Botanical species · safety record

Prunus africana

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 4 constituent measurements and 3 adverse-effect records for Prunus africana. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkman

4Constituent measurements
3Safety records
7Cited sources
234Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 234 licensed products naming Prunus africana as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

  • Dry
  • Extract Type TBA

Source material stated

  • Aged bark
  • Bark
  • Bark (trunk)
  • Bark and buds
  • Bark extract
  • Branch bark
  • New material
  • Prunus africana

What the records describe

Constituents measured

  • Cyanogenic glycosides1
  • Lignans1
  • Proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins)1
  • Saponins1

Plant parts

  • Bark4
  • Leaves1
  • Live plants1
  • Unspecified1

Preparations

  • Solvent extraction6

Effect types

  • Systemic2
  • Hemopoietic1

Target tissues

  • Cardiovascular2
  • haematological2

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

SubstancePlant partPreparationConcentrationAnalytical methodSource
Proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins)LeavesSolvent extraction78.1 PercentElement spectroscopyResolve DOI
Cyanogenic glycosidesUnspecified——UnspecifiedNo resolvable identifier
LignansBarkSolvent extraction—Colorimetry, Spectroscopy (Spectrometry) and PhotometryNo resolvable identifier
SaponinsLive plantsSolvent extraction—IR and Raman SpectroscopyNo resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

EffectTarget tissuePlant partPreparationTest organismTest typeSource
SystemicCardiovascular / haematologicalBarkSolvent extractionRat (as animal)Short-term toxicityResolve DOI
Systemic—BarkSolvent extractionHouse mouse (as animal)Acute toxicityResolve DOI
HemopoieticCardiovascular / haematologicalBarkSolvent extractionRat (as animal)SubchronicNo resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

  1. Gathumbi, PK., Mwangi, JW., Mugera, GM., Njiro, SM. Toxicity of chloroform extract of Prunus africana stem bark in rats: Gross and histological lesions . Phytotherapy research, 2002, vol. 16, no. 3, p. 244-247. DOI
  2. Gathumbi, PK., Mwangi, JW., Njiro, SM., Mugera, GM. Biochemical and haematological changes in rats administered an aqueous extract of Prunus africana stem-bark at various dosage levels. ONDERSTEPOORT JOURNAL OF VETERINARY RESEARCH, 2000, vol. 67, no. 2, p. 123-128.
  3. Karani, L. W., Tolo, F. M., Karanja, S. M., Khayeka-Wandabwa, C. Safety of Prunus africana and Warburgia ugandensis in asthma treatment. South african journal of botany, 2013, vol. 88, p. 183-190. DOI
  4. Nieri, E., Bilia, A. R., Morelli, I. New lignans from Prunus africana Hook. Rivista italiana eppos, 1996, p. 27-31.
  5. Fashing, Peter J., Dierenfeld, Ellen S., Mowry, Christopher B. Influence of plant and soil chemistry on food selection, ranging patterns, and biomass of Colobus guereza in Kakamega Forest, Kenya. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, 2007, vol. 28, no. 3, p. 673-703. DOI
  6. Kareru, P. G., Keriko, J. M., Gachanja, A. N., Kenji, G. M. Direct detection of triterpenoid saponins in medicinal plants. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 2008, p. 56-60.
  7. Chapman, CA., Chapman, LJ. Foraging challenges of red colobus monkeys: influence of nutrients and secondary compounds . Comparative biochemistry and physiology a-molecular and integrative physiology, 2002, vol. 133, no. 3, p. 861-875.

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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