant larvicides in the control of dengue and yellow fever.
The use of plants during pregnancy is a common practice in Africa. A survey carried out in Côte d’Ivoire listed Baphia nitida among plants used to ensure foetus development and facilitate childbirth. In Nigeria, the seeds are eaten by Igbo people and the twigs are used by Igbo people as chewing sticks.
Researcher’s in the 2008 survey of herbal markets and medicinal markets in Lagos state indicated in the publication, Ethnobotanical leaflets, that its leaves, bark, root and twigs are used for medical conditions such as constipation, skin diseases, venereal diseases, ringworm, enema, flatulence and smallpox.
Previously in 2006, researchers in a finding published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, suggested that the leaf extract of Baphia nitida has sedative, anxiolytic and skeletal muscle-relaxant effects and support its neurosedative use in traditional African medicine.
In the study carried out by Adeyemi O.O., Yemitan O.K. and Taiwo A.E., from the Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, showed a dose-dependent relaxation effect.
Its water extract, another 1992 study in Phytotherapy Research also found to reduce rate and force of contraction of the heart muscles, under laboratory conditions, thus corroborating its use in treating palpitation locally so making it useful for the treatment of heart disease problems.
African sandalwood root possess haematopoietic activity that could possibly remedy anaemia. Researchers investigating the possible usefulness of the ethanolic root extract of Baphia nitida in the treatment of anaemia in animals found it caused a significant increase in packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, and red blood cell counts.
This 2013 study was published in the International Journal of Modern Biology and Medicine and entitled: “Phytochemical Screening and Haemopoetic Study of the Ethanolic Root Extract of Baphia nitida Lodd on Albino Rats”. It was carried on by Joseph Okon, Godwin Esenowo, Godwin Etim and Nse Umoh, all from the Department of Botany and Ecological Studies, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
According to them, further investigation its chemical constituents that boost blood level is required to substantiate its ethnomedicinal usage of this plant.