Nutraceutical Potential of Fadogia ancylantha, Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights.

Africa is endowed with a variety of floral biodiversity and unique indigenous knowledge systems regarding the utilization of plants among communities. However, Africa’s contribution to global bioeconomy remains minimal, largely due to lack of investment in research and development (R&D), human capacity development and poor propriety regulations in most African countries. The objectives of this paper are three-fold: i) to present the phytoconstituents isolated from Fadogia ancylantha that have shown antidiabetic activities in C2C12 and Chang myocytes, ii) to examine the role of intellectual property rights in promoting products derived from natural resources and indigenous knowledge, and iii) to discuss barriers and enablers associated with phytomedicine research in Africa. Using bioassay-guided fractionation, bioactive compounds were isolated and characterized by various spectroscopic methods.

The polar active component provided four compounds: acetylchalcone, glucosidic chalcone, hydrocoumarin and glucosidic coumarin. Equimolar of pure compounds in C2C12 cells gave relative glucose uptakes of 151.06±0.11, 143.88±0.11, 170.47±0.08 and 153.76±0.09%, respectively; which were statistically higher (p<0.05) than 130.36±0.06 and 137.47±0.06% obtained for insulin and metformin, respectively. These results were consistent with the traditional use of the plant. Except for the Nagoya Protocol on Genetic Resources, exploitation of innovations based on indigenous knowledge appear to face legal challenges when subjected to most trade agreements. Globally, IP refers to the claim of ownership, which does not necessarily apply to communities who act as custodians and keepers of the knowledge. Therefore, African countries need to be capacitated to ratify the Nagoya Protocol for improved economic benefits from biodiversity [1] [2].

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
13. Dezember 2021

• References

• 1 Nyirenda K.K, Kalenga Saka J.D. 2014; Antidiabetic and antioxidant activities of phytoconstituents from Fadogia ancylantha . Pharma Nutrition 2 (03) 84-86
• 2 Sherman B, Henry R.J. The Nagoya Protocol and historical collections of plants. Nature Plants 2020; 6 (05) 430-432